July 02, Colombo: The government has decided to cancel the contract signed by the previous government to award the construction of the Ruwanpura Expressway to a foreign company and award the contract to local companies, the Cabinet spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardena said.

Although the Ruwanpura Expressway project linking the Southern Expressway from Kahathuduwa -ingiriya to Ratnapura via Pelmadulla is planned with foreign funds, the implementation of the Project under the local funds has been found to be more beneficial to the country, a cabinet statement said.

The Previous government awarded the contract to four Chinese companies to construct the expressway to Ratnapura in four stages.

The government has decided to award the contract to construct the 76 kilometer long Ruwanpura Expressway to about 10 local contractors each constructing about 7-10 kilometer segments, the Cabinet spokesman said.

Minister Gunawardena said it has been decided to obtain the necessary funds from the local sources without foreign funds.

Accordingly, the proposal presented by Minister of Highways, Ports and Shipping, Johnston Fernando to proceed with the Expressway constructions using the funds of local banks and the services of local construction companies was approved by the cabinet of Ministers.