'Dengue' in Construction sites

ඉදිකිරිම් සම්මාන උලෙළ 2015

Brandix HQ receives Green Mark – Platinum, second top award in a month

"The headquarters building of the Brandix Group has been awarded the Green Mark – Platinum certification by the Ceylon Institute of Builders (CIOB), making it the first commercial building in Sri Lanka to receive this rating, developed by the Building Construction Authority (BCA) of Singapore to assess Green buildings.

The milestone award presented to Brandix by Special Projects Minister Dr Sarath Amunugama, is the second won by the building within a month.



In November, the Brandix head office received the Gold at the National Energy Efficiency Awards.

The Green Mark recognises achievements in four key environment related indicators and a general category. In the assessment for the Green Mark – Platinum conferred on Brandix, the building was rated on Energy Efficiency, Water Efficiency, Sustainable Operations & Maintenance, Indoor Environment Quality and Other Green Features & Innovations.

The building received an overall score well above the 90 required to qualify for Platinum – the highest Green rating possible under the scheme.



 “Our new headquarters building is a perfect representation of the Group’s deep-rooted commitment to sustainability,” Brandix Director Feroz Omar said. “The latest in technology was utilised to minimise its environmental footprint, and the two awards won in the space of a month are a fitting recognition of its status as a new benchmark for a Green office buildings in Sri Lanka.”

Commissioned on 1st March 2015, the eight-storey, 37,800 square foot Brandix HQ building has 29,783 square feet of air conditioned office space.



 Purpose-designed by Architect Murad Ismail, the edifice accommodates approximately 200 people. The extensive use of double-glazed, Argon-filled, black tinted self-cleaning glass walls gives the structure improved thermal insulation and a high solar reflectance index, keeping its interiors cool. Daylight harvesting facilitated by a high window to wall ratio, the use of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting controlled by a smart system that switches on and adjusts lux levels based on ambient light and occupancy, and a highly energy-efficient water-cooled, oil free magnetic bearing air conditioning system, all integrated into a series of sophisticated intelligent building management systems, enable significant savings in energy consumption.



 One of the largest suppliers of apparel to top retail brands in the US and Europe, Brandix is an international award winner for eco-friendly manufacture and commitment to environmental best practice. The Group was recognised as Sri Lanka’s ‘Organisation Committed to Green’ by the Green Building Council of Sri Lanka (GBCSL) in 2014."



http://bizenglish.adaderana.lk/brandix-hq-receives-green-mark-platinum-second-top-award-in-a-month/

Foreign investor may get 5,000 acres on lease in SL: FM

land to a foreign investor up to a maximum of 5,000 acres and relax the criteria in respect of projects which are “labour intensive with the focus on job creation,” Finance Minister, Ravi Karunanayake, told The Hindu.


“Earlier, the lease tax was very stiff,” Mr. Karunanayake said. A foreign firm can do business without paying 100 per cent tax on leasing of land, though they would not be able to buy land in the island nation. The only stipulation for the investors getting 99-year-long lease would be that they should not “indulge in buying land” and their investments should be active.

For the purpose of foreign investments, the government had identified many thrust areas, each having a potential of two billion dollars.

Asked whether foreigners would be allowed for projects proposed under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode in respect of the dairy sector and the construction of 100,000 houses in five years, Mr Karunanayake replied in the affirmative and said the term “private” would mean a local or a foreign investor while the term “public” would refer only to citizens of the country.





http://www.dailymirror.lk/98261/foreign-investor-may-get-5-000-acres-on-lease-in-sl-fm

වරාය නගරයේ ඉරණම ගුරුදා විසදෙයි

කොළඹ වරාය නගර සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘතිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඉතා වැදගත් තීන්දුවක් බ්‍රහස්පතින්දා (19) රජය විසින් ගැනීමට නියමිත බව නීතිපති  අද (17) අභියාචනාධිකරණයට දැනුම් දුන්නේය.

එම ව්‍යාපෘතිය සම්බන්ධ පරිසර තත්ත්ව ඇගයීම් වාර්තා (පරිපූරක) ඒ සඳහා වන අමාත්‍ය ලේකම්  කමිටුවෙන් සළකා බැලීමෙන් පසුව එම තීරණය ගන්නා බව නීතිපතිවරයා වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටි නියෝජ්‍ය සොලිසිටර් ජනරාල් අර්ජුන ඔබේසේකර මහතා අධීකරණයට දැන්වීය.

පෝර්ට් සිටි ව්‍යාපෘතියට එරෙහිව පාරිසරික යුක්ති කේන්ද්‍රය විසින් ගොනු කැරුණු  රිට් පෙත්සම  කැඳවූ සභාපති විනිසුරු විජිත් මලල්ගොඩ මහතා කැදවිණි.

කොළඹ ගාලූමුවදොර ඉදිරිපිට මුහුදින් අක්කර 575 ක් ගොඩකර වරාය නගරය ඉදිකිරීමෙන් වෙරළබඩ පරිසර පද්ධතියට දැඩි බලපෑම් සිදුවන බව පෙත්සම්කාර පාරිසරික යුක්ති කේන්ද්‍රය සිය පෙත්සමින් පෙන්වා දේ.එබැවින් මෙම ව්‍යාපෘතිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් අත්සන් කර ඇති නීතිවිරෝධී සියලූ ගිවිසුම් අහෝසි කිඍීමට රිට් ආඥාවක් නිකුත් කරන ලෙසද පෙත්සම්කරුවන් ඉල්ලා සිටියි.

http://www.lankadeepa.lk/index.php/articles/361772

ඇස්බැස්ටස් තහනමට පෙර විකල්පයක් සොයන්න කලබලයක්..

රජය විසින් 2018 වසරේ සිට ඇස්බැස්ටස් තහනම් කිරීමට තීරණය කර ඇති නිසා ඇස්බැස්ටස් වෙනුවට සුදුසු විකල්ප සෙවීමට දැඩි අවධානයක් යොමු කර ඇත.

ජනාධිපති මෛත‍්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මහතා විසින් අදාල නිලධාරීන්ට දන්වා ඇත්තේ දැරිය හැකි මිල ගණන්වලින් යුතු ගුණාත්මක විකල්ප ඇති කිරීම, වැඩිදියුණු කිරීම සහ ඒවා භාවිතයට ජනතාව යොමු කිරීම ආදිය ගැන පියවර ගන්නා ලෙසයි.

මීට අමතරව රථවාහන සදහා බ්‍රේක් තහඩු, ක්ලච් තහඩු, ගෑස්කට් ආදියද ඇස්බැස්ටස්වලින් නිමවූ කඹ වැනි සියලූ ඇස්බැස්ටස් නිෂ්පාදන තහනම් කිරීමටද පියවර ගැනීමට නියමිතය.

http://lankacnews.com/sinhala/news/136808/

පිටත වරවුම් අධිවේගයේ වියදම අඩු කරන්න මං තීරු හයෙන් දෙකක් අඩු කරයි.

කිලෝ මීටර් 9.32ක දිගකින් යුතු කඩවත සිට කෙරවලපිටිය දක්වා වූ කොළඹ පිටත වටරවුම් මාර්ගයේ බිලියන 66ක් වූ අඅස්තමේන්තු පිරිවැය අඩු කර ගැනීම සඳහා මං තීරු හයක් වූ එහි මුල් සැලැස්ම මං තීරු හතරක් දක්වා අඩු කිරීමටත්, කොළඹ, මීගමුව මාර්ගයට සම්බන්ධ වන අන්තර් හුවමාරු ස්‌ථානය ඉවත් කිරීමටත් තීරණය කර තිබේ.

මින් රජය අඩු කර ගැනීමට බලාපොරොත්තු වන මුදල රුපියල් බිලියන 10කි.

http://lankacnews.com/sinhala/news/136765/#sthash.yR9q3kXt.dpuf

පිටත වටරවුම් අධිවේගයේ වියදම අඩුකිරීම චීනය පිළි නොගනී..

පිටත වටරවුම් මාර්ගයේ තෙවන අදියර වන කෙරවලපිටියේ සිට කඩවත දක්වා කිලෝ මීටර් 9.32 ක් වන ප්‍රමාණය ඉදිකිරීම සඳහා යන වියදම සියයට 35.9 කින් හෙවත් රුපියල් බිලියන 23.93 කින් අඩුකිරීමට රජය විසින් කර තිබෙන යෝජනා මෙම කොටසේ කොන්ත්‍රාත්කාර සමාගම සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම පිළි නොගත් බව රජය සඳහන්යි.

