(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) – Seventy percent of the construction work by the Road Development Authority (RDA) in the first phase of the development of Palaly Airport, which is being developed as a regional and international airport, has been completed, according to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation.
Around 55 percent of the construction work carried out by the Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd is also completed.
During an observation tour of the Palaly Airport undertaken by the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Arjuna Ranatunga yesterday (15), it was learnt that the construction of all the basic structures of the first phase have been completed.
The first phase of the Palaly Airport development project is targeted to be completed by the 10th of October and the regional flights operations from Palaly airport of Jaffna to Indian destinations is expected to officially commence from 16th October, according to the Ministry.
The objective of Minister Arjuna Ranatunga’s sudden inspection tour was to find out whether the construction of the Palaly Airport was being done properly to achieve that goal.
The Minister toured the facility on his own without the presence of any official from the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, or the Civil Aviation Authority or the Airport and Aviation Services Company.
It was also revealed that after the completion of the construction of the basic layout, the finishing work is being done now. Accordingly, the construction of the airport’s terminal, main signal tower, fire brigade, terminal building and power generator system building are nearing completion.
The Minister expressed his appreciation to all the construction workers for working on Sunday and advised them to continue working to reach the target date for completion.
