“Govt. should adopt reestablished procurement process in big projects”

The government is reestablishing the procurement process and it should be implemented and adhered to, especially in big projects such as ADB-funded projects, Chamber of Construction Industry of Sri Lanka (CCI) President Archt. Jayantha Perera said at the soft launch of its premier event Build SL 2024 held in Colombo on Wednesday.

He said the procurement process had been changed to a procurement guideline. Guidelines may not necessarily be followed and now they have insisted that it should be a procurement process and it has been accepted. Hence the government should establish and use that process in the coming up big projects.

He said the industry was slowly catching up at the moment but nothing much has been done in the budget to improve the construction industry. Perera said the new tax, VAT is going to increase the construction cost further which is going to be a negative point and also the VAT on property and apartments is going to be another serious infringement and the market is not going to be good. He said that the property developers were very worried because the non-imposition of VAT in the construction sector was an incentive that was given to encourage investing in property. He said they are trying to arrange a round table meeting with the construction sector people, government and other officials to discuss this on one table over how to get this industry up because this industry caters to 30% of the population.

He said people working in the construction sector, not only professionals but technicians and builders, have moved out of the country and even if the construction industry was catching up they would have a problem finding manpower. He said they need to attract foreign investors and for them to come up here the country’s procedures and approval processes have to be streamlined. “They can’t be waiting for 3 years to get approval to start a project. That is one of the things we have to clear.”

He said they request the government to look at the construction industry positively because it caters to over 30% of the population and employs over a million of people.

Build SL2024 will showcase the latest developments in the building and construction industry, with eminent industry experts, stakeholders and decision-makers in attendance, making it an ideal event to source new products, network and usher in new contacts and business opportunities. Over 30,000 trade visitors are expected during the event, exploring to source the latest, inventive products on offer which are not easily accessible otherwise in the local market, in addition to new product launches.

This exhibition will also feature many stalls of companies from several countries making it a truly international exhibition. A special feature that will draw attention to visitors to the exhibition will be a ‘Job Fair’ arranged by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka which will cater to employment opportunities for Sri Lankans in Chinese projects within Sri Lanka.

The Build SL 2024 Exhibition is due to be held on May 10, 11 and 12, 2024 at the BMICH in Colombo. ANCL is the print media sponsor of the event.

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