මෙම කොටස මංතීරු හතරකින් යුක්තව ඉදිකිරීම, කනුමත ඉදිකරන මාර්ගයන්හි දිග අඩුකිරීම, කනුමත ඉදිකරන මාර්ගයන්හි උස අඩුකිරීම යන යෝජනා මෙහිදී රජය ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබුණි.

කෙසේවෙතත්, මෙම රජයේ යෝජනාවන්ට කොන්ත්‍රාත් සමාගම වන Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) සමාගම කැමැත්ත පළකර නොමැති නිසා මෙහි ඉදිකිරීම් ප්‍රමාදවී ඇතැයි රජය සඳහන් කරයි.

මේ අනුව, මෙම ආයෝජනයේ ප්‍රතිලාභ ලබාගැනීම සඳහා මාර්ග ආරක්ෂණ ක්‍රමවේදයේ කිසිදු අඩුකිරීමකින් තොරව වැඩ විෂය පථයේ සිදුකළ හැකි වෙනස්කම් සම්බන්ධයෙන් වාර්තාවක් ඉදිකිරීම් අධීක්ෂණ උපදේශකවරයා වෙතින් ලබාගෙන ඇතැයි රජය පවසයි.

මෙම කොටස ඉදිකිරීමේදී මෙම අධිවේගී මාර්ග කොටසේ කෙරවලපිටියේ අන්තර් හුවමාරු ස්ථානයක් ඉදිකෙරන බැවින් ඊට ආසන්න දුරකින් පෑලියගොඩ පුත්තලම මාර්ගයේ ඉදිකිරීමට යෝජිත අන්තර් හුවමාරු ස්ථානය ඉවත් කිරීම සහ මෙම කොටසද මංතීරු හතරකින් යුක්තව ඉදිකිරීම මෙම වෙනස්කම් වේ.

මෙම වෙනස්කම් වලින් පසුව මෙම කොටසේ කොන්ත්‍රාත් වටිනාකම වන රුපියල් බිලියන 66.69 ක මුදලින් සියයට 14.84 ක් හෙවත් රුපියල් බිලියන 9.9 ක මුදලක් ඉතිරිකර ව්‍යාපෘතිය සිදුකිරීමට රජය විසින් අවසර ලබාදී ඇත.

 http://lankacnews.com/sinhala/news/136729/#sthash.UvMDqpGZ.dpuf

Hundred thousand jobs available in construction industry

A programme has been launched to train one hundred thousand persons and recruit them for employment by 2020 as a solution to the severe shortage of skilled workers in Sri Lanka’s construction industry, said National Construction Association of Sri Lanka chairman Sunil Liyanaarachchi.

Accordingly, 10,000 would be recruited for training as an immediate measure and they would be guaranteed jobs after training, said Liyanaarachchi.

“The duration of this training is four months. This training would be in 15 diverse sections in the construction industry. Trainees will be recruited while covering 14,000 Grama Sevaka Divisions islandwide,” added Liyanaarachchi.

While adding further, he said further details of these training programmes could be obtained by calling phone numbers 0112 786326 or 0112 786325.



 The Ministries of Vocational Training, Construction, Labour and the Prime Minister’s Office are coordinating this programme.

“We will also assist in obtaining the necessary financial assistance from banks for training in the fields like Quantity Surveying, Engineering etc. These are highly paid sectors, said the National Construction Association chairman.

While the construction sector is a speedily growing industry in Sri Lanka, it is currently faced with a severe shortage of skilled labour.

During the run-up to the just concluded general elections the United National Front promised that its government is prepared to create 100,000 jobs."



http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/hundred-thousand-jobs-available-heres-how-to-apply/

Malaysia’s MATRADE wants to finance Sri Lanka monorail projects

Malaysia’s MATRADE says it is ready to work with Sri Lanka in the areas of property development, monorail, railway infrastructure development, port operations, real estate, and also constructions of resorts

This was announced by MATRADE, when they met a group of Sri Lankan businessmen at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. The meeting was organized by Sri Lanka Malaysia Business Council and the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Silmi ABD Rahman, Director, Transport, Logistics, Machinery & MRO / Europe Trade and Services Promotion division of Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) also said, that the funding into projects in Sri Lanka will come through Malaysia’s EXIM bank channeled via the Central bank of Sri Lanka.



 Mr. Mangala Yapa, Secretary General/ CEO of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, elaborated on the economic policy of the newly appointed Sri Lankan government and invited Malaysian companies to consider investing in Sri Lanka with possible local collaborations.

The meeting was presided jointly by Mr. Aashiq Lafir, President of the Sri Lanka -Malaysia Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and Mr. Mangala Yapa, Secretary General / CEO of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

“We are glad to assist you to identify matching business partners and provide necessary information regarding prevailing regulations in Sri Lanka for investments in the areas we discussed.” said Mr. Aashiq Lafir.

He also invited MATRADE (Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation) to consider relocating or operating an external office in Colombo to speed up the process of further strengthening trade and investment opportunities between Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

The meeting took place on Monday evening at the Ceylon Chamber.



http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/malaysias-matrade-wants-to-finance-sri-lanka-monorail-projects/

ඇස්බැස්ටස් තහනම් කරන්න ජනපති සූදානම්…

2018න් පසු ශ‍්‍රි ලංකාවට ඇස්බැස්ටස් තහඩු ගෙන්වීම තහනම් කරන බව ජනාධිපති මෛත‍්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මහතා පවසයි.

කොළඹදී පැවති උත්සව සභාවක් අමතමින් ඔහු කියා සිටියේ මහජන සෞඛ්‍යට ඇස්බැස්ටස් තහඩු මහත් තර්ජනයක්ව ඇති බැවින් ඇමැති මණ්ඩලය සමග සාකච්ඡුා කර මෙම පියවර ගන්නා බවයි.

පසුගිය සන්ධාන රජයේ සෞඛ්‍ය ඇමැතිවරයා ලෙස තමන් සිටියදී මෙම යෝජනාව ඉදිරිපත් කළද ඉහළ පුද්ගලයන් ඊට හරස් වූ බවද ජනාධිපතිවරයා කියා සිටියේය.

http://lankacnews.com/sinhala/news/135064/

Major Banks come forward to promote first Luxury Apartment development in Kandy – Dynasty Residence

Kandy the last hill capital of Sri Lanka is transforming into the next best investment destination in the country. The highly anticipated Colombo-Kandy Expressway commenced last week with an ambitious target set by the Prime Minister to be completed by the end of 2017. Travel time from Colombo to Kandy will be reduced from a grueling journey of four hours to less than one hour.  Being the second largest city in the island, Kandy is now under the spot light of the Government for infrastructure developments and city beautification. The Colombo-Kandy expressway will definitely have a greater impact for attracting investments to create further economic growth and increase the property values. The World Bank is also funding Kandy under the ‘Strategic Cities Development Project in Sri Lanka’ to develop a more and better competitive, environmentally sustainable and a well linked city. 

Developers of Dynasty Residence, GVR Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd funded by the Serendib Investment Group from USA has foreseen these development opportunities and pioneered the first ever integrated development project in Kandy with a Luxury Condominium and a Star Class Hotel. Dynasty Residence, the 19-storey masterpiece ideally located minutes away from the proposed Colombo-Kandy Expressway exit. Also, the location is blessed with multiple access routes, which can be used to bypass the congested areas and reach the outskirts of the city during traffic hours.

Showcasing strong support for this project, several major local banks including Sampath Bank PLC, Hatton National Bank PLC and National Development Bank PLC have entered into tripartite agreements with GVR Lanka, to provide home loan facilities for this development at very attractive interest rates. These banks are also promoting this development as a possible investment for their High Net worth clients. Soon other major banks are expected to be on board.

Dynasty Residence is designed to accommodate a wide audience of demanding clientele, whether they are looking for their dream home, a home away from home, a peaceful and fulfilled retirement or even a great investment opportunity.

The apartments overlooking the breathtaking scenery of the lush hill capital and the Majestic Mahaweli River, offers a new era of luxurious and serene living brought about by world class architectural designs, engineering and construction excellence. The developers are committed to protecting the environment and this will be the first residential apartment project designed in Sri Lanka under the US Green building Council’s LEED rating system. Under this system the apartment is designed for energy & water efficiency and natural ventilation thought out the building.

Dynasty Residence is equipped with all the necessary amenities and comprises of 93 units configured in to 24 single bedroom, 23 two – bedroom, 25 three – bedroom, 12 four – bedroom, 5 four – bedroom duplex SKY villas and 4 exquisite penthouse suites with their own private sky gardens including golf putting and an entertainment area. Dynasty Residence is the only apartment complex in Sri Lanka to offer 42% of the total floor area specifically dedicated for an elegant lifestyle experience with a rooftop jogging track and a healing/reading garden, swimming pool and kiddies’ pool, gymnasium, multi-function room, game room, medical facility, mini-market and Café, outdoor BBQ area and a 24 hour security system.

