ADB to fund highway construction in Sri Lanka

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will help upgrade about 270 km of national highways in Sri Lanka through a loan of 150 million US dollars, according to an ADB report issued on Friday.

The report said the project includes improving or replacing bridges, drainage, and culverts, and providing weight stations when necessary. The project will also finance the acquisition of land for roads linking to Colombo.

The project is the second in a series of ADB operations in Sri Lanka's road sector. ADB has been helping establish a policy and institutional framework to improve the overall performance of the country's road sector since 2002.

A technical assistance grant of 400,000 US dollars accompanies the loan to help boost the operations of the newly established Environmental and Social Division of the Road Development Authority.

Source: Xinhua