Singaporean company fails to complete Trinco Master Plan on time
The Trincomalee Master Plan for massive development drive in the area has been completed after a long delay by a Singaporean Consultancy Group incurring a loss to the government due to their failure to finish it on time, a progress review report revealed.
The much-delayed ambitious plan of the government envisages a third international airport in Hingurakgoda and an international stadium in 30 years in the region.
As per the plan, Trincomalee would also be repositioned as the Eastern Tourism Hub, by increasing regional connectivity through the development of the Colombo-Trincomalee economic corridor.
The proposed master plan will see full completion by 2050 according to the Surbana Jurong Consultants of Singapore,
Surbana Jurong was tasked to develop the Concept Master Plan for Trincomalee District in 2017 including Detailed Master Plan for Trincomalee’s future urban area covering Urban Design, Transportation, Infrastructure, Environmental and Implementation proposals in nine months.
Accordingly, an agreement was reached with the Singaporean company for the preparation of the master plan at a cost of US$982,000.
The preparation of the master plan has been delayed owing to irregularities of the project planning officers assigned to this task by the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry.
Although in terms of that agreement, the planning report should have been handed over within nine months, the said report was not handed even by the end of 2017, the report revealed.
Even though, a sum of $589,200 (Rs.90.29 million) had been paid in three instances, the master plan had not been prepared and handed over even by end June 2018.
Even though the project was scheduled to be completed on November 30, 2017, it had to be carried out by paying salaries to the staff up to July 31, 2018 due to delay in preparing the plan.
There were other issues. The Project Coordinator of this project had participated in a field meeting held in the Trincomalee district by arriving there in a helicopter and a sum of Rs.101,622 had been spent from Treasury provisions for his travelling by air, accommodation, food and liquor, the report revealed.