Sri Lanka to Invest $1 Billion in Roads

VOA Breaking News (Voice of America)
November 3, 2010 at 4:30 pm

Sri Lanka says it plans to invest more than $1 billion to rebuild the country’s roads following years of war.

Ministry of Highways Secretary Wasantha Karannagoda said Wednesday the island nation has secured funding to modernize and build around 4,000 kilometers of roadway in the next two years.

The funding will come from Japan, China, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and the European Union.

Karannagoda told reporters in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo that in addition to the $1 billion, France was providing more than $80 million for a road project in a former war zone.

Sri Lankan leaders have pledged to improve development and infrastructure in the country, after the military defeated Tamil Tiger rebels and ended the country’s civil war in May of 2009.

The rebels were fighting for a separate homeland for ethnic Tamils.

Some information in this story was provided by AFP and Reuters.