The Southern Transport Development Project (STDP), approved in November 1999, involves the construction of a 128-km expressway linking linking Kottawa in the outskirts of Colombo with Matara in the south. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided a loan of $90 million from the Asian Development Fund to finance the southern 61-km section from Kurundugahetekma to Matara, construction of which is currently on-going. Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) is financing the northern 67-km section from Kottawa to Kurundugahetekma with a loan of $120 million. The Government will finance the balance, originally estimated at $78.2 million but is expected to increase due to the trace change. The Government will finance the balance estimated at $78.2 million.