GTB introduces Thermo-Mechanically treated bars to Sri Lanka

GTB Colombo Corporation which is a member of the Construction Chamber of Industries introduced the Thermo Mechanically Treated (TMT) bars in Sri Lanka at the 9 Excon 2008 Construction Exhibition.

“The Thermo Mechanically Treated bars that will reduce the cost of construction by 10% as well benefit the construction contractors and home builders”, Minister of Construction and Engineering Services Dr. Rajitha Senaratne stated at the launch of Excon 2008 Construction Exhibition. Last year also CCI introduced manufactured sand as an alternative to river sand for construction purposes. Devco Showa which will be names Fujeema State Corporation will venture into the production of rock sand and will introduced to the domestic market. Arrangements are been made by me to make available offshore sand properly washed and sieved to the construction contractors with the collaboration of a foreign investor, the minister added.

When this is done it will also help protect the environment by reducing the dependence on river sand for building purposes.

Another problem the construction industry is facing the acute shortage of cement as the global demand for cement is increasing rapidly due to the hectic construction activities in China, India, Middle East and other oil exporting countries.


The Minister further stated that he has taken the initiative to reactivate the KKS Cement Factory that remains closed since June 1990, in collaboration with one of the biggest industrial conglomerates in India. Once it is completed the total requirement of cement can be manufactured locally along with other factories already in production in Sri Lanka and this will save valuable foreign exchange to the country.

It is the policy of my Ministry to encourage domestic contractors and consultants to achieve required quality standards and effectively engage on construction activities in foreign countries and I am willing to intervene positively to remove and stumbling blocks faced by our contractors and consultants in achieving this objective. Through this he hopes to increase the contribution of construction industry to the GDP from present level 7.4% to at least 15% and also position it as a thrust industry earning foreign exchange.

“The construction industry locally is not doing well”, CCI President Sarath Wickremasinghe said. When the eastern province is all cleared and going well we’ll have a lot of work builders and contractors there. In Sri Lanka if we don’t have any funds we can’t do any developing work. We have very little land in Colombo like about 15 square miles of the city area. Eleven percent of this is occupied by slums or shanties and around 11, 000 acres of land are just wasted.

“This is the sixth consecutive Excon Construction Exhibition we are holding at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Hall and which will go on till tomorrow”, CCI CEO and Secretary General Dakshitha Thalgodapitiya stated. New courses by City and Guilts for the construction industry and CCI’s own distance learning program are among the concurrent events that will take place at the exhibition. In 2009 we plan to have a more meaningful exhibition. Excon 2008 is designed to facilitate enhancement of industry capacities and competitiveness by promoting linkages among different stakeholders drawn from large multinationals to the SME Sector.

This is an ideal opportunity to promote and discover new products ad discover new products, services and appropriate technology. For the benefit of SME’s which account for over 90% of the construction industry, CCI in collaboration with ICTAD will host an interactive session to discuss issues and impediments faced by the SME sector of the construction industry today from 9am onwards at the ICTAD Auditorium.

There are 150 trade stalls providing opportunities for vendors of plant and equipment and other construction inputs, financial services and other service providers to meet their target clientele. A large number of foreign guests from India, UK, State of Qatar and Malaysia are expected to visit the exhibition as well. Other attendees will be leading construction consultants, developers, contractors, vendors of construction equipment, raw materials and technology, professionals service providers, public sector institutions and home builders.

The ministry has pledged its support for Excon 2009 that is scheduled to be held from the 29 to the 31 of May 2009 as Sri Lanka’s first international construction related exhibition with the specific objective of promoting Sri Lankan enterprises to showcase their capabilities to the international market.