Recently, the Kandy Municipal Council officially authorized GVR Lanka to develop and maintain the river front property, complementing the value of the development. This is a CSR effort by GVR Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd.

Commenting on the latest status of the project, Mr. Mahasen Samaravijaya – Founder and Chairman of GVR Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd stated that “our Design Build Construction partner, Sanken Construction is committed to delivering a high quality product in a record breaking completion time of 22 months and well within the planned construction budget. This project would not have been possible without the support and dedication from all our consultants; Architecture & Interiors – RDC Architects (Pte) Singapore in collaboration with Surath Wickramasinghe Associates. QS Consultants, Engineer in the contract and Project Management – Davis Langdon KPK, Singapore (A subsidiary of AECOM Company). Green Building Consultant – Green Technologies FZCO in Dubai. Structural Engineering Consultant – Mr. Vasantha Ratnayake. MEP Consultants – KE Engineering Consultants and EIA Consultant – Mr. Hemantha Jayasundara”.

About GVR Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd.: GVR Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd is a BOI-approved real estate development company registered in Sri Lanka founded by two Sri Lankan-born, US-based entrepreneurs, Mohan Chandramohan and Mahasen Samaravijaya.  The company is based at the IBM Building, Navam Mawatha, Colombo 02

http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/major-banks-come-forward-to-promote-first-luxury-apartment-development-in-kandy-dynasty-residence/

පෝට් සිටි නඩුව කල් යයි

කොළඹ වරාය නගර ව්‍යාපෘතිය (පෝර්ට් සිටි) පිළිබඳව අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩලය මෙතෙක් ගෙන ඇති තීන්දු තීරණ ගැන ඉදිරියේදී අධිකරණයට කරුණු වාර්තා කරන්නැයි අභියාචනාධිකරණය අද(07) නීතිපතිට දැනුම්දුන්නේය.
අභියාචනාධිකරණය මෙසේ දැනුම් දුන්නේ  කොළඹ වරාය නගර ව්‍යාපෘතියට එරෙහිව පාරිසරික යුක්ති කේන්ද්‍රය විසින් ගොනු කැරුණු රිට් පෙත්සමක් අද(7) කැඳවු අවස්ථාවේ අභියාචනාධිකරණ සභාපති  විනිසුරු  විජිත් මලල්ගොඩ සහ එච්.සී.ජේ.මඩවල හමුවේ පෙනී සිටි නියෝජ්‍ය සොලිසිටර් ජනරාල්  අර්ජුන ඔබේසේකර මහතා නව පාරිසරික වාර්තාවක් සකස් කොට එය ඉදිරියේදී අධිකරණයට ලබාදීමේ හැකියාවක් පවතින බව කීය.
එසේම එම වාර්තාව සැකසීමේදී මහජන අදහස් විමසා බැලීමට සූදානම් යැයිද ඔහු කීවේය.
සැප්තැම්බර් 09 වැනිදාට නඩුව කල් තැබිණි.



http://www.lankadeepa.lk/index.php/articles/338642

Committee to probe Security Services Headquarters construction project

The Cabinet has appointed an official committee to investigate into and report on the activities of the Security Services Headquarters construction project being implemented at Akuregoda in Battaramulla.

The attention of the Cabinet has been focused on the report submitted by the officials’ committee on the following matters relating to a company which has been appointed to provide consultancy services to this project:



 • This company has been selected without any competitive bidding processes



 • The company has registered itself with the Registrar of Companies and the Sri Lanka Architects Institute only after being selected to provide the advisory services.



 • The relevant authorities have not entered into a proper agreement to obtain the services of this company, and



 • To obtain the advisory services for the entire project it has been decided to pay this company a sum of Rs. 606.032 million. Though a sum of Rs. 509.926 (83% of the amount to be paid) has been paid as of 31.05.2015, only 30.02% relating to the project has been carried out so far.

The Cabinet decided to investigate into these matters pointed out in the report of the officials’ committee report on this advisory company and take appropriate legal action based on the results of these investigations."



http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/committee-to-probe-security-services-headquarters-construction-project/

Rameswaram-T'mannar road, rail link a reality soon!

NEW DELHI: A road and rail link between India's Rameswaram and Sri Lanka's Thalaimannar could be a reality soon as the government of India has asked Asian Development Bank to carry out pre-feasibility study for financing the project across Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka.

A short boat ride used to connect the railway lines that ended at Thalaimannar in Sri Lanka and Dhanushkodi in India, which was in operation till 1966.



 The Project may be a combination of bridge and underwater tunnel which may allow unhindered movement of ships. As the project is in the conceptual stage, it is too early to comment on the time bound programme of this project.

However, the government of SriLanka is yet to give its nod to the project, Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways, Pon. Radhakrishnan informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday. "



http://www.dailymirror.lk/82027/road-and-rail-between-rameswaram-and-thalaimannar-could-be-a-reality-soon

Construction of Colombo-Kandy Expressway kicks off today

The first phase of construction work on the Colombo-Kandy Expressway will begin today (03 August) with the participation of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, says the government.

The first phase of the Colombo-Kandy or Central Expressway is planned for construction from Kadawatha to Mirigama while its second phase would be from Mirigama to Kurunegala.



 The third phase would be from Kurunegala to Kandy, says the government.

Recently the government approved the contract for the construction of the 32.55 kilometre stretch of this expressway from Kossinna to Mirigama.


http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/construction-of-colombo-kandy-expressway-kicks-off-today/

Govt. changes northern expressway structure: UPFA

The UPFA today charged the present government had reduced the number of lanes of the Northern Expressway planned by the previous government in order to show that it was able to reduce the cost of the project.

Colombo District UPFA Candidate Danasiri Amaratunga said the UNP led government had reduced the number of the lanes of the expressway to two from three.

 “The UPFA government introduced the project with three lanes to ease the increasing traffic. However, the UNP government had reduced the number of lanes to two to show it was succeed in reducing the project cost. The government had also changed the expressway’s name to ‘Central Expressway’,” Mr. Amaratunga said.

He said the government had allowed the same old company to carry out the construction of the expressway after accusing it previously.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/80939/govt-changes-northern-expressway-structure-upfa

Treasury guarantee to Bank of Ceylon for Outer Circular Highway Phase II RDA loan

The government is to grant a Treasury guarantee to the Bank of Ceylon for the Road Development Authority (RDA) to enter into a loan agreement with the Bank for the consultancy services for construction supervision of civil works for the Northern Expressway Phase II stretch of the Kerawalapitiya to Kadawatha Outer Circular Highway project.

This is on a proposal by Minister of Highways and Investment Promotion, Kabeer Hashim."



http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/treasury-guarantee-to-bank-of-ceylon-for-outer-circular-highway-phase-ii-rda-loan/

Committee to study electrification of Panadura-Veyangoda railway network

The Cabinet approved a joint proposal by Ministers of Internal Transport R.M. Ranjith Madduma Bandara and Power and Energy Patali Champika Ranawaka to grant policy priority to electrify the Colombo urban railway service, starting with urban railways, to match contemporary global standards. 




As an initial step towards this, a steering committee is to be formed comprising senior officials representing the Ministries of Internal Transport, Power and Energy, the Ceylon Electricity Board, Department of Sri Lanka Railways, the Institution of Engineers, the Department of National Planning, and the General Treasury to make a detailed study of the feasibility of electrifying the railway segment between Panadura and Veyangoda and also to determine appropriate strategies and projects to electrify the railway system based on the findings of the feasibility reports.

The feasibility study will be based on the preliminary feasibility assessment conducted in 2008 jointly by the Institution of Engineers of Sri Lanka, the Ceylon Electricity Board and the Department of Sri Lanka Railways."





http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/committee-to-study-electrification-of-panadura-veyangoda-railway-network/

Colombo-Kandy Central Expressway splits into four phases

The construction of the Colombo-Kandy Central Expressway is to be implemented in four phases by dividing its full length into four parts according to the recommendations of the Cabinet Subcommittee on Economic Affairs.

The first phase would be from Kadawatha to Meerigama with the loan assistance from China EXIM Bank.



The second would be the Meerigama to Kurunegala stretch (with the Ambepussa link) which is to be funded by the Asian Development Bank

The stretch from Pothuhera to Kandy which would be the third phase will be funded by the loan assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the final and fourth phase of the stretch from Kurunegala to Dambulla would be handled by local contractors through funds collected through a local bond issue.



