Sea Street jewellers asked to open shops at army-built Gold Centre
Sri Lanka’s famous Sea Street jewellers have been requested by the government to open jewellery shops at the Dubai-styled Gold Centre being constructed by army staff at the former St. John’s wholesale fish market in Pettah.
These jewellers will be allowed to carry out their business in their present premises while being asked to maintain an additional shop at the new Gold Centre which is to have 100 shops and large vehicle parking facilities, Urban Development Authority (UDA) official said.
They will also be given an option to re-locate their jewellery shops at the Gold Centre, but these jewellers will not be evicted forcibly (as feared by jewellers earlier), he added.
This exclusive centre has failed, on two occasions earlier through tender bids, to attract jewellers who have shown no interest in moving to the unique and sophisticated building, the UDA official said. Under the Colombo city development plan, jewellery shops and goldsmiths’ workshops are to be opened at the new, modern skyscraper building with five stories, utilizing the natural layout by making further improvements for sustainable development.The exterior appearance will be changed to make it a unique and sophisticated building within the locality. The internal arrangement will consist of modern facilities and security systems to make it more secure place. The project cost is Rs.400 million and the re-construction work is now being carried out by the 4th engineering regiment of the Sri Lanka army.
President of the Colombo Wholesale Traders Union K. Palaniyandi told the Business Times, that the government’s move will make the Sea Street jewellers business more competitive through the new Gold Centre and will affect their business in the long run.
This will result in closing down of jewellery shops in Pettah making way for the Gold Centre to gain monopoly with the government’s backing, he added.
However he noted that whole sale traders and Sea Street jewellers will fight for their rights to continue decades of old businesses in their existing shops and trade stalls in Pettah and they are not ready to surrender their own property making way for so-called concrete jungle development.
Many merchants own their shops while lease rental at the Gold Centre is too high and it’s uneconomical to move out from already, established locations, Sea Street jewellers said.
The UDA had called for offers to lease the shops at this centre for a 10-year period. When the bids were opened on March 8, 2013 , none of the famous Sea Street names was among the list of 27 gem and jewellery merchants.
Commercial Bank and Vision Care Optical Ltd also submitted bids for the 100 shops at the centre which will house gem and jewellery shops, banks, food court and money exchanges, informed sources disclosed, saying the Government plan to attract Sea Street merchants had gone awry.
An earlier occasion by the UDA calling for bid in July 2011 also failed to receive an adequate response, the official said, adding 14 offers were made then.
Sources at the Sri Lanka Jewellers Association said they were given an assurance by the President and the Defence Secretary that merchants will not be evicted from their own shops. Anyone interested in opening a shop at the Gold Centre could do so in accordance with their wishes, members were told.
There are over 150 jewellery shops in Sea Street while the new centre has space for only 100 shops. Sea Street merchants told the Business Times there was no business sense in moving out of locations that have brought lucrative business over the years.Furthermore the monthly lease at between Rs. 17,000 to 190,000 according to the size of the shop was an additional expense.
They noted that some merchants doing business in rented places are paying much less now compared to the proposed Gold Centre rates.
A senior UDA official agreed that there was no obligation for Sea Street merchants to move to the new centre.