BusinessChinese workers have come in; Indian workers are competing and over-running the Sri Lankan labour force. Nissanka Wijeratne, CEO, CCI making the introductory remarks said that they are to discuss issues facing the construction industry, that of the labour shortage and the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with various countries which has includes some areas that affect the local construction industry such as foreign companies winning contracts competing with local companies in locally funded projects which would ultimately eliminate the local construction industry altogether. The worker shortage, he said, is immense as there is a shortfall of 350,000 in the construction industry. He urged the government to focus attention on these serious issues to prevent the collapse of the whole local construction industry. Answering a question whether Chinese workers are paid more than locals, Mr. Gunatileke said that though Chinese workers are short in height, one Chinese worker would carry two steel bars in both hands while two Sri Lankan workers would carry one steel bar, thereby the efficiency of the Sri Lankan workers are 25 per cent.

Source: Sunday Times February 20, 2018 07:07 UTC