Leader of the House and Transport Minister Bimal Rathnayake told Parliament yesterday that a service area on the Southern Expressway had been leased for 99 years to individuals linked to the Rajapaksa family for just Rs. 10,000.
Responding to questions raised by Opposition MPs Rohitha Abeygunawardena and Ajith P. Perera, Minister Rathnayake also claimed that the Rajapaksa associates had obstructed the construction of several other approved service areas along the expressway.
He said that the Southern Expressway project suffered from serious irregularities, including deviations from feasibility studies, which he said led to the wastage of billions of rupees.
Highlighting specific discrepancies, the Minister pointed to the construction of two interchanges that were not part of the original expressway blueprint.
“One is at Kapuduwa, just 5 km from Godagama in Matara, serving only traffic to and from Colombo. The other is at Bedigama, 6 km from Beliatta,” he said, adding that each interchange cost over Rs. 10 million to build.
By Saman Indrajith