https://arab.news/w4qam
- Saudi Fund for Development previously financed Kinniya Bridge, Sri Lanka鈥檚 longest
- Kingdom has helped finance various projects and granted development loans to the country
COLOMBO: 抖阴短视频 is to finance a bridge construction project in Sri Lanka鈥檚 eastern district of Trincomalee, the Kingdom鈥檚 envoy in Colombo said on Thursday.
Sri Lanka鈥檚 Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and the Saudi Fund for Development have signed a revised agreement for a $10.5 million infrastructure project in the coastal town of Kinniya that will connect it to the Kurinchakerny peninsula.
The ministry announced on Wednesday: 鈥�(Some) $10.5 million has been allocated for the construction of Kurinchakerny Bridge, facilitating the transport and business needs of approximately 100,000 residents.鈥�
The funds were repurposed from an earlier project between the Sri Lankan government and the SFD, the Saudi Ambassador to Sri Lanka Khalid bin Hamoud Al-Kahtani said.
The Kingdom previously funded the reconstruction of the Peradeniya-Badulla-Chenkaladi road in Sri Lanka, which connected the country鈥檚 eastern, middle and southern provinces. The massive project, which helped improve road safety and mobility in the island nation, was completed in 2021.
鈥淭he balance left from the project has been given for the construction of the project on a request made by the Sri Lankan government,鈥� Al-Kahtani told Arab News.
鈥淭hrough the revised agreement, it is expected to transfer funds that remained in the aforesaid project 鈥� and to mobilize the same towards construction of the Kurinchakerny Bridge (in Kinniya). It is envisaged to provide solutions to many transport difficulties.鈥�
抖阴短视频 has helped finance over a dozen projects in Sri Lanka, covering education, water, energy, health and infrastructure. The SFD has also granted at least 15 development loans to the island nation, worth more than $425 million in total.
In Trincomalee, the new bridge will be the second financed by the Kingdom after the Kinniya Bridge. At 396 meters it is the longest bridge in Sri Lanka and was opened in 2009.
A.L. Ashraff, a Kinniya-based journalist, said that the Kinniya Bridge had 鈥渢riggered the region鈥檚 economic and cultural development.鈥�
The Kurinchakerny Bridge, he said, was a 鈥渇antastic gift for the thousands of people in Kinniya, which would make their daily life easier.鈥