Article published on FT on 21 July 2023 |
The Ceylon Institute of Builders (CIOB) and Building Economics and Management Research Unit (BEMRU), Department of Building Economics, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka are jointly organising the 11th World Construction Symposium with the Green Awards Night will be held tomorrow (22 July) from 7.00 p.m. at Galadari Hotel Colombo.
This annual symposium will provide a special forum for researchers and practitioners in the areas of built environment and construction industry related research worldwide to share their knowledge, experiences and research findings. The Ceylon Institute of Builders (CIOB) has been very successfully conducting this symposium since its commencement in 2012. Each year it has grown and expanded its scope of attendees and contributions to the betterment of Sri Lankan Construction.
With the help of the University of Moratuwa, this is one of the only events where the industry and academia come together. Around 100 research papers are being submitted from top ranked universities from all over the world.
However CIOB noted that “it is unfortunate that these research papers go to waste. No one is coming forward to select the best research and implement them in the industry. Even in the meeting we had with Ranil Wickremasinghe, he insisted that we have to seriously think about bringing down constriction cost, bringing down inefficiency in management and cut down wastages. If we attend to these we can save over 25% and in that case Sri Lankan construction cost can remain competitive in par with our neighbouring countries. However other countries our construction quality and lifetime is very high and we have almost no failures.”
This meeting was very successful. CIOB noted the harm of stopping construction in Sri Lanka and the President admitted that the roadmap will be implemented and the construction industry can restart soon after local debt restructuring is over. Further JAICA and other foreign funded projects will subsequently restart.
Within the 11th world construction symposium With the UOM, CIOB has conducted its annual Award Ceremony which has been held for the past ten years and proudly continues today. It aims to convert academic papers and concepts into a reality and acknowledges those who have integrated academia into the Sri Lankan Construction Industry: a task that many industry personnel fail to do. Indeed it is unfortunate that no one has stepped forward to help the construction industry to pioneer this endeavour.
In such a difficult time, CIOB and University of Moratuwa have sought to conduct a Green and Sustainable Awards ceremony to recognise efforts towards sustainability in various fields, organisations, projects and people.
Original article: https://www.ft.lk/business/11th-World-Construction-Symposium-and-Green-Awards-tomorrow-in-Colombo/34-750857