Col. Jayavi Fernando - President, Security Service Providers Assoc

The 11th Annual General Meeting of the SLASSPA (Sri Lanka Security Service Providers Association) was held recently at the Taj Samudra on the theme 'Thinking Beyond Borders'. Secretary, Ministry of Defence. Karunasena Hettiarachchi was the chief guest.

Col. Jayavi Fernando was elected President of the SLASSPA.

Outgoing President, SLASSPA, Major Tissa Aluwihare said that the industry was facing major challenges such as the shortage of manpower, price undercutting, and non-compliance of regulations by certain companies.

"This situation creates a 'vicious cycle' from within. Our aim is to turn this 'vicious cycle' into a 'positive cycle' through a well planned, step-by-step image-building exercise, encompassing all stakeholders of the industry," he said.

"Four years ago, the SLASSPA realized that the problem was so deep-rooted, that it had to create awareness and shift the thinking of the whole industry comprising 100,000 security personnel along with over 300 entrepreneurs and other stakeholders and the authorities. A paradigm shift in mindset was needed.

This is when the SLASSPA Secretariat initiated the journey to bring about this change," Aluwihare said.

As a first step, Major Aluwihare initiated the first ever CEO Forum in late 2014, to which the SLASSPA invited all stakeholders of the industry. In the next phase, a media campaign was carried out to create awareness and stimulate a change the way clients see and feel about its guards, working on the motto 'CSR begins at home'.

"In the third phase, we invited stakeholders to a forum on the theme 'Think beyond Borders', where we called on the owners of security companies not to undercut prices.

Defence Ministry Secretary Hettiarachchi said, "Commercial security is an important auxiliary arm of the security machinery and augments resources of the law and order establishment as part of the national security grid."

The Police alone cannot be omnipresent; hence the security guard becomes part of its 'eyes and ears' on ground and can assist in the protection of life and property, thereby relieving the law and order authorities somewhat of this burden, he said.