 The proposal by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to approve the appointment of Procurement Committees, Negotiation Committees, and Loan negotiations on the recommendations of the Cabinet Subcommittee on Economic Affairs to accelerate the commencement of this project was approved by the Cabinet."



http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/colombo-kandy-central-expressway-splits-into-four-phases/

Construction of Matara-H’tota segment of expressway inaugurated

The construction work on the extension of the Southern Expressway from Matara to Hambantota, which is funded by China, was inaugurated by President Maithripala Sirisena and the Chinese Ambassador this morning.

The expenditure for the construction of the 75-kilometer segment is estimated at Rs. 45 billion. 




It will connect Matara- Godagama to Hambantota Harbor via Beliatta, Andarawewa, and Mattala.

The completed Southern Expressway will be connected to Colombo-Kandy Expressway and Colombo-Katunayake Airport Expressway via the Colombo Outer Circular Highway which is expected to reduce the traffic congestion in the Colombo city and provide faster access to outskirts.

The section of Southern Expressway from Pinnaduwa (Galle) to Godagama (Matara) was opened to public on 15th March 2014.



The section from Kottawa to Pinnaduwa (Galle) was completed in November 2011 and is in operation at present.

Meanwhile, a part of the outer Colombo Highway from Kaduwela to Kadawatha is expected to be vested with the public by the President next week.
"



http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/construction-of-matara-htota-segment-of-expressway-inaugurated/

High-speed elevators at Lotus Tower goes before courts

Micro Constructions has gone before courts claiming that Japan’s Fujitec Corporation and its joint venture company Fujitec Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, the Board of Investment approved Sri Lankan subsidiary established by Micro Holdings Ltd to which the former government had awarded the tender for the supply and installation of high-speed elevators and escalators to the ‘Nelum Kuluna’ or Lotus Tower being constructed at D.R. Wejewardene Mawatha in Colombo, are preparing to transfer this tender to another company and for court to intervene in this issue and stop such a transfer.  



Accordingly, the Colombo District Court recently issued an enjoining order preventing this tender from being canceled.

The construction contractors to the Lotus Tower, China’s CNEIEC Ltd and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) have been named as respondents.

The total height of the Lotus Tower being constructed by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission at D.R. Wejewardene Mawatha in Colombo is 350 metres."



http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/high-speed-elevators-at-lotus-tower-goes-before-courts/

MR Govt. launched projects without funds

Former president Chandrika Kumaratunge said today the Mahinda Rajapaksa government had initiated development projects illegally without finding funds needed for them and that the present government has had to pay back the loans obtained by them at exorbitant interest rates.



 “No project can be initiated without crediting funds in the Treasury or finalising documents needed to fund such projects. It is illegal to do so. But the previous government launched such development projects including a drinking water supply scheme at an estimated cost of Rs.560 billion. They were forced to obtain loans at exorbitant interest rates to fund this project when contractors asked for money. Governments usually do not obtain loans at an interest rate of more than 2 percent but the previous government had obtained loans at interest rates of 9 per cent from China and European countries,” Ms. Kumaratunge said.



 She said the government was renegotiating development projects initiated by the previous government without following the due tender procedure.(Ajith Siriwardana)"





http://www.dailymirror.lk/76169/mr-govt-launched-projects-without-funds-cbk

අන්තර් ජාතික බේරුම්කරණ මධ්‍යස්ථානය

මෑතකදි  පිහිට වු අන්තර්  ජාතික බේරුම්කරණ මධ්‍යස්ථානය ස්වාධින සමාගමක්  ලෙස ලියාපදිංචි  කිරිමට ක්‍රියාකරන බව අධිකරණ අමාත්‍යංශයේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ සහකාර ලේකම්  (නිති) අනුෂා මුණසිංහ මහත්මිය පැවසුවාය.

“එසේ නිදහස්  සමාගමක්  බවට පත්කිරිමෙන් ශ්‍රි ලංකාවට  හොඳ ආයෝජන අවස්ථා ජාත්‍යන්තරයෙන් උදාකර  ගැනීමට  හැකිවනු ඇත”.

“ඊට  හේතුව වන්නේ ලොව ඕනෑම බලවත්  සමාගමකට තම බේරුම්කරණ අඩු  පිරිවැයකින් ශ්‍රි ලංකාවේ  මෙම මධ්‍යස්ථානයෙන්  ඉටුකර  ගැනිමට  හැකිවීමයි”.

“ඒ සඳහා  බේරුම්කරණ ක්‍ෂේත්‍රෙය්  නියැළි දක්ෂ නීතිඤවරු  ශ්‍රි  ලංකාවේ  සිටිති”.

ශ්‍රි ලංකාවට  ආසන්නයේම පවත්වාගෙන යන සෙසු බේරුම්කාර  මධ්‍යස්ථානය  සිංගප්පුරුවේ  පිහිටා  ඇත.

එම මධ්‍යස්ථානය හා සමාන සේවයක්  අඩු පිරිවැයකින් ලබාදිමට හැකි මධ්‍යස්ථානය පත්වෙන බවත්  මුණසිංහ මහත්මිය සඳහන්  කළාය. ජාත්‍යන්තරයේ  බේරුම්කරණ සම්බන්ධ අත්දැකිම් ඇති  විද්වතකු  ලෙස සැළකෙන ආචාර්ය අසංග ගුණවර්ධන මහතා  මෙම මධ්‍යස්ථානය ඇති  කිරිමේ පදනම වෙනුවෙන්  තම සේවය නොමිලේ ලබාදුන්  බවද මුණසිංහ මහත්මිය පැවසුවාය.

මෙවන් මධ්‍යස්ථානයක්  ශ්‍රි ලංකාවේ ක්‍රියාත්මක විම ජාත්‍යන්තරය  හමුවේ  ශ්‍රි ලංකාවේ  ප්‍රතිරූපය ඉතා ඉහළ තලයකට  ගෙන ඒමක් බවත්  මුණසිංහ මහත්මිය ප්‍රකාශ කළාය.

අන්තර්ජාතික බේරුම්කරණ මධ්‍යස්ථානය ඉකුත්දා කොළඹ කොටුවේ  ලෝක වෙළඳ මධ්‍යස්ථානයේදී අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය  රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා  විවෘත කළේය.\

http://www.lankadeepa.lk/index.php/articles/324020

ජාත්‍යන්තර බේරුම් කරන මධ්‍යස්ථානය විවෘතවේ

මෙරට තුල වාණිජ අපරාධ බොහෝ සිදුවන බැවින් ඒවා විමර්ශනයට වෙනම විමර්ශන ඒකකයක් පිහිටුවීමට කටයුතු කල යුතු යයි අගමැති රනිල් වික‍්‍රමසිංහ මහතා පවසයි.

කොළඹ ලෝක වෙළද මධ්‍යස්ථාන ගොඩනැගිල්ලේදී  ජාත්‍යන්තර බේරුම් කරන මධ්‍යස්ථානය විවෘත කිරීමේ අවස්ථාවට එක්වෙමින් ඔහු කියා සිටියේ කොටස් වෙළදපොළ මෙරට සිදුවෙමින් පතින වාණිජ මට්ටමේ අපරාධවලට හොදම නිදසුන වශයෙන් පෙන්වා දිය හැකි බවද අග‍්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා සදහන් කරයි.

එසේම සංවිධානාත්මක  අපරාධ සුදු කරපටි අපරාධ සහ මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය  අපරාධ වැළැක්වීමටත් වෙනමම විමර්ශන ඒකකයක් පිහිටවිය යුතු බවද ඔහු එහිදී කියා සිටියේය.





Source: https://lankacnews.com/sinhala/news/132367/

Government green light for Katunayake Airport development

The government is preparing to sign the Rs. 48,969 million loan agreements with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the construction of the second phase of the development work for the Bandaranaike International Airport.



 The Cabinet has approved the signing of this agreement and the government says by this construction and extending the facilities it expects to increase the annual servicing of passengers at the Bandaranaike International Airport to 15 million by 2020.

Currently the airport serves some seven million passengers per year and it has almost reached its maximum.

This project was originally planned during the tenure of the previous government.



http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/government-green-light-for-katunayake-airport-development/

Opening of Outer Circular highway’s Kaduwela-Kadawatha stretch delayed

The Kaduwela to Kadawatha 8.9 kilometre stretch of the Outer Circular highway which connects the Southern Expressway at Kottawa under its second phase and on which the former government had already started work and was scheduled to be completed and declared open this month (May) has been reportedly been delayed till June.



 A spokesman from the Highways and Investment Promotion Ministry said since the construction work could not be completed by end May this section would be definitely declared open by mid June.

The government has planned to begin construction on the 9.32 kilometre stretch of this highway from Kadawatha to Kerawalapitiya under the third phase very soon.

Yesterday (25 May) while quoting a spokesman from the Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd. (MCC) which is the main contractor of the third phase of the Outer Circular highway, the Chinese embassy in Colombo stated that the allegation of the costs of this project rising was false.



