In a new project sponsored by the Saudi Fund For Development (SFD), the Kingdom will offer an SR40 million loan for construction of a new bridge and the widening of a highway in Sri Lanka, Arab News reported today. The project will be implemented as soon as an agreement between the two parties is signed in Colombo next month.
SFD Vice-Chairman Eng. Yusuf Al-Bassam said that the project is the fifth to be funded by the Saudi Fund For Development in Sri Lanka. The bridge will be built between the eastern towns of Trincomalee and Kinniya. “There are currently 100,000 people living in Kinniya who use a ferry as their mode of transport for crossing to Trincomalee,” he said.
The SFD recently granted SR40 million for the construction of the National Neuro-Trauma Centre in Colombo. It has provided Sri Lanka 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 eastern Sri Lanka where a large market has been named Riyadh Market.
Source: SPA
