By
Ravi Ladduwahetty
The government’s ambitious programme of launching the Northern railway line spanning 56 km from Pallai to Kankesanturai on 24 September would be heading for a major disaster with none of the key infrastructure such as railway stations and maintenance staff in place even as of now, a key railway union claimed.
“This is an absurd situation where the whole project is heading for disaster without the ten stations from Pallai to Jaffna and the passenger platforms not ready even as of now,” General Secretary of the All Ceylon Railway General Employees’ Union, S.P. Vithana told CeylonToday.
He also said that while the railway track had been completed, the backup infrastructure was nowhere near ready, making a mockery of the project itself.
In nine of the stations between Pallai and Jaffna – Eluthuvattuval, Mirusuvil, Kodigamam, Meesalai, Sankaththanai, Chavakachcheri, Thachchathoppu, Navatkuli and Pungankulam – even the platform has not been built. The soil has been filled and there are parapet walls but there are no platforms as such nor have they been covered.
In what has been an admirable project based on corporate social responsibility, Bank of Ceylon undertook the refurbishment of the Jaffna Railway Station, Sampath Bank undertook the refurbishment of the Navattkuli Railway Station, and the Agrarian Research and Training Institute undertook rebuilding the Mirusavil Railway Station.
However, what is lacking now are facilities for the ten stationmasters – there are no lockers or drawers to keep cash or any facilities to keep tickets. There is also no space left for accommodation for the office staff which includes engine drivers, railway guards. They also don’t have facilities for toilets or sleeping, or even to have a meal.
One of the striking features is the absence of maintenance staff at the Mankulam, Paranthan, Jaffna, Chettikulam and Mannar Stations. It is also mandatory to have at least 100 railway employees at these stations, but not a single employee has been recruited as of now.
Vithana said that his Union has written to Transport Minister Kumar Welgama and General Manager of Railways B.A. Ariyaratne to accommodate employees of all ethnicities and especially Tamil employees due to these station areas and passengers being predominantly Tamil. He also underscored the importance of Sri Lanka Railways doing the maintenance and not outsourcing it to another company, whether foreign or local.
One of the biggest highlights of this project, according to Vithana, is the colossal waste of funds on the project where each km has cost Rs 354 million (which translates to LKR 19.3 billion for the entire 56 km stretch). The contractor was a joint venture between Ircon and Rigst. Local engineers could have completed the same project at a cost of only Rs 80 million per km, with the total thus amounting to only Rs 4.4 billion, Vithana claimed.
He said that this expenditure was so colossal that the funds spent could have gone into the extension of the Matara- Kataragama railway line where the same railway line could have been extended to Ella- Vellawaya and linked to the Upcountry railway line as well!
He also explained that 1 km of railway track, if placed by local engineers, would have required only 1,500 sleepers, 100 railway lines and 6,000 clips to bind the two. It would also have required only 1,000 cubes of metal. The manner in which the government has handed it is riddled with corruption, according to Vithana.
Bill of Quantities
The Bill of Quantities for the restoration of the Pallai–Kankesanthurai railway line where the negotiations on offer have estimated the grand total for the project to be US$ 150,337,099 has been reduced by the Technical Evaluation Committee to US$ 122, 904,308.
The allocation for the tracks has been reduced from US$ 33.6 million to US$ 27.8 million but that for bridges has remained at US$ 2.3 million. Under Schedule B, the execution of work for the formation and track and the bridges has been reduced from US$ 66.4 million to US$ 51.8 million.
The rolling stock required for execution of the project has been reduced from US$ 4.3 million to US$ 3.4 million. The allocation for platforms, has been reduced from US$ 3.8 million to US$ 3.3 million. The allocation for preliminary, general, establishment and supervision charges has been reduced from US$ 28.7 million to US$ 23 million.
Transport Minister Kumara Welgama, Transport Ministry Secretary Dhammika Perera and General Manager Railways B.A. Ariyaratne were not available for comment despite repeated attempts to contact them.
Courtesy:Ceylon Today