No ‘visible’ private investments for SL construction industry
View(s):In terms of the new government, there have been no “visible” private investments, both local and foreign, having been approved to date to advance the Sri Lankan construction industry, according to Dr. Surath Wickramasinghe, the President of the Chamber of Construction Industry (CCI).
Making this comment at the recent launch of 2016′s Build SL, he also stated that “it is important to make public that the Board of Investment (BOI) has recently reintroduced the incentives for developers/investors as before. This will no doubt have a catalytic effect on investments resuming once again”.
Dr. Wickramasinghe also revealed that the “construction industry at present, is active with several mega and other projects under construction in the city of Colombo and its suburbs. Most of the urban regeneration projects (include) urban housing by the UDA (and) private sector and some of the urban housing and the bulk of the rural housing by the Ministry of Housing and Construction. In addition, there is a large spectrum of infrastructure and irrigation projects in the country”.
Commenting on the Megapolis or Mega Cities concept, he opined that, “in Mega Cities, the Economic Growth Rates are higher than in other cities. However, there are also smaller Mega Cities with a population less than 10 million and out of these Cities the best Economic Growth Rates (are for) the cities with a population between 1.5 to 5 million – OECD. In this context, for Sri Lanka to venture with a Mega City concept for the Megapolis Development is appropriate. However, as the density of population is not excessive when considering the total area of the Megapolis, the approach should be to consider a concept, which will have a mix of urban and rural flavor. Therefore, the zoning and green belt additions should guide and encourage controlled urban growth”.
Adding to this, Dr. Wickramasinghe noted that a “larger population is necessary to justify a Megapolis Urban Transport Network, optimising on infrastructure provided within the Megapolis and to make the investment viable and sustainable… The proposed Megapolis Development for the Western Province can be further fast tracked by networking with other Urban Nodes such as Kandy, Trincomalee, Galle and Jaffna”. With regard to Sri Lanka, he recommended that the “implementation should be done in phases, beginning with a ‘Smart City’ in selected parts within the City of Colombo and thereafter selected areas in the Megapolis areas to promote enterprises both local and international to implement their projects. To achieve this objective, the government should prioritise the preparation of a comprehensive Land Use Plan to cover the whole Western Province, with appropriate zoning”.
(JH)