Sri Lanka changes the scope of work of OCH again

Oct 15, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government has changed the scope of work for phase III of the Outer Circular Highway (OCH), from Kerawalapitiya to Kadawatha, which is about 9.32 kilometers, the Cabinet Spokesman told reporters at a media briefing held in Colombo. The Cabinet of Ministers approved the award of the above contract to the Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd. (MCC) at a cost of 66.69 billion rupees in 2013. Considering the high cost of the project and the recommendations made by professionals, it was decided to change the scope of work with a reduction of cost by 35.9 percent or 23.93 billion rupees. Accordingly it was decided to construct the expressway section with four lanes, reduce the length of viaducts and reduce the height of viaducts to minimize the cost. However, the MCC, the Chinese embassy and Exim Bank of China which funded the OCH project had disagreed on new amendments  to the construction of the expressway section. Government spokesman Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said a report on possible changes of scope of work without compromising safety aspects have been obtained from the Construction Supervision Consultant and accordingly the government has again changed the scope of work. This time it is a proposal to remove the interchange to be constructed in Peliyagoda – Puttalam road as an interchange was constructed in Kerawalapitiya and to construct the section with four lanes, as phase I and II of the expressway is constructed with four lanes. These changes will save 14.84 percent or 9.9 billion rupees, less than half that had been anticipated originally.