The Government will spend a massive Rs.100 billion to develop and renovate 25 main cities in the country during the next five years under the Strategic Cities Development Project (SCDP), a source said yesterday.

He said the proposed SCDP will be implemented by the Defence and Urban Development Ministry.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa expects to obtain US$200 million (Rs.26 billion) from the World Bank to develop Galle and Greater Kandy at the first stage of the SCDP. “The proposed Project is to be implemented in Galle and Kandy as the initial phase of the project. The assistance of the World Bank will be received for this urban development project by the Government, to plan, design and develop selected cities and their surrounding areas and thus facilitate a guided economic transformation of these cities into major regional economic centres for growth and employment generation,” the government source said.

He said the project would begin in early 2014 and would be completed within a period of three years at an estimated cost of US$200 million.

Some of the salient features of the project are the improvement of urban infrastructure and services at the city centre and peripheral local authority areas of Greater Kandy and Galle cities. The project also includes the improvement of traffic and transport arrangements and urban road network to ease the traffic flow and benefits to the urban community by improving drainage facilities and solid waste management systems.

The source said under the SCDP other main cities in Sri Lanka would also be targeted for similar development in the next five years.

Source: Daily Mirror - Sri Lanka