Sarath Kumara to head SEC

COLOMBO: B.V. Sarath Kumara de Silva has been appointed Chairman of State Engineering Corporation (SEC) from June 18.

The SEC is one of the chief construction agencies engaged in the country’s development and the promotion of the construction industry.

The Corporation also manufactures pre-cast concrete products. The SEC head office is located in Colombo 02 and the central workshop is at Peliyagoda. It has about 35 construction sites islandwide.

De Silva, during his 38 years as an engineer, has designed, supervised and built some of Sri Lanka’s grandest and unique engineering projects, including Kalutara Bodhiya. He is one of Sri Lanka’s prominent engineers who has imprinted his success within the business community as a successful business leader. He started his career as an engineer at the then State Engineering Corporation and became its General Manager/CEO within in 12 years.

He was the youngest General Manager at a Public Corporation at that time. At SEC, he managed and led a resource pool of over 150 professionals and a labour force of over 10,000. After transforming the then ailing giant, SEC into a profitable Public venture he resigned from the SEC in 1981.

Engineer Sarath Kumara was the Chairman of State Development and Construction Corporation, where he was given an opportunity to revitalise the struggling organisation. The combination of his deep technical knowledge and financial focus that came from managing his own businesses enabled him to instil a fiscal and operational discipline in the organisation that resulted in a complete turnaround within two years.

Silva entered the University of Ceylon from the Nalanda College, Colombo. He obtained his first degree in Civil Engineering with Honours in 1966 from the Peradeniya University.

In 1970 he obtained his post-graduate Diploma in Concrete Technology and M.Sc. in Structural Engineering at Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London. De Silva is a Senior Certified Valuer and Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka.