News
Construction down the toilet as Govt. reverses imports move
Construction of condominium apartments and houses has come to virtual standstill with the government deciding to continue restrictions on imports of tiles and sanitary ware.
An attempt by the Finance Ministry to provide relief this week was overturned on Wednesday when the Import and Export Control Department issued a directive suspending the ministry decision to resume imports.
Companies that had planned to resume imports of tiles and sanitary ware following the Finance Ministry’s decision are up in arms over the sudden decision to reverse it and have written to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Shortages are not only hurting condominium builders but also ordinary households undertaking home renovations. Pix by Priyanka Samaraweera
Their complaint has been referred to Industries Minister Wimal Weerawansa but the traders say they are unenthusiastic about a meeting with the minister.
The overturned Finance Ministry decision came in a gazette notification on Tuesday following months of discussions between importers and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in the capacity of Finance Minister.
The Controller-General of the Import and Export Control Department, Damayanthi Karunaratne, who issued the directive to suspend the ministry decision, told the Sunday Times the ministry had advised her the suspension should continue in order to “protect the local industry”.
Importers reject this claim, saying the decision would only help about five businessmen.
Leading importer Sheffick Rajabdeen also said although some local companies claim to be producing their goods in Sri Lanka the items have been made in China and sold in Sri Lanka as local products. “Stocks imported earlier are now being released to the market,” Mr. Rajabdeen said.
Apart from aiding only a few locals, the decision to keep imports out is proving detrimental to the construction industry because local companies could not meet industry demand for bathroomware, he said.
This has led to job losses. S. Segar, marketing manager of another leading import firm, said 13 of the company’s 18 warehouses have been closed down and the 180-strong workforce reduced to 18.
“There is a high demand for tiles and sanitaryware from all parts of the country but we cannot meet the demand,” he said.
He said prices have shot up because of the shortage. A 2×2-foot tile that was selling at Rs. 650 now costs Rs. 1,750 while an imported commode was selling at Rs. 22,000, but stocks were not available. A similar commode supposed to be produced locally was now selling at Rs. 43,000, he said.
“As a result, condominium constructors are unable to complete their projects as they are now forced to pay double the price for the fittings,” Mr. Segar said.
He said in some cases condominium owners have demanded extra money to complete construction and hand over apartments to buyers. “In fact, some buyers have demanded that the advance payment be refunded as they are not willing to meet the extra cost,” he said.
Imports of tiles and sanitaryware were suspended by a gazette notification in May in the face of a looming foreign exchange crisis.
The consequent shortages of products are not only hurting condominium builders but also ordinary households undertaking home renovations.
“We were planning to complete repairs and move into the house last year but have not been able to do so. As a result, we are continuing to pay Rs. 20,000 in rent,” Ms Sunil Samaraweera from Enderamulla said.
“We had done part of the tiling of the house early last year and were due to move in before the April New Year in 2020. But after the outbreak of coronavirus, first the construction workers could not turn up for months due to the restrictions imposed, and later we were not able to find tiles to buy,” she said.