A Japanese construction and engineering firm accused of tender bending in Japan has been awarded the contract to build a new US$570 million (RM2.3 billion) terminal for Sri Lanka’s Katunayake International airport, as Tokyo re-emerges as a key infrastructure backer amid a push of Chinese projects.
The cabinet announced the Taisei Corporation was picked to develop the Japanese-funded project, with the new terminal expected to double capacity at Bandaranaike International airport in Katunayake to around 20 million passengers a year.
The decision follows the financing of Colombo’s planned US$1.5-billion light rail system last year by Japan’s overseas development agency — the biggest single foreign investment in the island nation.
Japans’ Taisei Corporation is also engaged in building part of an expressway to central Sri Lanka for which a 100 billion yen loan has been arranged by Tokyo Mitsubishi Bank.
Taisei will build a 32.5 kilometer section of the Central Expressway, running from Pothuhera to Galagedera.
Two Japanese”super general contractors” admitted in court in 2018 to bid-rigging for contracts in a $81 billion project to build a super-fast maglev train line that will connect Tokyo and central Japan.
Japanese Authorities have indicted four Corporations including Taisei Corporation.
(LI)