Sri Lanka's Southern Expressway Extension Section Opens to Traffic

The Extension of the Southern Expressway in Sri Lanka opened to traffic on Feb 23.

At the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka pointed out that China is a sincere friend of Sri Lanka and has greatly supported the country's development. 

He outlined that the expressway extension will connect Colombo and the Hambantota Port, making it much easier to transport international goods unloaded at the port to Colombo and helping promote Sri Lanka's involvement in Belt and Road construction.

Also attending the launch ceremony were President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Chinese Ambassador Cheng Xueyuan and the head of the Export-Import Bank of China in Sri Lanka.

A transit port of the South Asian subcontinent, Sri Lanka is a main transport hub along the world shipping lines.

The country has also integrated its national development with China's Belt and Road Initiative which was proposed in 2013. It intends to evolve into the economic center of South Asia.

A main undertaking along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, the extension project was separated into four sections, the second and third of which were contracted by China State Construction Engineering Corporation (China State Construction).

It was also the first large-scale infrastructure project China State Construction had ever participated in Sri Lanka.

Starting from Matara and terminating at the Hambantota port and airport, the expressway is a traffic artery linking the western and southern regions of the country.

It will greatly promote regional economic growth and help increase local people's income.

On basis of the principle of sustainable development, China State Construction strictly followed local environmental standards and integrated green concepts into the engineering. 

Modern highway construction ideas including energy conservation and emission reduction and smart traffic as well as green and low-carbon technology were adopted to reduce impact on the environment.

The company recruited officials of the local environment department as the project's engineers responsible for plans and implementation of work related to environmental protection. Professional institutes also helped with statistics and recording of nearby biological populations.

China-made dry dust-cleaning equipment was used at the quarry to reduce dust pollution.

The equipment was the only one of its kind in Sri Lanka.

High efficient and energy saving lights like the LED lights were also promoted to replace high pressure sodium lamp (HPSL) and the use of solar energy improves power usage effectiveness.

In recent years, China State Construction has actively participated in Belt and Road construction in Sri Lanka and promoted friendship of the people in the two countries while supporting local economic development.

The extension expressway project has created more than 20,000 jobs and cultivated a large number of technicians for the country.

What's more, the company also built Sri Lanka's first security experience center where Chinese engineers give training lectures regularly, earning the center the title "Sri Lanka's first construction skill and security training base".

A bilingual training book in English and Sinhala was also made by the company.

The company also carried out voluntary events and donated to more than 30 schools, nursing houses, temples and neighborhoods, deepening friendship between the builders and local people.

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)