Lanka’s bamboo based industry to be revitalised with UNIDO assistance
Sri Lanka’s bamboo based industries are to be revitalised with the assistance of United Nations industrial DevelopmentOrganisation(UNIDO).
A pilot project has been launched in Padukka to train 20 youth in the Bamboo based industry, for six months with UNIDO funding of Rs 800000.
Director of UNIDO Nawaz Rajabdeen said that at present 5500 hectares of bamboo is available in the country while plans are underway to increase it to 10,000 hectares within the next six years to support the bamboo based industry. He said that funding for forming the Bamboo Association too was by UNIDO in Vienna.
All products made using bamboo as a raw material are highly advanced in countries like the Philippines, Vietnam and China while in Sri Lanka only a few are engaged in this industry and they have no plans for the future, he revealed.
It is an ideal industry for Sri Lanka as it is environment friendly, fast growing and also stops the chopping of large trees which in turn protect the environment, said Mr Rajabdeen.
He said that another bottleneck for developing the industry is that bamboo is grown on river banks to protect soil erosion and therefore the government has prohibited the cutting and transporting of bamboo from one district to another
Therefore UNIDO together with other stakeholders have recently formed “Bamboo Association “ to revive the industry and explore all opportunities to promote it both here and overseas he disclosed.
“As an association which represents the growers and the industry we want to build a strong association to facilitate the bamboo based industry and we plan to conduct workshops, seminars and training programs to create an awareness of what benefits it can have on the society,” he said.
Among the many uses of bamboo are craft industry, flooring, ceiling, brickets while the waste can be used for bio mass, he added.
Mr. Rajabdeen who is also the Chairman of the Industrial Development Board (IDB) said that they will get the support of the IDB to train the trainers and to identify the products which can be made from bamboo. He said that they are also planning to help the small time manufacturers to market their products and get a good price.
Bamboo products will be showcased at the IDB showroom at Katubedda.
The other stakeholders of the project are the Mahaweli Authority under the Ministry of Irrigation, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Forest Department and the Environmental Authority.
The members of the Association are President-Nawaz Rajabdeen,Vice Presidents Nimal Samarakkody and Nimal Perera, Secretary- Greshan Nanayakkara, Treasurer- Malin Goonatilaka and members- H.L.C.G. Wijesekera, Manik Weerasinghe and Nishan Fernando.