Construction work on major mega projects in Colombo as well as highway projects which employ Chinese workers has come to a standstill since the corona virus outbreak, with Sri Lankan workers refusing to report to work while Chinese workers have been asked to stay indoors, construction industry sources said.
The majority of around 8,000 Chinese workers who have left the country during end January to attend their New Year celebrations did not return to the island due to COVID 19 outbreak in China.
A senior official of the Foreign Ministry said that said fear psychosis over the possible spread of the virus has had a severe impact on the progress of ongoing projects with much of the work on hold for over one month.
“Lankan workers are reluctant to return over fears that they may fall ill while the Chinese workers have not been allowed to leave the corona virus stricken country.
This has resulted in the halting of construction work has been halted mid way of several mega building and highway construction projects including Colombo Port city, Star class super luxury hotels, housing complexes, fly over’s and express highways etc
Foreign Ministry authorities urged their Chinese counterparts to take measures to dispel fears among local workers as well as to ensure that Chinese workers who had gone back to their country for the Lunar New Year holidays return soon.
Nearly 30%-40% of the workers on major Chinese projects in Sri Lanka are nationals of that country while local companies too have started employing workers from China.
While officially there are only around 15,000 Chinese workers in the construction sector in Sri Lanka unofficially close to 100,000 are believed to have been working in the country. .
(LI)