The National Construction Association of Sri Lanka (NCASL) alleges that the government of deliberately stalling public development projects, despite allocating a substantial Rs. 500 billion in the 2025 Budget for such initiatives.
According to NCASL Chairman M.D. Paul, tenders have only been issued for projects valued at less than Rs. 5 billion, leaving the remainder of the allocated funds idle.
He warned that this stagnation is severely affecting the already fragile construction industry, placing thousands of jobs and businesses at risk.
“Despite promising a major push in infrastructure, the government has launched only a handful of small-scale projects. If this trend continues, we are looking at a possible collapse of the industry within five years,” Paul said.
He also highlighted the slow pace of bureaucratic processes, noting that state officials and engineers have failed to finalise project designs and initiate proper procurement procedures.
He added that ministers as well as ministry secretaries have shown little interest in addressing the bottlenecks, further exacerbating the crisis.
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