The first phase of building 210 bridges under the program to construct 1,210 rural bridges islandwide is nearing completion.
Work on 100 of these bridges has already been completed under Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa's direction.
"The bridges will reduce the gap between towns and villages thus opening the doors to rapid rural development in accordance with the Mahinda Chinthana Vision," Minister Rajapaksa said.
"The bridges will benefit over six million people in 15,000 villages in 100 Secretarial Divisions.
Seventy-five percent of Sri Lanka's population live in villages where these bridges will help to greatly improve the rural economy and the quality of life of the rural folk," he said.
The minister further said that road development under the Maga Neguma program has contributed to raising villagers' income levels, while the new bridges would boost the plantation and agricultural economies.
"Under the second phase, 1,000 more bridges are expected to be built and opened for public use by the middle of next year.
All these steel bridges have been constructed without arches to withstand the vagaries of the weather," the minister added. The minister points out that people's participation in the development process will help build solid infrastructure facilities which would last for generations.
- See more at: http://www.dailynews.lk
