Cabinet nod to revive suspended Colombo LRT project

The Cabinet of Ministers has given the go-ahead to resume the Colombo Light Rail Transit (LRT) project, which was to be jointly implemented with the support of the Japanese Government, but scrapped during the administration of the former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Cabinet spokesperson Minister Bandula Gunawardena stated this while addressing the media briefing convened to announce Cabinet decisions this morning (May 30).
 

The decision to resume the LRT project was taken prior to President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s official visit to Japan last week, in a bid to restore Sri Lanka’s credibility with the international community, Gunawardena explained.

Japan has provided the crisis-hit Sri Lanka with some major assistance, however, terminating certain projects and proposals led to a dent in the bilateral relations between the two nations, the Cabinet spokesperson continued. He noted that President Wickremesinghe’s visit to Japan aimed at repairing this dent in the Sri Lanka-Japan bilateral relations.

Before his departure for Tokyo, the President had secured the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers to resume the Colombo LRT project, according to the minister.

Further, the Cabinet of Ministers gave the nod for a proposal suggesting that any agreement Sri Lanka signs with another country for an investment project or foreign assistance should be tabled in the parliament and that the termination of such agreements should be done with the approval of the parliament.