I must first of all congratulate you on your forthright editorial of Saturday 18th on the above subject.

When I read it my blood began to boil. This is yet another example of the stinking corruption and inefficiency that has afflicted our poor country. After the recent collapse of one of the brides on the expressway killing an innocent civilian, it came to light that 30 of the 73 bridges already constructed have to be demolished and replaced. How are we to believe that the other 43 are safe? Considering the attempts at covering up, the public will have a lingering doubt about the reliability of the expressway bridges. As you quite rightly pointed out the defects came to light only after a fatal accident. What supervision was exercised by the Road Development authority and its highly paid officials during construction? Did they turn a blind eye to the defective construction because they had to bow to political pressure or because many palms were well and truly greased? If it was sheer neglect of duty which brought about this terrible situation then the Minister of Highways must tender his resignation and institute severe disciplinary action against those responsible. Replacing thirty bridges on a highway that is being constructed deserves a place in the Guinness book of records.

The least that the Opposition can do is to raise this issue in Parliament with concrete facts and figures and move for the appointment of a Parliamentary Special Committee of Inquiry to look into the matter and submit a report within a specified time frame. The facts must go on record because the day of reckoning will come some day. I dread to think of what is happening in the construction of the Matara-Kataragama a railway or the Katunayake expressway.

Meanwhile the public must be grateful to ‘The Island’ for exposing these shocking irregularities.