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| Sunday, 24 April 2005 |
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Features |  |
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Construction and trade : Roadblocks all the way
Ian Sayers, Senior Adviser to the Private Sector Division of Trade and Support Services, International Trade Centre in Geneva was in Sri Lanka for a short period to advise and formulate constructive plans on construction industry, exports of spices, organic produce, rubber products and eco-tourism. Here he talks to Sunday Observer staffer Don Asoka Wijewardena about the construction and trade sectors. Excerpts of the interview: Question: You have been able to get a first hand account on the construction industry here. Is it on the right track or does it need to be streamlined? Answer: The main segments of the construction industry are constructing roads, bridges, buildings, hotels and housing projects, especially both donor-funded and State-funded. I have come to know that a number of donor agencies in tsunami-hit areas have not been able to start their construction work due to unnecessary rules and regulations imposed by the responsible authorities. Getting approval for various things has become a drudgery to most donor agencies. Required materials, manpower and technology should be at the right place at the right time. Through the workshops we held, I have guided the stakeholders of the construction industry through the value change diagnosis and have asked them to develop a prioritised plan of action which responds to the current demands of reconstruction. In fact the construction industry has to be streamlined. For instance, even the Chamber of Construction Industry (CCI), Ministry of Housing and task forces on reconstruction have already identified the main weaknesses and delays due to lack of co-ordination in the industry. Q: What are the main areas of difficulties and what are your suggestions for improvements? A: I have found through my survey a number of bottlenecks at the stage of project conception and approval where delays can vary between 3 to 7 months. In other countries it is common that delays in getting approvals to start necessary work will take only 2 to 3 months. In Sri Lanka there are a number of international experts with manpower, materials and technology and these people have been awaiting approvals from the authorities to start reconstruction. The evaluation and approval process need proper co-ordination to accelerate the reconstruction work. Q: Who should inform the authorities to be more pragmatic about proper co-ordination and eradicate delays? A: I think it is the responsibility of Sri Lankan organisations and institutions represented by stakeholders to inform them and mobilise them to respond in the most efficient way. I am certain that the ITC's process structured solutions to these kinds of problems are extremely important as those structured solutions could identify where the value change help is needed. Q: What are the stumbling blocks regarding export promotion in Sri Lanka's other industries such as spices, rubber, organic produce eco-tourism, A: Sri Lanka's domestic industries leave much to be desired, because of the difficulty in planning, lack of avenues to improve the skills of sub-contractors, lack of ability in procument and sourcing and obtaining project finance and lack of co-ordination. Most domestic industries both medium and large scale, do not have long-term inclination, for export promotion. It is obvious that before a problem can be resolved it has to be analysed. I am sure value chain analysis and the development of a strategy outline will be able to eliminate the emerging problems and bottlenecks in domestic industries. Q: Will there be a bright future for eco-tourism in Sri Lanka? A: Yes. Eco-tourism will attract more tourists, provided Sri Lanka improves cultural heritage sites and provides a hassle-free environment for tourists to stay. Apart from eco-tourism health tourism, adventure tourism and holiday tourism should be streamlined as each of these sectors have come up with prioritised services of activities to improve their performance and profitability. Q: The SMEs have not been able to link with large-scale enterprises. In your opinion what are the obstacles that SMEs encounter in Sri Lanka? A: I have found that due to lack of quality, hygiene, use of modern technology, modern management know-how and lack of vision, SMEs are unable to compete with large-scale enterprises. Even the horizontal and vertical communication systems in the SMEs seem to be poor and so far positive measures have not been taken to link SMEs with large-scale enterprises. In Thailand and Singapore there is a growing competition between SMEs and large-scale enterprises as there is a link between those two sectors. I have also found that there is no concrete national policy that will not change with the change of governments. Q: What should be the government's primary objective to link SMEs with large-scale enterprises and improve them? A: The politicians, especially line ministers should change their attitudes and we have proposed to set up a single co-ordinating unit which links SMEs with larger enterprises. We have also proposed to bring foreign managers to work with Sri Lankan managers without any sort of political interference. Q: A few months ago the coastal areas of Sri Lanka were hit by the tsunami. In your opinion what is the duty of the international community in this natural calamity? A: As a matter of fact, it is the bounden duty of the donor nations to assist Sri Lanka as State institutions cannot afford to restore the affected areas. What we have found is the construction activities seem to be stagnating as most projects come under the purview of the secretary of the respective ministry. The secretary is required to attend to other duties without completing one project and we have identified that as the biggest problem at the moment. We have also identified that due to brain drain most professionals in each and every sector have left Sri Lanka. At the same time we have found that consultancy agreements are changed and we suggest to have single applicable document. We also suggest that all responsible officials should be delegated authority and should be given a deadline on work completion, and those who do not meet the deadlines be penalised. In the construction industry, contractors should be encouraged to maintain quality control, and a centralised body should be established to monitor contractor's performance.
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