Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa recently declared in the Parliament that the Samagi Janabalawegaya was ready to support a programme to install signal systems at all unsafe railway crossings.
The Leader of the Opposition said this while responding to Transport, Highways and Mass Media Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana who stressed the need to install an alarm system at unsafe railway crossings, but mentioned under the current circumstances, the Government was having difficulty in allocating money for it.
The Minister said that a new gate system is to be introduced at minimum cost to prevent accidents at dangerous places on the rail roads and for that purpose the National Institute for Road Accident Prevention will provide Rs.750 million and the rest of the money is expected to be received through donations.
The Minister said that an experiment to introduce a new gate system was conducted at Godagama railway station in Kelani Valley road on Poson Poya day and it was successful. The Minister said that this is expected to be done under a minimum amount of Rs. 1.5 mn and it will be implemented as a social responsibility programme.
The Opposition Leader also requested for the estimate prepared for the implementation of the project, until the Cabinet approves the project. The Opposition Leader further said that he is ready to provide support for the early implementation of the project.