Gainful Moves

Aug 23, 2010 (LBO) - A planned expressway between Sri Lanka's capital Colombo and Kandy in the central hills will significantly reduce transport costs and connect under-developed regions with developed ones, a new World Bank study said.





"Islandwide expenditure on transport will decline from 155 million rupees a day to 127 million rupees, a reduction of 28 million rupees," the study said. The Colombo-Kandy highway is to be built by the government's Road Development Authority with Asian Development Bank aid for the first phase.

The World Bank study said the planned expressway would yield more gains in comparison to alternative road improvements that were also under consideration which would only reduced transport costs to a lesser extent.

" . . .the expressway would greatly improve connectivity between the two largest economic urban centres in Sri Lanka, which would almost certainly be needed to meet the growing shipping volume and traffic between these economic centres."

The World Bank report called Sri Lanka: Reshaping Economic Geography: Connecting People to Prosperity” that suggests policy options for post-war Sri Lanka.

The island's 30-year ethnic war ended in May 2009, resulting in an economic revival and an