Chinese Leg

Sept 03, 2009 (LBO) - A 30-kilometer fourth stage of a 126-kilometre expressway from Sri Lanka's capital Colombo to the southern city of Matara will go to a Chinese contractor but the supervision consultancy will be open for international bids.

The first two sections of the road (34.

3 and 31.7 km) is financed by the Japan Bank for International Corporation (JBIC), and the third stage (30km) by the Asian Development Bank.

China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) is also a contractor for the JBIC funded stage of the road.

The second par to of the road which was originally to be a two-lane highway was expanded to four lanes, requiring additional finance.

Sri Lanka's cabinet of ministers had given a nod to appoint negotiation committee for the final stage of the road, which will be financed by the Export Import Bank of China (Exim Bank), information minister Anura Yapa said.

The Chinese government had already nominated China National Technical Import and Export Corporation to build the expanded 4-lane section, from Pinnaduwa to Godagama.

The cabinet has given the nod to appoint a negotiation committee to deal with the contractor who had already submitted technical and financial proposals.

But the supervision consultan