Local industry group counters mittal bid

Offers to build 65,ooo house using local expertise:
Submits proposal to government and ADB:
Government reportedly evaluating proposal:

By Chandani JAYATILLEKE

Major Constructors of Sri Lanka (MCSL) submitted a conceptual paper to the Department of External Resources (DER) of the Finance Ministry on Thursday (24), outlining the consortium’s ability to build 65,000 housing units for the conflict-affected families in the North and East, using local expertise and personnel.

The government has agreed to consider the proposal.

Representatives of MCSL also met Asian Development Bank (ADB) officials on 20 March, to handover the concept paper and to initiate a discussion on the proposed project.

“We want a back-to-back guarantee from the ADB and the government, so that we can raise funds to initiate this project with local participation and expertise,” CEO of MCSL, Brig. M. Wijeyewickrema, told the Sunday Observer.

The MCSL had earlier protested a government decision to offer the contract to global steel giant ArcelorMittal, owned by Indian industrial magnate Lakshmi Mittal.

MCSL is a consortium formed by the leading construction companies of Sri Lanka.

“We are not politically motivated. We are only looking after the interests of the construction industry in Sri Lanka as we have brilliant engineers, architects and all other professionals and the labour workforce to do this job. If we get the project, it will be a big boon to the local industry and the economy. It will pump significant funds to the local community,” he added.

It would also be beneficial to plan the mega construction initiative in an organised manner, he said, adding that awarding the project to local companies would be beneficial to the government and would immediately create hundreds of jobs as the work progresses. “If we offer five jobs per unit, we can easily create 325,000 jobs. The people in the provinces need jobs and opportunities to set up their small scale businesses.”

Talking about finding labour, which is scare in Sri Lanka, he said; “We have our own strategy – and we will ensure all the locals get benefited through this project. There are 500 small and medium construction companies in the north and the east. They are connected to the National Construction Association of Sri Lanka and it is not an issue to find labour from within the provinces,” he said.