 Once the third phase of this highway is completed, anyone arriving from the Southern Expressway could directly proceed to Katunayake.

The complete distance of the Outer Circular highway is 29.1 kilometres."



Source: http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/opening-of-outer-circular-highways-kaduwela-kadawatha-stretch-delayed/

Shangri-La launches Rs. 200 million luxury apartments in Colombo

The Hong Kong based Shangri-La Group has launched its luxury apartments being constructed under its USD 450 million investment mixed development project at Galle Face in Colombo.

The prices of these luxury apartments range from USD 700,000 (approximately Rs. 95 million) to USD 1.5 million (approximately Rs. 204 million) each, says Shangri-La.



 According to the developers, the smallest apartment is some 1,700 square feet.

Under this Shangri-La project, 406 apartments, a luxury hotel and shopping and office complex are to be constructed.

The luxury hotel comprises 540 rooms and the shopping complex would be 50,000 square feet in extent.

The floor extent reserved for office facilities is 125,000 square feet.

Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo is to open during the second quarter of 2017 and the apartment complex during the final quarter of the same year."



Source:http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/shangri-la-launches-rs-200-million-luxury-apartments-in-colombo/

New government gets involved in Kottawa New City’s transport hub

The new government is preparing to offer the contract for the multipurpose transport hub and city proposed by the earlier government to be constructed at Makumbura in Kottawa funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), to Sierra Construction (Pvt) Ltd which has submitted the lowest quotation.

Cabinet has approved the proposal in this regard submitted by Urban Development, Water Supply & Drainage Minister Rauff Hakeem.



 The Makumbura New City is to be reportedly transformed into a transportation hub catering to the needs of commuters by linking bus and railway transport needs of the public.

A passenger bus terminal, a railway station, bus/hiring vehicle parking place and the necessary road system would be constructed under this proposed project, said the new government.

During the former regime, 25 acres of land at Makumbura in Kottawa were acquired by the Urban Development Authority for this multipurpose transport hub.



 The Kottawa-Maalapalla railway track was also proposed to be extended to this new station.

According to plans, the High Level road is to be diverted on pillars at this location.



Source: http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/new-government-gets-involved-in-kottawa-new-citys-transport-hub/

Sri Lankas can travel on Outer Circular Highway to Kadawatha soon

The second phase of the Outer Circular Highway which connects the Southern Expressway at Kottawa which was started by the former government from Kaduwela to Kadawatha, spanning a distance of 8.9 kilometres will be completed and opened to the public in May, Deputy Minister of Highways and Investment Promotion Eran Wickremaratne told www.adaderanabiz.lk



 The government did not have any issues with the construction of this highway but only had some problems with the cost estimates for its construction, he added.

While the second phase of this highway would be opened by end May, construction work would also begin on the third phase which is the 9.32 kilometre stretch from Kadawatha to Kerawalapitiya by mid March, said Deputy Minister Wickremaratne.

The government had earlier stated that the estimated costs for the approved civil contracts for the third phase is Rs. 66.6 billion, 95 per cent of this cost would be met with a loan from the Export Import Bank of China.



 The land acquisition for this project is now nearing completion while Rs. 1.1 billion is reportedly to be paid as compensation.

The government also stated that the construction work would begin after the recommendations of the review committee appointed to evaluate the technical and financial aspects of this project.

The loan agreement for this project was signed in Colombo during the earlier regime by former Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera and Export Import Bank of China’s Chairman Li Ruogu.

Once the third phase of this highway is completed, those using the Southern Expressway could continue directly to Katunayake. The total distance of the Outer Circular Highway is 29.1 kilometres."



http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/exclusive-sri-lankas-can-travel-on-outer-circular-highway-from-may/

AG requests more time to inform govt’s stance on Port City

Attorney General today requested more time from the Court of Appeal to inform the government’s stance over the Colombo Port City project.

The Attorney General made the request subsequent to a writ application filed by the Centre for Environment Justice seeking an order to halt the Colombo Port City project.

Accordingly the Court of Appeal directed the Attorney General to file a report regarding the government’s stance on the project on June 15.



http://www.dailymirror.lk/70751/ag-requests-more-time-to-inform-govt-s-stance-on-port-city

Colombo Port City Project, Monster or Trans-formative Opportunity?

Since the beginning of the recent Presidential election campaign, development projects initiated or implemented by the Rajapaksa administration have come under severe criticism by the opposition, mainly on the grounds of corruption or wasteful expenditure. Although the allegations are still being made and are yet to be substantiated in a court of law it is reasonable to assume that a perception has been created among the public against corruption and malpractices. However, long term socio-economic benefits of most of these projects have not been questioned by even the anti-corruption critiques. The writer can vividly remember a similar uproar against the Accelerated Mahaweli Development Project and its numerous components during the early 1980s. In both these situations, criticisms were not necessarily on the outcomes of the project implementation but on the transparency of the processes. Among the projects initiated by the previous administration which came under severe scrutiny, the largest, most diversified and integrated development project is The Colombo Port City Project (CPCP). The purpose of this article is to highlight the salient features of this landmark project and analyse the impact of implementing a project of this nature on the Island of Sri Lanka, strategically located in the Indian Ocean.

What is the Colombo Port City Project (CPCP) all about?
As usual Sri Lankan politicians, particularly those groups who are opposing the specific development projects, tend to depend on ‘slogans’ and vituperative statements instead of presenting a balanced analytical view. The CPCP too, unfortunately, is being subjected to senseless attacks rather than substantive criticism based on facts and figures. At the end of the day, the general public and even some of the critics have a very vague understanding of the project, its components and potential impact on Sri Lanka’s future development. The Accelerated Mahaweli Development Project too generated similar politically motivated backlashes.

The CPCP, according to reports, was conceived by the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickramasinghe even prior to year 2001. He has motivated by a prospective Singaporean investor who later withdrew due to an inability to raise the required funding for implementation. After the end of the war, in 2009, the Rajapaksa government initiated an unprecedented infrastructure development program within which the CPCP becomes the centerpiece. Fortunately, this time around funding in the form of direct investment, with no burden on government coffers has originated from a Chinese company, the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC).

The Chinese company would have been in a more advantageous position to implement this project due to work previously undertaken by another Chinese investment project, the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT). In the case of the CICT project as well as the Port City Project, investors would have been greatly benefited from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded Colombo breakwater construction which had already been completed. In this sense, this entire integrated Colombo port expansion and Port City development could be seen as a logical development that has materialised over a long period.

As explained in the promotional material, the salient features of the project include: a marina and yacht club, a central boulevard, a sea view apartment complex and a five star hotel, shopping and entertainment centre, office space, a mini golf course, and many other modern facilities. The first phase of the project is the reclamation of land by the CCCC and the cost estimated for this was US$ 1.5 billion. Once the reclamation is completed the overall investment is expected to be between US$ 15 to 20 billion.

Potential Benefits: Developing Sri Lanka as an International Commercial Centre

Although the CPCP is subjected to many controversies no one has challenged the potential benefits of a massive integrated development project of this nature. The reclamation and construction of the port city will itself create subcontracting and employment opportunities for the local community. The medium and long-term vision of the sponsors of the project is to establish Colombo as an international business hub and a unique tourist destination in Asia. Therefore, the opportunities to be created for the Sri Lankan youth in many modern economic sectors will be very substantial in the long term.

The investment envisaged and the scale of operations of CPCP are massive in the context of a small economy like Sri Lanka. It is a very rare occurrence to attract 100% foreign investment for a project which has a very long gestation period. In many other countries such massive port city developments have been co-funded by the government of the host country and the governments of other friendly nations with the balance investment being generated from private sources. The best example of promoting a port city through direct government initiative and investment is the Dubai Port City Project.

The remarkable achievement of Sri Lanka was its ability to attract 100% foreign investment to implement this initiative of hitherto unheard magnitude in South Asia. The multitude of commercial activities envisaged to be promoted within the port city complex will have roll over beneficial effects throughout Sri Lanka for generations to come.

The incentives offered to the developers constitute 20 hectares of freehold and a further 88 hectares on a 99 year lease out of the total reclaimed land of 233 hectares. As a result, this US $15 – 20 billion investment can be implemented without any addition to the country’s debt burden at a time when the headroom for such borrowing has become constrained.

