Milcris to extend construction cost management expertise to the home country
Milcris Pvt Ltd, the Oman-based Sri Lankan (owned) construction consultancy and Chartered Surveying Company, is now ready to extend its expertise to the home country‘s rapidly expanding construction industry specially in developing infrastructure facilities as well as leisure and education sectors, a top official of the company said.
Milcris CEO Millan De Siva told the Business Times that this is the right time for his company to step into Sri Lankan construction arena as mega mixed development projects worth billions of rupees are about to take off and several more in the pipeline at present.
The Sri Lankan government and the private sector should look into the aspect of optimising value for money through proper cost and value management practices, he said, adding that the country will be able to control project budgets minimising waste and unnecessary expenditure by obtaining services of a cost consultant.
Picture by M.A.Pushpa Kumara shows Milcris CEO Millan de Silva flanked by his son Minol de Silva– Commercial Manager (right) and Terrence Wijesuriya– Business Development Manager
Although this international practice of cost management in construction and infrastructure development projects such as roads, hotels education institutes and universities is new to the island nation, the time is opportune to for it to save vast sums of money flowing out of the country on these activities.
He disclosed that his company has been recently entrusted with the task of planning, estimating, analysing and managing cost and quantity surveying of a Rs. 600 million private university campus building project in Colombo.
Speaking to the Business Times on the sidelines of a media conference convened to brief his company’s entry into Sri Lanka in a big way following a relationship beyond measure with the Seven Seas Group of Companies in Oman, Mr. De Silva noted that Milcris has become a key player in the construction industry of Oman.
The Sri Lankan entrepreneur climbed the ladder of success becoming the head of Milcris amidst many obstacles and difficulties to lead his company to become one of the leading Chartered Quantity Surveying companies in the Gulf region.
Milcris’ Chairman Sayyid Shihab Bin Tariq Al Said, a high profile Royal family member, is the driving force behind the success of Milcris as an associated partner in its efforts to help Oman’s construction sector development
Mr.De Silva told media personnel that his life was not a bed of roses, starting off as a steward at Hotel Lanka Oberoi in 1981 and later in 1983 emerging as the chef at the Taj Samudra Hotel Colombo.
But everything changed gradually to the better due to his perseverance and righteousness after he migrated to Oman for a small job.
From there he has worked tirelessly and gained necessary qualifications to become a chartered quantity surveyor founding Milcris. The rest is history, he revealed.
The company which is recognized by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors offers a comprehensive portfolio of project management and cost management services, including quantity surveying and project controls.
Milcris will also open two new branch offices in Qatar and UAE soon as a part of an ongoing regional expansion plan to increase annual turnover to US $10 million by the end of this year from a current US$ 6 million, he revealed.
The company has completed 43 mega projects in the fields of retail, tourism, industrial, health, education, aviation and other sectors to the value of US $1billion and 39 more projects currently valued at US $8.4 billion are in progress, he disclosed.
The company has a workforce of 130 of which 70 are working in the Sri Lankan head office in Ragama.
The majority of the employees are Sri Lankans but there are British, Australian and Greek employees who work in the company.
“We want to build the confidence of our employees professionally, socially and financially,” he said adding that “Milcris provides staff training and scholarships to improve their skills in foreign countries”.
He describes his Human Resource management at Milcris as behaving like a father to his employees. “The father is kind to his children but will not hesitate to punish them for their wrong doings and sometimes pardoning them after hearing their reasons for committing such acts,” he explained.
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