In a special statement, Mr. L. V. S. Weerakoon, Director General of the Road Development Authority, stated that the news about the removal of bolts and nuts from the new Kelani bridge is completely false. Sri Lanka Latest News
A lot of false news is being spread in many media and social media, including that there has been a loss of 28 crores due to the removing of the nails of the new Kelani Bridge and that it is not fit to use. The actual situation is that a group of trespassers have caused some damage to certain places on the New Kelani Bridge and the Katunayake Expressway. But there has been no theft of the nails of the Kelani Bridge as it is being published in the media. It can only be removed with special tools. It takes a few days. It is practically not a task that an ordinary person can do. But there has been damage to goods such as boards under the bridge, electrical cables connected to security cameras, GI pipes. Accordingly, only for Kelani Bridge there has been a damage done to nearly Rs. 6 million.
Also, on the Katunayake Expressway it has been reported that a cable of about KM 13 long sections has been cut in several places. As a result, the cable cannot be used. Its damage is about Rs. two hundred million. Matters have been explained about this before. Also, necessary steps have been taken in this regard.
After conducting several rounds of negotiations with the Inspector General of Police, a special police unit has been installed at the same place for the security of the new Kelani Bridge. Also, conducting a special investigation on this, the investigation teams have managed to uncover a lot of important information about the places and people to whom the stolen parts were sold. Also, several people have been arrested on suspicion of causing damage to the highway. Further special security arrangements are being followed in this regard. Matters regarding this were also discussed in the Security Council chaired by the President last week. There, by further developing these security measures, in addition to the security program carried out by the police, it was advised to prepare a special work order for the security of such places with the support of external security services if needed. It is still being worked on.
Especially, many such incidents have been reported during the period when electricity supply was restricted from time to time in the past. But the reason for not disclosing the information to the outside parties was due to the suspicion that there would be an obstacle to the investigations carried out by the security forces. Accordingly, I confirm that the reported news that the nails of the Kelani Bridge have been removed is completely false. All necessary security arrangements are being implemented to prevent such acts of sabotage in the future.
However, this news was reported by Aruna newspaper.
