Committee on MCC yet to receive TOR

By Maheesha Mudugamuwa
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The newly appointed committee to review the $ 480 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) agreement is yet to be informed about its scope and the time frame of its mandate, The Sunday Morning learnt.

The four-member committee was appointed to study the proposed MCC agreement and make recommendations on its merits and demerits.
“We have no details yet. It has been reported in the media that a Cabinet decision has been taken to appoint a committee. The Government will give the committee their Terms of Reference (TOR). As of now, we don’t know the scope of the committee,” MCC Review Committee Chairman Prof. Lalithasiri Gunaruwan said.

Asked whether the Government had not yet formally communicated the decision to appoint the committee to the committee members, Prof. Gunaruwan said that since the decision to appoint the committee was only taken last week, it was too early.

The committee chaired by Prof. Gunaruwan comprises former Transport Ministry Secretary D.S. Jayaweera, Attorney-at-Law Nihal Jayawardena PC, and Nalaka Jayaweera.

Referred to in the agreement is the Land Project, which is budgeted at $ 67 million and aims to expand and improve existing government initiatives to increase the availability of spatial data and land rights information. The Transport Project is budgeted at $ 350 million and aims to improve urban and rural mobility in the Western, Central, Sabaragamuwa, and Uva Provinces.