Environmental Concerns

Any development projects which will lead to the slightest changes in the environment may be criticised as ‘environmentally damaging’. The CPCP which involves large scale reclamation, adding to the land mass of the island, and sand mining from the ocean can easily be tarnished as having negative impact in the longer term. Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) too may come forward with numerous reasons as to why a project of this nature should not be implemented. In this context, the infamous protest campaign waged against the Kandalama hotel project with fabricated environmental concerns is a good example. Of course, environmentalists went beyond natural science and logic to stage protests in Dambulla. Among those environmentalist NGOs there were quite a few organisations promoted and funded by various interest groups both foreign and local. Today, Kandalama is one of the most environment friendly hotels in the country which earns millions of dollars from tourists while helping the surrounding villagers. A similar example of damage caused by the so called environmentalists was the postponement of the Norochcholai Power Plant project for decades due to the protests by interested parties. Consequently, households and businesses were saddled with higher electricity prices which undermined the competitiveness of the economy. As a result ouseholds suffered lower disposable income and the economy experienced a loss of investment and employment. Taking these historical facts into consideration no government in a country like Sri Lanka should abandon or even delay multifaceted, long gestation projects such as the port city development, highway construction or establishment of industries on the basis of unsubstantiated protests by so-called environmental groups.

Concerns of Other Countries

It appears that there are some hidden hands behind the objections to CPC project, based on misconceived notions promoted and supported by countries that are annoyed by the Chinese emergence as a major economic power and investing in countries which they consider as within their sphere of influence. Unfortunately, some of these countries fail to understand that development of port cities such as Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong have benefited the hinterland massively. When Singapore was opening up and developing with FDI from all over the world big brothers like Malaysia and Indonesia might have had the same attitude towards the fast developing neighbor. Fortunately, Singapore had a brave, visionary leader in Lee Kuan Yew.

Options Available for the President, Prime Minister the Government and Sri Lanka

1.Abandon the project, cancel all approvals granted and restore the Colombo water front. This will entail enormous direct and indirect costs probably leading to expensive international litigation. In future, foreign investors whether Chinese, Americans, British or Indians will have difficulty in trusting any agreement entered into by the Sri Lankan government.
2.Abandon the project, provided the interest groups or countries opposing the implementation of the port city by a Chinese firm can guarantee immediate replacement of such investors with the parties they feel comfortable with.
3.Stand firm and allow the current arrangement to proceed on the understanding that any corrective action, where necessary, will be taken by CCCC to improve the final outcome.

What should not be done by any sensible leadership in Sri Lanka is to forgo a rare opportunity of a massive multifaceted investment project funded 100%by FDI. Sri Lankans hope that the President, the Prime Minister and their economic team will expeditiously take decisions and remedial actions, where necessary, to ensure the country’s development will continue to progress irrespective of the political differences, personal animosities and/or egoistic conflicts. When progress is stalled it is the leadership that is accountable to the people and finally pay the supreme price of losing power.

Well Meaning Advice

The leaders should not allow personal animosities, vengeance and petty political considerations to prevail in making policy decisions. They should be strictly guided by facts, and most importantly by what is good for the country in the long term, when deciding on development priorities for the country, especially with regard to crucial areas such as investment, both FDI and local, fiscal consolidation and promoting ease of doing business.Good governance, reconciliation and co-existence must go beyond the present emphasis on ethnic harmony to a clear and transparent programme of action to include the business sector too.

It is important to formulate and implement a clear and forward-looking medium-term economic strategy for creating a conducive investment climate which incentivizes the private sector to play its essential locomotive role in the economy.

This is the Seventy First Economic Alert of Pathfinder Foundation. Readers’ comments are welcome at www.pathfinderfoundation.org

Sourcs : http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/colombo-port-city-project-monster-or-trans-formative-opportunity/

Port City awaits instructions from Sri Lankan Government

CHEC Port City, a subsidiary of China Communication Construction Company (CCCC) and the Project Company of the Colombo Port City states the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is yet to invite the Company for a discussion or issue a directive to the company regarding the project review process,which is currently underway.

The Project Company has requested for an opportunity to express its concerns regarding the temporary suspension to the GoSLappointed Review Committee, and is willing to fully corporate with the committee during the review process.

The Project Company complied with the suspension notice issued on March 6, 2015 immediately and as per the directive given by the Sir Lankan Government, submitted copies of all permits and approvals within two working days.The Company notes these permits and approvals were originally issued by the relevant competent authorities of the Government of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA),clearly directing the Project Company to commence reclamation work of the Colombo Port City.

In keeping with the agreement signed between the Project Company and the Sri Lankan Government, the responsibility for securing approvals and permits relating to the project is vested with the Government of Sri Lanka and SLPA, whilst the commercial risk of the project is being absorbed by the Project Company, as the total project development cost of approximately USD 1.4 billion, is invested by the Project Company.

As such, the commissioning of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study and other permits and consents, in keeping with the agreed Public-Private Partnership (PPP) structure of the project, were secured by the SLPA and was then referred to the Project Company. SLPA engaged with the University of Moratuwa, to conduct the EIA. The company reiterates that EIA was commissioned by the SLPA, in keeping with the Terms of Reference (ToR) formulated by a Sri Lanka Government appointed Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) comprising senior officials and agencies from Sri Lanka including the Coast Conservation Department and the Central Environmental Authority, Geological Surveys & Mines Bureau, and the Department of Archeology. The EIA study was approved by the TEC and the Coast Conservation Department, the project-approving agency.

The Project Company commenced construction of the Port City and dredging following the signing of the aforesaid agreement with the Government of Sri Lanka on 16 September 2014 which specifically provided that the Project Company shall commence reclamation work forthwith and after being informed that the necessary approvals are in place as per the lettersissuedby the SLPA.

The Project Company has prepared detailed feasibility reports that have been evaluated by the international lenders to the project, prior to drawing down of the debt component. Such studies include detailed reports prepared by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) and CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), the world’s largest real estate consultancy companies. Matters relating to infrastructure design, availability and utilization have been addressed by international consultants Atkins of UK, AECOM of USA and SWECO of Sweden, and over several months discussed and documented with Government agencies such as National Water Supply & Drainage Board (NWSDB) and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).

Further, the land allocation in terms of the concession agreement was negotiated and agreed between the Sri Lanka Government and the Project Company, taking into consideration inter alia all aforesaid matters and in particular, the fact that the total cost of the project is financed by the Project Company.

The Project Company awaits the opportunity to clarify the above details and provide necessary information to the Project Review Committee.

Source: http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/port-city-awaits-instructions-from-sri-lankan-government/

Over 5000 Suspended

Over 5,000 employees contracted by the two companies involved in the Port City Project, have been suspended from their contracts with immediate effect. The Sunday Leader learns that 5,924 workers attached to the two Chinese companies have had their contracts suspended.

A media spokesperson from the CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Limited confirmed the suspension of the contracts this week.

Accordingly, 900 Chinese and local employees attached to the China Nadar Company and 5,024 employees attached to CHEC Port City Colombo Limited have been suspended from their contracts. Officials at the Chinese companies said that they had to take the decision after the Government failed to give an assurance on recommencing the Port City project.

Sources said that 12 Sri Lankan executive level officials who worked at two floors of the Central Point Building and 12 Chinese, Swedish and American officials have also been suspended from work. When asked to comment, the Chief Sales Officer at CHEC Port City Colombo Limited, Liang Thow Ming said that the delay on the part of the Government to give the green light for work on the Port City project to resume, resulted in the decision to suspend several employees involved in the project.

The government is expected to take another nine months or even a year to decide whether they would recommence the project. The Chinese company has invested about 70 per cent of the project cost via loans. Due to abrupt suspension of the project, the relevant companies have lost approximately Rs. 500 million a day and since they have to pay for the contract companies and their employees engaged in the project work, they have decided to suspend the employees, he said. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ajith P. Perera, when contacted by The Sunday Leader, said that the government will decide on the future of the project based on the report of the Committee appointed in this regard.

Source: http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2015/04/05/over-5000-suspended/

ඉදිකිරීම් ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයේ රැකියා ලක්‌ෂ විස්‌සක්‌ අනතුරේ

වැටුප් ගෙවන්නටවත් මුදල් නැතිලු දැනටමත් දහස්‌ ගණනක්‌ ඉවත්කරලා

ඉදිකිරීම් ක්‌ෂේත්‍රය යනු අපේ රටේ දල දේශීය නිෂ්පාදිතයෙන් සියයට දහයකට පමණ බලපාන මෙරට ආර්ථිකයේ වැදගත්ම අංශයකි. එය කොතරම් වැදගත්ද යන්න පෙන්නුම් කරන්නට හොඳම උදාහරණය ඉදිකිරීම් ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයෙන් රටට සැපයෙන Rජු හා වක්‍ර රැකියා ප්‍රමාණය ලක්‌ෂ 20 ක්‌ පමණවීමය. ඒ කෙසේ වෙතත් අද වනවිට එම ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයම බරපතල ප්‍රශ්නයකට මුහුණ දී සිටී. ඒ තමන් කළ වැඩවලට අයවිය යුතු ගෙවීම් දිගින් දිගටම ප්‍රමාදවීම නිසාය. මේ නිසා ඉදිකිරීම් ආයතනවල සේවකයන්ට වැටුප් ගෙවන්නටද නොහැකි තත්ත්වයක්‌ උද්ගතවී තිබේ. මේ වනවිට ඇතැම් ආයතනවල දැනට මාස කීපයක්‌ තිස්‌සේ වැටුප් ගෙවා නැත. තවත් ඉදිකිරීම් සමාගම් ගණනාවක්‌ දින නියමයක්‌ නොමැතිව වසාදමා ඇත. සමහර ප්‍රධාන සමාගම් සේවකයන් දහස්‌ ගණනක්‌ ඉවත්කර ඇත. සිංහල අලුත් අවුරුද්ද ආසන්නයේ සේවකයන්ට ලබාදිය යුතු ගෙවීම් ලබාදීමට නොහැකිවීම නිසා සේවකයන්ද පත්ව සිටින්නේ බරපතල අපහසුතාවන්ටය.

