Sri Lanka, Nov. 17 -- The Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Council and Local Government has carried out a comprehensive assessment of rural access infrastructure, in collaboration with Local Government Institutions, based on proposals submitted by the Provincial Councils for upgrading small bridges.

Night after night, during the television news, we were compelled to watch how a child, a patient, or an elderly person died while attempting to cross a river over a rickety old bridge in some far-flung village. Viewers saw how people relied on whatever they could find - bits of timber, sticks, makeshift belts, branches, even whole tree trunks - to inch their way across these perilous crossings.

The Government has now decided to ...