Singapore’s Surbana Jurong consultancy revived for mega development plans
The government has rehired Singaporebased consulting firm Surbana Jurong Pvt Ltd towards providing one-stop consultancy solutions across the entire value chain of urbanisation, industrialisation and infrastructure domains in Sri Lanka.
In a reactivation initiative of ongoing and stalled development projects launched since 2017, Surbana Jurong is now reviewing its previous three key development plans - the Western Region Megapolis Plan, Eastern Development Plan centred around Trincomalee, and the Southern Development Plan with Hambantota as its hub.
The Singapore firm is to expedite the project identification, planning and implementation of urbanisation and infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka to attract toprung investors, a senior official of the Urban Development Authority said.
Through this initiative Surbana Jurong intends to tap on and build up a core local Sri Lankan technical base to support its urban and infrastructure consultancy works in Sri Lanka.
A high level technical team from this firm visited Trincomalee on Wednesday as part of an extensive review of Sri Lanka's three megapolis plans for Colombo, Hambantota and Trincomalee.
They have already paid field visits to review the progress of projects in Colombo and Gampaha districts this week.
Sri Lanka’s ambitious US$40 billion Western Region Megapolis Planning Project (WRMPP) launched by the previous regime with the aim of re-developing the Colombo City and suburbs is now facing major obstacles in realising its 15-year vision, an official progress review report has revealed.
This project comprising 150 smaller projects will be revitalised in accordance with the present government’s vision and policy although the original plan may look good on paper, a senior Finance Ministry official said
Progress on these projects has been stalled due to the COVID-19 crisis, financial constraints and policy issues and is expected to be revised on a case-by-case basis based on the availability of funds, he disclosed.
It has been planned to establish a trade hub, a high-rise central business district including at least 60 new towers, a science and technology city, and a rapid transit system aimed at reducing traffic congestion in the most populous Colombo City region.
The WRMPP has been planned to cover an area of 3,600 sq. km in the districts of Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara with the objective of reducing the unemployment rate from 4 to 2 per cent by 2020, and then maintain that rate until 2035 by creating 2.1 million employment opportunities.
Plans have been devised at that time for developing two tourist cities and improve living conditions of 70,000 families living in shanties and slums.
But despite the imposing plan devised with the assistance of Surbana Jurong, the WRMPP’s viability is now doubtful in the absence of proper financing arrangements, irregularities and its poor record of project implementation, the report revealed.
The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have initially given its consent to provide partial funding for the implementation of the plan under certain conditions, a senior official said.