Ladies and Gentlemen

" First of all I would like to thank the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects on behalf of the Chamber of Construction Industry, Sri Lanka for having looked after and nurtured us over the last two months, given us all the facilities and the run of the place, lot of refreshments and finally today we have inaugurated the Chamber of Construction Industry, Sri Lanka.

I must particularly thank the President, Archt. Dudley Waas, the Council, the staff and the members for this privilege. I must also thank the SLIA for being very generous by asking us to stay on for 6 months till we get on our feet. Thank you very much SLIA. I must also thank the lawyers who worked very hard to get the Constitution organized, the Secretary-Generals of several Chambers whom we met and had discussions with where we got a lot of advise and I also wish to thank the media who have come here today to record our event and all others for giving us the necessary support to make this event a success.

Now I suppose the question that everyone has in mind is why did we have to form this Chamber? I know most countries have a Chamber for the Construction Industry, but why was the indecent hurry for Sri Lanka in two months to form a Chamber? The answer is simple. Our backs were up to the wall. I have been in practice for thirty years or more, our office work load just ran dry. There was nothing coming in. I could not find the money to pay staff salaries: that was a major problem, because the Clients did not pay. Some of the clients have still not paid. When they will pay I do not know. Then again there was no prospect of getting new work. We were forced to retrench some staff, more will follow if the situation does not change. Now this is a serious matter.

When discussions took place among us Professionals and Professional Associations at the SLIA, most of these gentleman were present, we interacted and found that most Member Associations were experiencing the same problem. Whether one was a Valuer, Quantity Surveyor, Contractor or an Architect - everyone was experiencing the same problems There was no work and there was an urgent need that we get together to look for work . What work was there was being handled mainly by foreign Contractors. So that is how we got together.

Now what are the benefits of us getting together?. The benefits are enormous. We can be a Catalyst, a "think-tank" and we can also lead the Construction Industry. We are going to lead the Construction Industry. We are going to lead the Construction Industry and we are going to tell the Government where they are going wrong and how to get the job done. Because, as you know Professionals, we have been led like the blind being led by the blind, over the past 7 or 10 years. I am not going by political parties or colours, but very little has happened to the Construction Industry. The problems keep continuing to grow. I will come to that later. What is most important is that we can now talk as one voice. We may have individual problems, but we can now talk as one voice for the Construction Industry. We can meet the important politicians and officials, and we can tell them what is wrong and what we want, if not we can take necessary action. We have to generate more work for the Industry. What is sad is that there has been so much work coming in to the country, which my colleagues will explain later. But unfortunately due to bureaucratic bungling and the ignorance of the politicians, the monies allocated for important projects which the locals could have undertaken have been returned to the donor countries and the World Bank, IMF, ADB and others. These projects have been returned due to counterpart funds not being made available. If these Projects were viable and if they were offered to the Private Sector, no doubt these projects could have gone ahead and the country would have benefited.

What can we do? What we can do is be critical of what is wrong. One thing that is going wrong ladies and gentlemen, is the Colombo- Katunayake Road trace. The Colombo-Katunayake Road trace, I think most of you may know, goes through the Negombo Canal, through Muthurajawella and ending up at Peliyagoda. The majority of the activities are to the east of the railway line. For example, the airport, free trades zone, housing projects at Ekala and Ja-ela and other projects. What is most significant and alarming is that the proposed Colombo-Katunayake Highway ends up at Peliyagoda. The Southern Highway it is similar. It ends up at Kottawa. From Kottawa to Peliyagoda is a ring road. But there is no link between Kottawa and Peliyagoda going through the City of Colombo. Therefore the traffic problem at Kottawa and Peliyagoda is going to be very severe. I believe highlighting this anomaly should be one of the major priorities of this Chamber. In countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, we have seen that motorways go right through their cities to enable traffic to join a motorway or take an exit. This is how it is done.

Now look at the energy crisis, which is utterly unnecessary if it has been properly planned. We knew the crisis was heading towards a major disaster 7 or 8 years ago. What have we done about it? There are so many alternative methods the problem could have been solved. Just because the Norichchalai Plant Project was differed, looking for an alternative site should have not stopped. This Chamber will go ahead and canvass and lobby not only for Norichchalai, but also for Mawella and Trinbcomalee. We must do it soon. If not there is going to be continuous problems in the future.

We must also promote our Urban Regeneration, which most us have been talking about. Unless we modernize our towns and cities and solve the slums and shanty problems, we are going to be experiencing an urban nightmare shortly. Urban Regeneration should be a priority for development and we have been highlighting this issue but there has been no action. The politicians and bureaucrat are not familiar about the new concepts of public/private partnerships practiced in other countries to solve urban Regeneration problems. I am boldly saying this. I am saying this with a commitment. I can be challenged, but how can we develop a country on this basis. This Chamber has a big task to do and I think we all must work together and I am confident we can achieve our targets.

Look at the problems of public transport, pollution, environment, car parking, landscaping and other major areas the Chamber can help to organize and give a lead in solving these problems. We can do it. We are a multidisciplinary group and we can do it.

Look at the state of our Construction Industry today. Talking as an Architect and Planner, I am very proud to say that we are very competitive with our colleagues in South East Asia and South Asia or for that matter with North America or Europe. The technology is the same. We have now mastered the technology and we have the latest technology in our offices. Similarly the Contractors have bought the latest machinery, equipment and the know how. I know for a fact that when we built the Dambulla Stadium recently the amount of new machinery that came into the picture was just fantastic. That means the technical now-how is available locally. But the problem is that we don't have the work. So what is the purpose of having a highly advanced and sophisticated work force and the Equipment and Machinery if we don't have work.

We should invite countries like Singapore, Korea, China, Hong Kong and even Malaysian Contractors to join hands with our local counterpart with equity to undertake major development projects in Sri Lanka. The Chamber is not in favor of these foreign contractors grabbing our work as it is done today. If they come with finance we can jointly develop the infrastructure and other projects on a partnership basis.

Now ladies and gentlemen when there is a political and economic crisis in our country, developing the infrastructure should be the priority. Most countries have done it that way. I have read in recent Engineering magazines to say how Brazil, Philippines, Malaysia, and now in India are concentrating on infrastructure development. . They are strengthening the infrastructure, communications, energy and sanitation. So I think the Chamber should now canvass for this. And then when the good times come we can accelerate the development of our country.

We need the media to give us the support to promote the Chamber of Construction Industry. Without your support we cannot get across these ideas. So it is important that you take into consideration what we are talking about. The Chamber can be the focal point to all stockholders, not only to Architects, Engineers and Contractors, but also to building material manufacturers, skilled workers, real estate developers, insurance companies, development banks, state agencies and all others connected to the Construction Industry. I invite all of them individually and collectively to join us.

Today I will give you only a background of what we could do. Regarding matters such as Finance, IT and others pertaining to our Industry, we will discuss these matters soon.