An Audit Report issued by the National Audit Office regarding the functions of the Road Development Authority (RDA) states that although no civil construction work has been started on the Third Stage of the Central Expressway,
Rs. 834 million was spent on the project operating units established in 2013.
The Audit Report further reveals that although an amount of Rs.32.2 million had been paid to four Government institutions to speed up the land acquisition work, the land acquisition work had been executed at a rather slow phase. While 3264 plots of land had been initially planned to be acquired, Rs. 4834 million had been paid as compensation for only 2556 plots of land. Meanwhile, Rs.98 million had been paid as late interest, but none of such allotments of land had been registered with the Road Development Authority under Section 44 of the Land Acquisition Act.
In response to audit queries the authority management had stated that the procurement activities for awarding the construction contracts for the Third Stage of the Central Expressway were carried out on several occasions since 2014, but all the procurement processes carried out before 2021 were stopped midway due to the Government’s decision or the inability to reach a final agreement on the amount of aid loan facility. Also, the management had further stated that the transfer process had been expedited under Section 44 and the transfer activities of 70 plots had been completed and handed over to the project on 11.05.2021.
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