The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has urged the Sri Lanka Government to follow “due process” if it intended to shift from Japanese funding for the Colombo light rail transit system (LRT) to a public-private partnership.
The Government is yet to respond to the strongly-worded letter to the Treasury Secretary from JICA’s Sri Lanka Representative Fusato Tanaka. It expressed “great shock” at a recent pronouncement by Urban Development Ministry Secretary Priyath Bandu that “the current Government has decided not to obtain JICA loans and instead to implement the Project as a Public Private Partnership, and that necessary action would be taken to select a private investor”.
Mr Fusato seeks the Treasury Secretary’s “urgent clarification on whether or not the statement of the Secretary…reflects (the) official decision of the Government of Sri Lanka”.
In March last year, JICA signed a loan agreement with the Sri Lanka Government to provide an official development assistance (ODA) loan to introduce an LRT system with 16 stations distributed over 15.7 kilometres of track in and around Colombo. The project would use Japanese technology including rolling stock and electromechanical equipment.
Completion was due in April 2026. The loan has a 12-year grace period and the interest rate of 0.1 percent. After the change of Government, however, officials have said the preference now is for a PPP over JICA funding. But the position has not been conveyed to the Agency, prompting it to seek clarification in writing.
(LIN)