Participating in the third reading stage debate on budget 2015 under the expenditure heads of the Ministries of Highways, Ports and Shipping and Civil Aviation, MP Murugesu said all main roads in Jaffna and Kankesanthurai have been reconstructed. “The Government has spent around six billion rupees to develop the road network in the North. People of the North are heavily benefited by the reconstruction of roads. Their use has become manifest in improving infrastructure and livelihood promotion. The timely reconstruction of highways and roads has assisted the small and medium scale businessmen of the North to send their produce to the markets in the South.”

“The newly built roads have reduced the time duration to travel from Jaffna to Colombo via Mannar and Puttalam by about two hours. Development of the North is rapidly advancing. Some are questioning the use of roads and highways. But those roads and highways helped provide relief to Tamil people who had been battered for decades by the conflict.

Some TNA members have criticised government carpeting the highways. They level their allegations and criticism against government while making use of the carpet roads built by the government,” MP Murugesu said. (Special Reporter/HC)