Sri Lanka inspects sites for domestic airport in central hill country
Sri Lanka Civil Aviation Ministry sources say that a land in Kundasale is being considered to construct the Kandy domestic airport.
A group of aviation officials headed by the Deputy Minister of Aviation Priyankara Jayaratne yesterday toured three sites in the area and the preference was reportedly given to a land belonged to Peradeniya University.
The Minister has instructed the relevant officials to submit a feasibility report on the sites within two weeks.
The Ministry has planned to commence the construction of the domestic airport by March and to complete it within a year. A committee headed by the Secretary to the Ministry has been appointed to conduct a technical and social evaluation study in this regard.
Kundasale is a fast-developing area as the administrative township of the central hill capital Kandy.
Kandy, the cultural capital of Sri Lanka with the world-famous Temple of Tooth is a major tourist destination next to the Sri Lankan capital Colombo.
Sri Lanka has allocated Rs. 750 million for the development of domestic airports in the country aiming to boost tourism to picturesque regions.
(Source: www.colombopage.com – 17th December, 2011)