පසුගිය ජනාධිපතිවරණයට පෙර සිදු කළ ඉදිකිරීම්වලට ගෙවිය යුතු ගෙවීම් ලෙස රුපියල් ලක්‌ෂ හතලිස්‌ පන්දාහකට (මිලියන 4500) අධික මුදලක්‌ ඉදිකිරීම් සමාගම්වලට රජයෙන් හා රාජ්‍ය ආයතනවලින් නොගෙවීම නිසා මේ තත්ත්වය උද්ගතවී තිබේ. පසුගිය රජයට එරෙහිව නැගුනු බරපතල චෝදනාවක්‌ වූයේ ඉදිකිරීම් ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයේ කොන්ත්‍රාත් සම්බන්ධයෙනි. එම නිසා මේ කොන්ත්‍රාත්කරුවන් දෙස වත්මන් රජය බලන්නේ තරමක්‌ වපර ඇසිනි. ඇතැම් විට වත්මන් රජයේ සැකයද නිවැරදි විය හැක. එහෙත් ව්‍යාපාරික ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයේ සියලුම දෙනා පුරුදුව සිටින්නේ පවතින රජය සමඟ සමීපව කටයුතු කරමින් ව්‍යාපාර කරන්නටය. පැවති රජය සමඟ මෙන්ම වර්තමාන රජය සමඟද එලෙසමය. එසේ නොමැතිව ව්‍යාපාර කරන්නට බැරිය. ඔවුන් ව්‍යාපාර කරනවා මිස දේශපාලනය නොකරති. එම නිසා ඉදිකිරීම් ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයට මේ සියලු ප්‍රශ්න ඇති වී තිබෙන්නේ පසුගිය ජනවාරි මාසයේ සිදුවූ ආණ්‌ඩු පෙරළියත් සමඟ ඇති වූ තත්ත්වයන් නිසාය.

මාර්ග ඉදිකිරීම්, ජල සැපයුම් ඉදිකිරීම් කොන්ත්‍රාත් හා ගොඩනැගිලි ඉදිකිරීම් සඳහා මෙම මුදල ගෙවීමට ඇති බව සඳහන්ය. මෙම ඉදිකිරීම් අතර විදේශ ණය හා ආධාර ව්‍යාපෘති, දේශීය බැංකු හරහා ගෙවීම් සිදුකරන ව්‍යාපෘති, මහ භාණ්‌ඩාගාරය විසින් මුදල් ගෙවීම් සිදුකරන ව්‍යාපෘති පවතින බව සඳහන්ය. මේ ගෙවීම් සියල්ලටම ඊට අදාළ නිලධාරීන් සියලුම දෙනා පාහේ අනුමත කර අවසන් ගෙවීම් සඳහා යොමුකර තිබු ඒවා බව ඉදිකිරීම් කොන්ත්‍රාත්කරුවෝ පවසති.

ඉදිකිරීම් ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයේ ඇති විශාලත්වය හා එය පැතිරුණු ස්‌වභාවය ගත්කළ ඒ සඳහා දායක වන ප්‍රමාණයද අති විශාලය. ඉදිකිරීම් ඉංජිනේරුවන්, කාර්මික නිලධාරීන්, එම කාර්යාලවල සේවකයන්, පෙදරේරුවන්, කම්කරුවන්, සැපයුම්කරුවන්, කාර්මිකයන්, වැලි අදින්නන්, ගල් කඩන්නන්, රියදුරන්, විවිධ සේවා සපයන්නන් ආදී සුවිශාල ප්‍රමාණයක්‌ මේ සඳහා දායක වෙති. මේ නිසා අද වනවිට බත් පැකට්‌ සපයන්නාගේ සිට වැලි ගොඩදමන්නාගේ සිට ඉහළම ස්‌ථරවල සේවකයන්, ව්‍යාපාරිකයන් දක්‌වා අද අසරණව සිටිති.

ප්‍රධාන කොන්ත්‍රාත් සමාගම් ගත්විට එම එක්‌ එක්‌ සමාගම් සතුව අඩුම තරමින් රුපියල් මිලියන දහසකවත් ඉදිකිරීම් යන්ත්‍රොaපකරණ තිබේ. ඇතැම් සමාගම්වල ඊටත් වැඩිය. ඒ සියලු යන්ත්‍රොaපකරණ මිලදී ගෙන ඇත්තේ දේශීය බැංකු හෝ මුල්‍ය සමාගම්වලින් වසර හතරකට හෝ පහකට ලීසිං පහසුකම් ලබාගනිමිනි. මේ නිසා දැනට මාස කීපයක සිට ලීසිං වාරික ගෙවීම මේ සමාගම් විසින් පැහැර හැර තිබේ. එහෙත් අදාළ බැංකු හා මුල්‍ය සමාගම්වලටද එම යන්ත්‍රොaපකරණ රැගෙන ගොස්‌ තව කාටවත් විකුණා හෝ අදාල මුදල අය කරගන්නට නොහැකි වී ඇත්තේ කර්මාන්තයේ පවතින තත්ත්වය මත එම යන්ත්‍ර කිසිවකුට අවශ්‍ය නැති නිසාය. එසේම සමහර මූල්‍ය ආයතනවල යාඩ් වාරික නොගෙවන ලද වාහනවලින් පිරී පවතින බව සඳහන්ය. එපමණක්‌ නොවේ. මේ ඉදිකිරීම් සමාගම් බොහොමයක්‌ බැංකුවලින් ව්‍යාපාරික ණය ලබාගෙන තිබේ. මේ වන විට ඒවා ගෙවීමද පැහැර හැර තිබේ. ඒවායේ පොලී එන්න එන්නම ඉහළ යමින් තිබේ. ණය අයිරාවල පොලිය ඉහළ මට්‌ටමක පැවතීම නිසා තත්ත්වය බරපතලය. මේ අතර තවත් බොහෝ දෙනා තම දේපල උකසට තබා ණය ලබාගෙන තිබේ. ඒවා නොගෙවීම යනු බැංකු හා මුල්‍ය ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයද බරපතල අර්බුදයට ලක්‌වීමකි.

අපේ රටේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල හා විවිධ කාර්මික විද්‍යාල, කාර්මික පුහුණු කිරීමේ ආයතනවලින් දහස්‌ ගණනක්‌ වාර්ෂිකව ඉදිකිරීම් ක්‌ෂේත්‍රය සඳහා පුහුණු කරවති. මේ සියල්ලන්ටම පුහුණුවීම් මෙතෙක්‌ ලබාදුන්නේ මේ ඉදිකිරීම් කොන්ත්‍රාත් සමාගම්ය. වර්තමාන ගැටලු හමුවේ මෙම පුහුණු කිරීම් සියල්ල අදාළ සමාගම් විසින් නවතා ඇත. එවැන්නක්‌ කරන්නට ශක්‌තියක්‌ද ඔවුන්ට නැත. මේ නිසා අදාල පුහුණු කිරීම් සිදුකරන්නට ස්‌ථාන නොමතිවීම් නිසා විශ්වවිද්‍යාල, කාර්මික විද්‍යාල ආදියද මේ වනවිට ගැටලුවලට මුහුණ පා සිටිති.

මේ තත්ත්වය මේ ආකාරයටම පැවතිය හොත් ඉදිරි මාස දෙක හෝ තුන තුළ ඉදිකිරීම් ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයේ සුවිසල් කඩාවැටීමක්‌ සිදුවී එය සමස්‌ත ආර්ථිකයටම බරපතල ලෙස බලපානු ඇත.

