COLOMBO, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government will begin a passenger boat service on its waterways in capital Colombo later this month in order to ease traffic congestion as well as attract tourists, local media reports said Tuesday.
Project Director from the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development, Danushka Ramanayake, was quoted in a statement as saying that the new passenger boat service will commence in two weeks and has been planned centering the Beira Lake and the Wellawatta canal, in Colombo.
Travel distance between Wellawatta to the outskirts of the city will be cut down to 40 minutes from the existing 1.5 hours.
Sri Lanka is aiming to launch several new projects this year to boost tourism.
The Tourism Ministry recently said it is aiming to attract at least 1.9 million to 2 million tourists by the end of this year.
