News
Roadworks resume, outstanding bills for projects being settled
View(s):By Minaza Hassan
A midst outstanding bills, suspended projects, and skilled and accomplished industry personnel leaving, steps have been taken to revive the construction industry with the report of a settlement this week of an outstanding bill of Rs 200 billion owed to contractors according to Urban Development and Housing Minister Prasanna Ranatunga.
“Projects that were suspended will be negotiated with investors and restarted as soon as possible. If we fail to finish these projects, we may have to pay compensation to the investors,” Minister Ranatunga said. The initial tasks have been completed for all foreign projects that were suspended and work will resume once approval is received, he said.
During Covid-19 and the economic crisis, a lot of people in the field left for other jobs, and the industry suffered a loss of labourers.
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- Kadawatha–Mirigama abandoned highway Pic by Indika Handuwala
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- Restarting roads Pic by Priyanka Samaraweera
Another factor that impacts the industry is paying off contractors fully. “We have focussed on finishing off old projects before starting new projects,” said Minister Ranatunga.
Foreign funded projects are expected to begin in a few months after revising price estimates, and discussions with foreign agencies and contractors, he said.
The 2nd terminal of Katunayake Airport funded by JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) which stalled in 2022, and the Kadawatha-Mirigama section of the Central Expressway funded by the China Exim Bank, are two projects that would be given priority, Secretary General/CEO, Chamber of Construction Industry of Sri Lanka (CCI) Eng Col Nissanka N Wijeratne (Retd) said.
Certain private parties have already begun some projects like hotel refurbishments and tower buildings that were suspended, however, it might take about 6 months for the industry to revive, said Col Wijeratne (Retd).
Furthermore, almost all outstanding bills have been cleared, apart from about Rs 60-70 billion from projects which have been suspended due to debt restructuring, he said.
This is expected to be settled soon as well.
In some funded projects, where foreign contractors are involved, loan agencies will not dispense until debt restructuring is done. However, this will be settled once they resume work.
Outstanding bills in relation to domestic projects that were sent to the Finance Minister and certified have been paid off. However, there are some claims that have not yet been certified, for example, claims of extra hours and extensions and other claims that have not been certified on ministry level and project management level remain, Col. Wijeratne (Retd) explained.
“Only a portion of the outstanding bills have been settled; several contractors have still not been paid,” Chairman of National Construction Association of Sri Lanka, Susantha Liyanaarachchi said.
Furthermore, a portion of the 200 billion that was reportedly settled to the contractors was settled to labour contractors and not construction contractors, explained Mr Liyanarachchi.
252 million of the 200 billion that was settled in outstanding bills has been paid off to the Road Development Authority while a fraction of the amount was paid to the workers, said Mr Liyanarachchi.
In addition, there are over 3,000 contractors of medium and small scale, who are registered with the State who have outstanding bills, he explained.
“There are several projects that were suspended that we hope to restart soon; however, revising estimates might take some time,” said Mr Liyanaarachchi.
Meanwhile, certain foreign funded projects have received government allocations, said chairman of Construction Industry Development Authority (CIDA), Eng R H Ruvinis.
Some projects like the Thambutegama water supply project which was initially supposed to be completed with Citizens Development Bank funds required a lot of money to complete the balance work. However,the government has now allocated money to complete the remaining work, said Mr Ruvinis.
“Earlier the government started 400 bridges; the treasury has allocated funds for rehabilitation for about 60 bridges now so far,” said Mr Ruvinis.
Budget has also been allocated for road projects in rural areas, he added.
In 2023 ministries and project executive agencies were requested to come up with a proposal for projects in Sri Lanka. Around 170 projects are in the pipeline. This was put together to revise estimates for projects throughout the country, said Mr Ruvinis.
Part of Colombo-Puttalam road gets a facelift
As construction activities of roads and other projects get underway, the neglected part of the Colombo-Puttalam road (the section from the Kochchikade town to the newly built Maha Oya Bridge) was repaired by the RDA-Negombo under instructions of engineer Ruwan Chamara and TO Chamika Rambodagedara.
A stretch of the road, about 200m long and 8m wide, was carpeted with asphalt of 60mm thickness covering potholes and bumps that had caused much inconvenience to motorists and pedestrians. - Richard Perera
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