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| Sunday, 18 January 2004 |
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Public, private sectors must work together to develop infrastructure - ADB Country Director The main reason for infrastructure projects to get delayed and abandoned in Sri Lanka is not the lack of funding, but the lack of political will, decisions, deregulation and governance. Since infrastructure projects are carried out on a long-term basis, stability is a must to make them a reality, Country Director, Asian Development Bank, John R. Cooney told a seminar on 'Infrastructure challenges and constraints', organised by the Sri Lanka Economic Association. He said under India's National Highways Development Project, connecting four cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkatta - has been undertaken. The road network was 14,000 kilometres in length and involved US$ 13 billion. Half the project is already completed due to the strong and consistent support of the Indian government. He said that due to lack of infrastructure in Sri Lanka, poor regions have been isolated from markets. Therefore, good infrastructure is essential to usher in economic growth, develop human resources, reduce poverty and improve social cohesion. Unfortunately, this sector has been neglected, he opined. Unlike in many other countries, most infrastructure facilities in the North and East have remained untouched due to the 20-year old conflict between the government and the LTTE. Post-conflict, the needs of the North and East include housing, roads, railways, ports, power, water supply and irrigation. Transport demands are projected to increase by 12 per cent per annum. Roads at present provide for 94 per cent of the demand while it is projected that the traffic will double in less than six years, but only two links will be in place during this period. The demand for power too will increase by 12 per cent per annum, but the next major power plant will not be operational until end-2008. Therefore, Sri Lanka's cost of power will remain the highest in the region for years, warned Cooney. He said the current country-wide access to power is about 64 per cent while in the North, it is less than 20 per cent and in the East, about 40 per cent. Sri Lanka has targeted a country-wide access of 85 per cent by 2006. "The infrastructure needs are so great at the moment that the public and private sectors must work together to achieve the desired targets. The most critical factor is that decision making should be streamlined," he said. Cooney said there is potential in the country for infrastructure projects in power, ports, water supply, railways and roads. Director General, Board of Investment, Arjunna Mahendran, speaking on 'Opportunities in infrastructure development in Sri Lanka' said there is much more preparatory work in the private sector compared to the public sector, before initiating a project. However, in most instances, this is very essential for the smooth flow of the project once it is off the ground. He said the country is presently trying to attract investors to the power and energy, ports and airports, water supply and sanitation and highways sectors. Investors in these sectors will be able to enjoy incentives. Aneela De Soysa, Partner PricewaterhouseCoopers presented two case studies on infrastructure development. The principal sponsor of the seminar was HSBC. (SG) |
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