Govt. to review development projects in pipeline, launched by previous regime

The government reviews all the projects which are still in the pipeline after being initiated by the previous regime and will decide on them on a priority basis, but those already in different stages of implementation will continue, a minister said yesterday.

Money, Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal told Daily Mirror such projects were under review in keeping with the policy of the new government. He said there were several such projects, but could not tell the exact number offhand.

“We may implement some projects. We may not implement the others. We are proceeding with around 800 projects started by the previous government. We will consider only the ones which are in the pipeline,” he said.

He said water and irrigation projects that are in the pipeline would, however, be given priority for implementation.

The Minister said the cancellation of the US$ 2.2 billion Japan-aided Light Rail Transport (LRT) project was one of them. The government rescinded it citing the high cost.

He said he briefed Japanese Ambassador Akira Sugiyama about the reasons behind the cancellation.

The Minister said the government was working hard to get the economy hit by COVID-19 back on track.(Kelum Bandara)