Sri Lanka’s construction sector beset with corruption
Sri Lanka’s construction desperately needs a regulatory mechanism to manage and monitor this sector which now relies on best practices by all stakeholders but is threatened by widespread corruption, a top industry official said.
In an interview with the Business Times, at his residence in Kiribathgoda, Jayasiri Samaratunge, a veteran in the industry a person and a former Chairman, National Construction Association of Sri Lanka (NCASL), said that though the Institute of Construction Training and Development (ICTAD) doesn’t have legal regulatory power, ICTAD functions as an informal regulatory authority based on best practices adopted by the members of the construction industry.
Jayasiri Samaratunge
Then President Ranasinghe Premadasa, while he was the Prime Minister in 1980, established ICTAD with funds provided by the World Bank and simultaneously also took the initiative to establish the NCASL, Mr. Samaratunga, a board member at ICTAD, pointed out.
Today the industry has developed to such a high standard that there are local construction contractors who are capable of competing in the international market, he noted. Now there are so many areas that the industry is involved, the necessity of a national policy together with a regulatory mechanism is felt, he said.
He pointed that all this time various stakeholders provided ideas and suggestions but now a complete blue-print of legally binding regulatory authority document is ready and very soon a Bill would be presented in Parliament to make it law. To formulate the Bill the pertinent government agencies, the construction industry stakeholders have contributed while he said the present Minister of Housing and Construction, Wimal Weerawansa too is taking a keen interest in finalising the regulatory authority.
He said that while the industry is moving at top gear, with mega investors, an essential component being ignored in the construction industry is that the ground level skilled and unskilled workers are grappling to survive in poverty.
He said that to ensure their safety and future security, insurance, health insurance, retirement benefits such as EPF and ETF should be in place, noting that it is the responsibility of the industry to take note of such issues and provide necessary safety network.
Towards these issues, he said that he has made some suggestions and ICTAD has accepted them in principle.
He said that compiling a list of all the skilled workers such as masons, carpenters, painters, etc is essential and the issue of a certificate of competence should also be in place so that the person’s identity is ensured and the vulnerability of crimes would then be eliminated or minimized. It is also important, he said to ensure job security of these people. Most of these skilled workers such as masons come from remote rural areas and their work span would be mostly up till around 50 years. The present situation is that they go back to their villages when they reach 50 years, sometimes sick and feeble and die in destitution. Therefore the community at large and the construction industry in particular have a duty to provide them with some sort of retirement benefit, Mr Samaratunga indicated.
He said that in certain areas of the industry corruption is prone, citing as an example illegal sand mining, where in certain instances even politicians too are involved. There is no planning, he pointed out, in the use of national natural resources. He noted that there should be proper monitoring of imported building material.
He said that ICTAD has dealt with most of these matters and also have entertained various suggestions to improve the construction industry as a whole.
But in essence, whatever said and done, whatever the legal provisions, regulations and monitoring in place, as things are clearly seen, the Sri Lankan situation today is that, corruption, malpractices, unlawfulness continue and as often exposed, there appears to be politicians, behind most of these activities. It would also be the same in the case of construction industry, even though there is a clamour for a legally binding regulatory authority.