S.M.A. Construction receives ISO

Boom experienced in construction industry, especially in North and East:

S.M.A. Construction, an ICTAD Grade C1 certified government construction and engineering company, was awarded the ISO 9001:2008 Certification by the prestigious certification company, Det Norske Veritas Certification B.V. of the Netherlands recently.

“Sri Lanka is experiencing an unprecedented era of fast-track development under the able guidance of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose exceptional leadership paved the way for the country to achieve peace, defeating the 30 year curse of terrorism. Under his far-thinking leadership, all business spheres of Sri Lanka are developing at an accelerated rate and the construction sphere is no exception. I believe it is the bounden duty of all of us in Sri Lanka to gather around our President and turn Sri Lanka to the ‘Miracle of Asia.’ These kinds of quality certifications play a very important role in upgrading the quality of the goods and services delivered by organizations, thereby enhancing the image of Sri Lanka in the eyes of the world,” T.K.A. Sarath, the Managing Director of S.M.A. Construction told Daily News Business.

Sarath, hailing from the little known hamlet of Meetiyagoda in the Deep South, received his education at St. Aloysius College, Galle. After finishing his school education, he started his career as a Senior Technical officer at the Road Development Authority (RDA) and then moved to the Mahaweli Authority. “Thereafter, I worked with several Japanese civil engineering firms that had undertaken construction work in Sri Lanka, such as Mitsui Construction, Toda Construction and Nippon Corporation in the capacities of Assistant Civil Engineer and Civil Engineer. Values such as integrity, honesty ant courteousness which I gleaned from the Japanese I associated with during this period of my life, tempered me to take my own construction company to the position it is at today,” Sarath said.

Sarath started his company, S.M.A. Construction, in 1991 with just 15 employees. Presently, he has over 250 personnel working for his company, a technical staff of 50 and 200 other workers.

“My company is handling the routine construction maintenance work of the USA Embassy, the Indian High Commission and the German Embassy. In fact, they are so pleased with our work that now they do not trouble themselves with tender procedures and entrust us with whatever job that requires attention at the time. That alone is a direct result of what I have learnt from the Japanese,” Sarath said.

SMA has acquired an impressive and a diversified portfolio of projects in every sector of the construction industry ranging from building construction in the Western and Southern Regions to irrigation involving both head works and down stream development and also infrastructure development in North Central and Northern Regions of Sri Lanka funded by multi lateral development banks and bilateral funding agencies. To implement this massive order book, the company has strengthened its management capacity by obtaining services of a highly respected professional who have had many years of experience at CEO level in both public and private sectors in addition to Senior Chartered Engineers with wealth of experience in irrigation and infrastructure sectors.

“The main problem faced by Sri Lankan building contractors is the lack of suitable raw material such as sand, aggregate and gravel. Due to various restrictions imposed by the Central Government and provincial authorities, it has become almost impossible to find and find and transport quality building material. Furthermore, the prices of building material go up with each passing day. These facts and difficulties are not mentioned at the time of tender. When the prices of building material skyrocket, the contractor is placed in difficulty.

“There is a great deal of building construction work going on in the North. But, the difficulty of procuring quality building material is more intense there. Even though there are organizations such as ICTAD and the National Contractors’ Association, there is virtually no help extended towards contractors. The government has to step in and solve the burning issues of building contractors,” Sarath said.

“The other issue is foreign construction companies, from India, China and other countries, making inroads into the Sri Lankan building construction sphere. The work of some of these construction companies is often shoddy and of poor quality. But, they are in a position to underbid the Sri Lanka construction firms, which deprives Sri Lankan workers of their livelihoods. This is a very serious situation, which must be nipped in the bud,” Sarath said.

Asked about his future plans, Sarath said that he is planning to diversify to cater to the overseas market. “My son, T.K.A. Hasitha Piyamantha, the Deputy Chairman of S.M.A. Construction, has just retuned to the island from the USA, where he was successful in obtaining an Honours Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the State University of Wichita. I am planning to expand my business to Seychelles and African Region in the near future. These countries offer great potential to grow, and we have to move overseas to put Sri Lanka on the map,” Sarath said.