The initial scope of the project comprises of the construction of 5,000 housing units under mandate from the Urban Development Authority’s ‘Urban Regeneration Plan’, for the relocation of the underserved settlements in the city of Colombo. The Urban Regeneration Plan of the government aims to transform the lives of 400,000 people currently residing in underserved settlements by providing them with new housing units with all the modern amenities.

The new CML-MTD BOI company has sourced funding from the EXIM Bank of Malaysia and has initiated Phase 1 of this project in order to construct 1,650 housing units with a contract value of Rs. 5.7 Billion (USD 43.3 million) The construction of these housing units will introduce the use of the latest technology such as Integrated Building Systems (IBS) which will enable faster construction delivery times, better cost saving methods of construction and efficient processes. In essence, there will be a full transfer of technology utilizing local resources and local resource personnel.

The Deputy Chairman of local construction specialist CML-MTD Construction Limited; Jehan Amaratunga, along with the Managing Director / CEO  Dian Jayasuriya, who are also Directors of the new BOI Company; said that they will capitalize on the larger MTD Walkers PLC group synergies in order to harness the Group’s expertise in delivering the services of a fully integrated infrastructure and engineering solutions provider. To this end, whilst CML-MTD Construction Limited will undertake 100% of the Design and Build works, the overall group synergies will ensure that Walkers Piling (Pvt.) Ltd and Walkers Sons & Company Engineers (Pvt.) Ltd., two subsidiary companies under MTD Walkers PLC, will also play a vital role in the project ensuring a quality product being delivered to the customer. (KH/SI)