RIYADH, 10 July 2004 — A new project sponsored by the Saudi Fund For Development (SFD) will see the Kingdom pitch in with a SR40 million credit line for the construction of a new bridge and the widening of a highway in Sri Lanka. The project will be implemented as soon as the agreement between the two parties is signed in Colombo next month.
“This is the fifth project to be funded by the Saudi Fund For Development in Sri Lanka,” said SFD Vice Chairman, Eng. Yusuf Al-Bassam. He added that the bridge will be built between the eastern towns of Trincomalee and Kinniya. “Currently, there are 100,000 people living in Kinniya that use a ferry as their mode of transport to cross to Trincomalee,” he said. Recently, the SFD released SR40 million for the construction of the National Neuro-Trauma Center in Colombo. It also provided the island with project loans on three previous occasions: SR99.9 million for the second stage of the Water Supply and Sewage Project; SR48.1 million for the Mahaweli Ganga Development Project System B in 1981; and SR85 million for the Mahaweli Ganga Development Project System B Left Bank in 1984.
In 1985, under the Mahaweli Development Project, Sri Lanka was able to build a model town in the ancient city of Polannaruwa in the eastern part of Sri Lanka where a large market has been named “Riyadh Market”.
“We have finalized the technical details of the project and the final draft of the agreement has been approved by both the SFD and the Sri Lankan government,” said Secretary to the Ministry of Highways, S. Amarasekera, who led a team to the Kingdom recently.
