Southern expressway’s Sri Lankan engineers pull out

 Jun 30, 2017

Local engineers have taken a decision to pull out from consultancy services from the southern expressway extension project for the Matara to Beliatta stretch (section I). This is because of the substandard constructions, the use of inferior quality raw material, waste of public money and the authoritarian conduct of the team leader from the Chinese consultancy firm.

The China Railway First Survey and Design Institute Group Co. Ltd. (FSDI) supervised the construction work. The team leader from that company is British national Colin Aspinall. This man has aided China’s CATIC company to make substandard constructions and to use inferior quality raw material in return for various privileges.

On 03 April, 15 Sri Lankan senior engineers in the project petitioned project director M.S. Nilawfer, pointing out 14 illegal acts committed by Aspinall to adversely affect the construction quality of the expressway stretch. Since no action was taken against the team leader, they sent a reminder on 30 May, asking for an inquiry and that a decision be taken with regard to him.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan quantity surveyor D.D.J.A. Amarasena has immediately been removed from the project on the instructions of the RDA chairman and senior project director, but without approval by Nilawfer. A committee headed by the highways ministry’s additional secretary inquired into the matter on 05 June. At the inquiry, Aspinall did not answer the allegations against him, and only said he could not work with local engineers any longer.

(Daya Nettasinghe)