Only the unintelligent will stage protests when the country is into a pandemic: Johnston

• The highest number of mega development projects in this country had been commenced under the visionary leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa

By Yohan Perera

Only those who are unintelligent will stage protests at a time when the country is plunged into a pandemic, Chief Government Whip Johnston Fernando said yesterday.    

Minister Fernando made this remark at a ceremony held in connection with the inauguration of the new Kelani Bridge last morning.   

The New Kelani Bridge is a first of its kind in Sri Lanka which is of a modern engineering design is known as a extradosed type which uses stay cables to connect two main pylons with the bridge deck and to share the weight of the load from the bridge deck.   

‘We are a government that will not hesitate to act for the sake of the development. We are not afraid of critics. We are not afraid of opposition tactics. None with an iota of intelligence would participate in protests or lead their people to protests at a time when there is a pandemic. Unfortunately, we have opposition politicians who do so. Those who predicted that at least one or two thousand people will die here of COVID-19 finally got infected. We call on them not to put the lives of people in the harm’s way to achieve their political objectives. They will never be able to escape from the curse of people” the Minister said. 

 
 “It was in 2014 the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa who in his capacity as the Minister of Highways initiated the New Kelani Bridge project and signed for the plans and the approval. In his recent address to the nation, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that we would complete this project soon. After that, the former Highways Minister of the Yahapalana government said that it was a project that had been commenced by their government.   
The truth is that the highest number of mega development projects in this country had been commenced under the visionary leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He deserves credit for that. There is no use of others trying to get credit for that because people know the truth. I still can remember how President Mahinda Rajapaksa had started the Outer Circle Highway Project. Later the ministers of the yahapalana government tried to get credit for that and were planning to open a section of it but a woman braved to go there and opened it herself:” he added.   
“We will complete the work of this new Kelani Bridge within three months and hope that it could be commissioned in the first week of September. At a time when the entire world is affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, engineers of Japan and this country with other officials rendered a yeoman service to make this project a success. They took an enormous risk by doing so. Our grateful nation will never forget their dedication and in the years to come people will talk of their dedication,” he also said.   

• Will complete the work of this new Kelani Bridge within three months and hope that it could be commissioned in the first week of September