මේ අතර වත්මන් රජය හා ඉදිකිරීම් කොන්ත්‍රාත්කරුවන් අතර පැවති සාකච්ඡාවලදී අදාළ ගෙවීම්වලින් සියයට විස්‌සත් - තිහත් අතර ප්‍රමාණයක්‌ කපා හරින ලෙස රජයේ නියෝජිතයන් දැනුම්දී ඇති බව සඳහන්ය. එවිට කොන්ත්‍රාත්කරුවන් පසා ඇත්තේ තමන් මේ කොන්ත්‍රාත් ටෙන්ඩර් සඳහා ඉදිරිපත්වී තරගකාරී මිල ගණන් යටතේ ලබාගත් බවත් එම නිසා එවැනි මුදල් ප්‍රමාණයක්‌ කපාහරින්නට නොහැකි බවය. තම සමාගම් වල ප්‍රශ්න, සේවක ගැටලු, ණය, ලීසිං වාරික ප්‍රශ්න ආදිය මෙහිදී කොන්ත්‍රාත්කරුවන් රජයට දන්වා තිබේ.

මාර්ග ඉදිකිරීම් සම්බන්ධ ගෙවීම් පිළිබඳව මාර්ග සංවර්ධන අධිකාරියේ නිලධාරීන්ද එලෙස විශාල මුදලක්‌ කපාහරින ලෙස ඉල්ලා තිබේ. එයද කොන්ත්‍රාත්කරුවන් ප්‍රතික්‌ෂේප කර තිබේ. එම නිසා අදාළ ගෙවීම් සඳහා රජය විසින් මාර්ග සංවර්ධන අධිකාරියට ලබාදුන් රුපියල් මිලියන 2200 ක මුදල මාර්ග සංවර්ධන අධිකාරියේ හිරවී තිබේ. එහි නිලධාරීන්ද තීරණයක්‌ ගත නොහැකිව සිටින්නේ පසුගිය දිනවල රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරීන් සම්බන්ධයෙන් අනුගමනය කළ දරදඬු ප්‍රතිපත්තියට බියෙනි.

කෙසේ වෙතත් මේ ප්‍රශ්නයට සම්බන්ධ සියලු දෙනා මේ තත්ත්වය තේරුම් ගෙන වහාම මේ ප්‍රශ්නයට විසඳුම් සෙවිය යුතුය. එක පැත්තකින් Rජු හා වක්‍ර රැකියා ලක්‌ෂ විස්‌සකි. අනෙක්‌ අතින් අපේ රටේ ව්‍යාපාරිකයන් පිරිසකි. ඒ සියල්ල අතරින් මෙහි බලපෑමක්‌ ක්‍ෂේත්‍ර ගණනාවකට දරුණු ලෙස යොමුවන බවද පෙනේ.

මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් තොරතුරු විමසීම සඳහා මහාමාර්ග හා ආයෝජන ප්‍රවර්ධන ඇමති කබීර් හෂීම් මහතා සම්බන්ධ කර ගැනීම සඳහා අවස්‌ථා ගණනාවකදී උත්සහ කළද ඔහුගේ ජංගම දුරකථනය විසන්ධි කර තිබිණි. ඇතැම් අවස්‌ථාවල දුරකථනයට කිසිවකු පිළිතුරු දුන්නේ නැත.

ජනිත සෙනෙවිරත්න

Source: http://www.divaina.com/2015/04/05/feature20.html

Highways Minister explains how ‘good governance’ government builds highways

Some allege that the incumbent government does not construct any roads or highways. However, since the good governance government cannot construct road like the former government, certain systematic methods are being planned in the construction and development of roads to eliminate fraud and corruption, said the Highways and Investment Promotion Minister.

Highways and Investment Promotion Minister Kabeer Hashim alleged in Colombo that road construction had been undertaken during the previous regime without any transparency or disregarding any tender procedures and in some instances when the cost of construction of a kilometre of road had been some Rs. 75 million, huge amounts like Rs. 200 million per kilometre had been spent.

“We are proceeding systematically. We are preparing better plans and going ahead. But some criticize that we are not working,” the Minister said.

He said that it had been revealed that some road contracts had been offered at much higher rates like around 55 per cent more than the actual and the Ministry was auditing these accounts.

There are several officials in his Ministry who had been involved in these corruptions and that he has to continue to work with them, the minister lamented.

The incumbent government’s keen attention has been drawn towards certain road development projects undertaken during the former regime through local loans and one such instance is where the loan obtained from the National Savings Bank alone had been Rs. 28 billion and that this amount had in fact not been released for road construction, said Minister Kabeer Hashim.

The road network in Sri Lanka witnessed a huge transformation during the tenure of the former government with the construction of the Katunayake Expressway, the Southern Expressway, the outer circular road while most roads were carpeted of concreted.

Roads and highways could be considered an essential component in a country’s economic development and economic development could be accelerated through road development.

Source: http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/highways-minister-explains-how-good-governance-government-builds-highways/

අධිවේගයෙන් බිලියන 30ක් අඩු කලා කිවුවට අඩු කලාම නෙමෙයි.. අඩුකරන්න සාකච්චා ආරම්භ කලා..

පසුගිය රජය විසින් බිලියන 66.8ක වියදමක් දරමින් ආරම්භ කරන ලද කොළඹ පිටත වටරවුම් මාර්ගයේ ඉදිකිරීම් සඳහා වන අස්තමේන්තු මුදල අඩු කිරීම සඳහා සාකච්චා චීන සමාගම සමග ආරම්බව තිබෙන බව ආයෝජන ප්‍රවර්ධන හා මහාමාර්ග නියෝජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය එරාන් වික්‍රමරත්න මහතා පවසයි.

ඔහු පවසන්නේ අඩු කරන මුදල පිළිබද මෙතෙක් අවසන් එකගතාවක් නැති බවයි.

ඇමති රාජිත සේනාරත්න මහතා විසින් පසුගියදා කියා සිටියේ එම මුදල බිලියන 30කින් අඩු කිරීමට චීන සමාගම එකගවූ බවයි.

කෙසේ වෙතත් චීනය විසින් එම ප‍්‍රකාශය සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම බැහැර කලේය.

Source:https://lankacnews.com/sinhala/news/130323/

China rejects Rajitha’s claim

The Chinese embassy in Colombo today denied claims by Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne that the estimated cost of the Colombo Outer Circular Road was reduced by Rs.30 billion.

An embassy spokesperson told Daily Mirror that the news report on the Colombo Outer Circular Road cost reduction was not in line with the facts. "We have contacted the relevant Chinese contractor. It was proved that no agreement was reached between the Chinese contractor and Sri Lanka Road Development Authority on any reduction of the cost of the project. The so-called Rs. 30 billion commission being paid to the previous government was also groundless. The total contract cost by the Chinese contractor is Rs. 66.8 billion,” he said.

He said the contract cost was reasonable since the 9.5 kilometre project included a six kilometer long viaduct as well as the building of a 3.5 kilometre long embankment which he said was a low estimate compared to those quoted by other countries. (Kelum Bandara) 

Source: http://www.dailymirror.lk/68301/china-rejects-rajitha-s-claim#sthash.pz1194l1.dpuf

China agrees to write off US$ 30 M from OCR cost

China had agreed to write off US$ 30 million from the total amount which it had lent to Sri Lanka for the construction of the Outer Circular Road (OCR) which connects several highways, the Sri Lankan Government announced today.

The announcement was made by a group of ministers at a media news briefing held last evening. This had been communicated by the Chinese government during the visit of President Maithripala Sirisena to China recently.

Minister of Health Dr Rajitha Senaratne said the project had been over-priced in order that politicians of the previous regime who negotiated the deal on behalf of the Sri Lankan Government would be left with a sizable commission. “The amount which would be written off therefore is a part of a commission which was to go into someone’s pocket,” he said. Responding to a question raised by journalists as to whether the reality is that no one obtained any commission out of the project physically although allegations were still been levelled at ministers of the previous regime, the minister said the usual procedure that was followed was that part of the commission was given as an advance.

In addition Minister Senaratne said the Chinese Government had given a grant worth more than US$ 300 million to the health sector alone including Rs. 11.5 billion to set up a special hospital to treat kidney disease in Polonnaruwa. In addition he said a nine storied OPD unit for the Colombo National Hospital was also to be built with Chinese assistance.

Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, who was also present, revealed that the Chinese government had offered them a grant of Rs 4 billion to renovate the Supreme Courts Complex in Colombo. Minister of Urban Development Rauff Hakeem also offered his views and said the Chinese President had conveyed to President Sirisena his idea of setting up a Silk Route Fund through which Sri Lanka would also benefit. (Yohan Perera and Piyumi Fonseka) 

Source: http://www.dailymirror.lk/68135/agrees-to-write-of#sthash.oArrvqZr.dpuf