National Council Sub Committee on Economic Stabilisation discusses construction industry crisis

The Sub Committee of the National Council last week took up concerns faced by the construction industry in the wake of the economic crisis.

Multiple issues surfaced during the discussion at the Sub Committee on Identifying the Short and Medium-Term Programs related to Economic Stabilisation of the National Council under the Chairmanship of MP Patali Champika Ranawaka.

Representatives of several parties representing the public and private sectors related to the construction industry in Sri Lanka, participated in this Committee and the opinions of the respective parties were obtained on the issues that exist in the said field.

They indicated that there are approximately 650,000 direct and 700,000 indirect jobs related to the construction industry. But they pointed out that the construction sector has collapsed at present and because of this, workers have faced a crisis.

Furthermore, these parties said that it has become difficult for the purchase of constructions such as apartments and offices that are currently built. Also, the parties present pointed out that there are a large number of people who have difficulty paying the bank loans due to the Government not making payments for part of the constructions that have been built so far. It was also revealed that due to the economic crisis, there has been a tendency for people associated with the construction industry to leave the country.

Chairman Ranawaka said that if solutions that require money, solutions that do not require money and legal solutions are not identified and implemented separately, the country’s engineering sector will suffer a major collapse. He said that he is hoping to submit to the Parliament and the Government proposals on the matter as soon as possible.