100, 000 km of rural roads to be built in four years – Johnston

The government had begun the construction 12,000 km of roads last year, Minister of Highways Johnston Fernando said yesterday, adding that the overall objective of the government was to build 100,000 km of rural roads within the next four years.

“The previous government also launched an initiative to construct roads under the I – Road Project. However, in most cases contractors have taken over two years to build roads that are not longer than three kilometres. This is a waste of everyone’s time and we have asked these contractors to finish the work within two months. If they are not able to finish within the stipulated time the RDA will take over.”

Fernando also said that road construction had expedited under the current administration and that there might be a shortage of asphalt. Steps had been taken to provide asphalt to contractors from he RDA stocks, the Minister said.