Contractors will be fired – Johnston

Minister of Highways Johnston Fernando said, steps would be taken to cancel the contract agreements of contractors who do not show the expected level of refinement in the coming week.

He made this comment during a meeting with officials of local contractors and consulting firms on the progress of the construction on the second phase of the Central Expressway from Mirigama to Pothuhera.

The Minister was informed by the contractors that due to the prevailing situation in the country, due to the COVID- 19 pandemic, the construction work could not be completed on time with the inability to find the sufficient numbers of workers. 

Responding to this, the Minister said, steps would be taken to assist them with the required skilled or unskilled workers. The companies were also informed that if they did not have the necessary machinery to carry out the road construction work, they would have to hire them from other companies and complete the road construction on time.

They were instructed to complete the construction of the second phase of the Central Expressway by the due date as development projects such as the Ruwanpura Expressway, the Kurunegala-Dambulla Expressway and the 100,000 km rural road development programme will be completed in the near future.

(BGS)