Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2019-03-26

Securing of funds for the construction of 200 Rural Bridges

- The Government has accorded high priority for the connectivity improvement in the road network, with a view to providing the full benefits from the mainstream development activities in the country to the remote villages as well. It has been planned to construct 200 bridges out of the bridges to be constructed Under the Rural Bridges Project aimed at connecting the rural areas to the more developed regions with a concessionary financial assistance from Netherlands. Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, the Minister of Finance, to enter into loan Agreements with the Cooperative Rabobank U.A. of the Netherlands for the implementation of the project under a concessionary loan inclusive of a Euro 14 million grant, was approved by the Cabinet.