In an interview with the Reuters in 2005 September, the then Prime Minister and Presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa said that there were two challenges before of him: one was to wipe out terrorism and the second to develop the country bringing benefit to all communities.

After overcoming the first challenge successfully, President Mahinda Rajapaksa called upon all citizens of Sri Lanka irrespective of religion, race or ethnicity, to come together to build the nation and recover the momentum lost due to the terrorist menace in the quarter century of war.

"It is my firm belief that there exists a symbolic link between peace and development that assist each other. Irrespective of a person's caste, tribe or religion he or she should be able to contribute to the development process. They should have every opportunity to obtain the dividends of peace and reap its benefits ", said President Rajapaksa at Asia Society, New York in 2006.

Apart from security, the four year period of the President's administration shows progress in several fronts.

Rapid progress in the development of infrastructure was an urgent necessity both in the urban and rural areas at the time the President took office. He also had to address other development areas such as agriculture, health, ICT, education, trade, tourism etc.

During the past four- year term of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the socio-economic and cultural development of the island was expedited to a level that the country never witnessed during the recent past. According to Mahinda Chintanaya, development was not confined to particular regions, but covered all provinces of the country, including the North and East which was neglected for so long. Within this short period of four years, all the election pledges cited in Mahinda Chintanaya have either been completed or already commenced.


Maga Neguma

"I wish to have all villages of the country emerging as micro- centres of growth on modern lines."

- Mahinda Chintana-

"Maga Neguma" (the road development project) is one of the programmes initiated by President Mahinda Rajapaksa under "Mahinda Chintana" manifesto. This is an effort taken by President Rajapaksa to uplift the living standards especially of the rural community.

The roads to progress

In 2005, Rs.19, 000 million has been allocated for the development of roads. This has increased to Rs.75, 126mn in 2009. The total expenditure during 2005-2009 was Rs.189, 499mn.

The construction work on the Southern expressway as a four lane facility is in progress with a total cost of Rs.59.5 billion. Up to date, Rs.37.5 billion has been spent on the construction. The expressway will be opened in 2010.

Rehabilitation of 207kms of roads in Ampara, Badulla, Monaragala and Hambantota districts were completed at a cost of Rs.2, 889 million. 278kms of roads were rehabilitated under the Road Sector Assistant Project at a cost of Rs.8, 800 million.
The construction of the Ramboda tunnel was completed at a cost of Rs.207 million. The length of the tunnel is 220metres, which is now in use.

The road from Katukurunda to Matara on the Colombo- Matara road has been rehabilitated with a cost of Rs.2, 330 million. The length of the road is 115kms. 55kms of the road on the Balangoda- Bandarawela road has been rehabilitated at a cost of Rs.5, 084 million. 16kms of the Habarana - Kantale road and 44kms of the Ambepussa - Trincomalee road was completed at a cost of Rs.838 million.

In addition, the reconstruction on Nuwara Eliya – Badulla, Kandy – Mahiyangana, Puttalam – Anuradhapura roads is in progress. Widening of the Padeniya-Anuradhapura road (81 km) by 2-lanes with a cycle lane commenced in July 2009. The estimated cost is Rs.5, 720 million.

Construction work on the outer circular highway (28km) connecting the Colombo – Matara, Colombo-Katunayake and Colombo-Kandy expressways is in progress. The construction of the 25 km Colombo-Katunayake expressway is underway at a cost of Rs.32, 120 million. Rs.7, 948 million has been allocated for the rehabilitation of Tsunami affected roads in 2008. Rs.798 million has been spent on the reconstruction of 250kms of flood affected roads. Rehabilitation work on 32kms of the Dambulla-Bakamuna-Kalagahawela road was completed at a cost of Rs.1, 065 million.

42kms of roads in the conflict affected areas of the Northern and Eastern provinces have been rehabilitated at a cost of Rs.1, 564 million. The preliminary construction work on the outer circular road in Trincomalee connecting all main roads leading to Trincomalee has commenced at a cost of Rs.12,000 million. The length of the road is 67 km.

Rehabilitation work on the roads in the Northern Province has commenced at a cost of Rs.123 billion. 1,107kms of provincial roads have been rehabilitated at a cost of Rs.15, 267 million in the Western, North-Western, North-Central, Uva, Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces. 7,817kms of rural roads have been completed, investing Rs.10, 536 million under the ‘Maga Neguma’ programme. Out of which 2,385kms of roads were of concrete. 2,886kms of roads have been rehabilitated under the re-awakening, NECORD and TARRP projects in the North and East areas.

Bridges

The Kinniya Bridge in Trincomalee was successfully completed at a cost of Rs.789mn and opened to the public. This is currently the longest bridge in Sri Lanka, significant as it is built in the Eastern Province which was plagued by terrorism just a few years ago.

The construction of the 302 metre long Manampitiya Bridge is completed with a 2-lane facility at a cost of Rs.1, 278mn over the Mahaweli River. 160 metre long Arugam bay bridge in the Ampara district was constructed at a cost of Rs.1,400mn, the Bentota bridge with a length of 175metres consisting two parts over the Bentara river and the Katugastota Bridge (a length of 130 metres) in Kandy were constructed at a cost of Rs.706mn. The Tangalle Bridge completed construction at a cost of Rs.66mn. All these bridges are now being used by the public.

Eight bridges in Akurala, Seenigama, Magalle, Gowiyapana, Weligama, Komari, Periyakalar and Kallady have been reconstructed under the Tsunami Affected Road Rehabilitation Project.

The Construction work on the Mannar bridge, connecting the Main Island and Thalaimannar Island continues. The length of the bridge is 290 meters, which will be completed in January 2010. The total estimated cost of the bridge is Rs.2, 460mn.

The construction of nine steel bridges in Trincomalee, Ratnapura, Kalutara, Hambantota and Kurunegala districts have been completed at a cost Rs.238mn under the Steel Bridge Project. 70 bridges have been reconstructed under the Provincial Road Development Projects in Western, North Western, Uva, North Central, Central and Sabaragamuwa Provinces.

The three flyovers at Nugegoda, Kelaniya and Dehiwala were constructed at a cost of Rs.1, 067mn under the Steel Bridge Project.

The Kelaniya flyover is 325 meters long with 4 lanes. The Dehiwala flyover is 340 meters and the Nugegoda flyover is 261 meters, both with 2 lanes. The construction of concrete flyovers at Orugodawatta, Gampaha and Pannipitiya is in progress and as a solution for the heavy traffic in the Colombo metropolitan area and suburbs, the government expects to build flyovers at Veyangoda, Kohuwala, Kirullapone and Borella-Kanatte junctions as well.