Sri Lanka's urban development plan aimed at attracting more foreign investors: Gotabaya

Sri Lanka's urban development plan is aimed at attracting more foreign investors to the country, said Secretary Defence and Urban Development Gotabaya Rajapaksa when he addressed a ceremony which followed the laying of the foundation stone to build a new multi storied car park at the Central Bank premises in Colombo on Wednesday.

He noted that when an investor visits a country his or her first impression about it is very important to attract attention. With this in mind, the government has already embarked on an urban development plan, he revealed.

Mr. Rajapaksa said that under this plan, attention was specially focused on pedestrians as many of them come to Colombo by public transport. They too face difficulties due to traffic congestion. Mr.

The Urban Development Authority (UDA) is planning to upgrade Colombo with new walkways, bridges, sanitation facilities, cleaner beach areas, playgrounds and jogging tracks

Rajapaksa said that if these shortcomings are tackled, it would be easy to attract more foreign investors to the country.

He pointed out that with the improvement of the road network, enabling the free flow of vehicular traffic, workers spend less time on roads and could arrive at their workplaces on time. As a result the efficiency of the workplace would greatly increase.

The Urban Development Authority (UDA) is planning to upgrade Colombo with new walk- ways, bridges, sanitation facilities, cleaner beach areas, playgrounds and jogging tracks.

The new multi-storied car park is a long felt need of both the employees and the customers of the Central Bank. Once completed, the 7 storied car park would accommodate 100 vehicles. The project will be carried out in two phases. The first phase will cost 131 million rupees and is expected to be completed within one year.

Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabral said that a miracle is now taking place in Colombo with the new outlook given to it by the UDA. Institutions in Colombo should initiate action to construct its own car parks to minimize traffic congestion and make room for pedestrians. He disclosed that the Bank is building the car park on the site where the earlier building was destroyed in a terrorist bomb attack, 16 years ago.