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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ibnanv" data-source="post: 21657904" data-attributes="member: 218596">Sri Lanka's capital has10,000 unapproved buildings, 'serious questions' on apartments: MinisterECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka's capital Colombo has thousands of buildings  which were not properly approved a and 'serious questions' regarding  some apartments, Western Province Megapolis Minister Champika Ranawaka  has said, after the collapse of a partly built building. Minister Ranawaka said authorities were looking at areas such as  Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Kolonnawa. About 10,000 unapproved buildings had  been found so far. In a coastal belt between Bambalapitiya and Wellawatte in Colombo's  southern suburbs, 1,800 'illegal constructions' without proper  permission, he said. The collapse of a 7 story building in Wellawatte, which was apparently  being extended, led to the death of at least one person and around two  dozes were injured, reports said. Wellawatte is an area where there is a high concentration of the Tamil  minority and migrants from Jaffna, during and after a civil war, which  had led to many apartment buildings coming up in recent years. There a 'serious questions' regarding some apartment blocks in the city, Minister Ranawaka said. Minister Ranawaka said the collapsed seven story building was next to  another eight story building. It had received planning permission in  2009 as an apartment block, but no certificate of conformity has been  obtained after completion, before people occupied the building. It was  being used as a reception hall. Individuals who have experience in building their own houses say some  local authority officials are corrupt and plans of seasoned house  builders seem to be quickly passed but it can take up to five months for  ordinary person to get planning permission to build their own house. In some areas both UDA and local authority permission is needed. People who went through the process say excuses for delaying house  approvals include: the officer who peruses the documents is on leave,  they have gone on a conference, they are on a training program, come  next week, come in two weeks, call before you come, the file has not  come back yet, come next week, come in three days, UDA has not sent the  documents come next week, the documents have been sent, the committee  did not meet this week, the committee will meet next week, the  structural engineer's seal on the plan is not clear, the committee did  not take up your plan this week, the municipal seal has not been placed  on the approved plan yet, and the officer who signs on the seal is on  leave. Minister Ranawaka says a preliminary inspection by engineers of the  State Engineering Corporation has indicated that the collapsed building  was structurally flawed. He said there should have been a 21 foot reservation between the  building and the Wellawatte canal, but it appeared to have been  encroached. Sri Lanka's politicians have also slapped high import duties on steel to  give excessive profits to oligarchs in steel industry making  construction steel un-necessarily expensive for the homeless. Sri Lanka's hotel sector has also lost competitiveness partly due to high import duties on steel. Economists say high import duties can lead to lower quality imports as  has happened in ceramic and sanitaryware where factory seconds are  imported. Meanwhile those with experience in house building says it also leads to even house-owners skimping on steel. Import duty protection and high domestic prices for steel, may lead to  laying thinner steel bars than requiring for concrete and also laying  them wider than the spacing recommended by architects and structural  engineers. (Colombo/May21/2017)</blockquote>

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