Kadupul Flower

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS – 2009 South Provience

POLITICAL PARTY/ INDEPENDENT GROUP VOTES
United People's Freedom Alliance 804,071
United National Party 297,180
People's Liberation Front 72,379
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress 6,553
United National Alliance 871
United Socialist Party 805
Jathika Sangwardena Peramuna 468 0
Eksath Lanka Podujana Pakshaya 274
Janasetha Peramuna 239
Eksath Lanka Maha Sabha 110
Socialist Equality Party 95
Left Front 92
Sinhalaye Mahasammatha Bhoomiputra Pakshaya 91
Sri Lanka Progressive Front 86
Democratic Unity Alliance 61
Ruhunu Janatha Party 52 -
Nationals Peoples Party 49 -
Patriotic National Front 43 -

Valid Votes 1,184,511
Rejected Votes 35,531
Total Polled 1,220,042
Regis. Electors 1,761,859

Sri Lanka has potential to capture global construction market

The country has the potential to capture the global construction market and international exposure is necessary to compete with other countries, Chief Executive Officer/Secretary General, Chamber of Construction Industry Dakshitha Thalgodapitiya told Daily News Business.
“What our construction industrialists lack is the experience in handling mega scale global construction projects. They should be encouraged to secure sub-contracts to gain experience to become the main contractors”, he said.
The Chamber pioneered the first trade delegation to Qatar in 2007 followed by another delegation to the UAE in 2008. There are many opportunities for Sri Lankan construction industry professionals in the fields of architecture, quantity surveying and engineering. There are several local professionals working in Dubai, Qatar and Oman at present, he said.
The Chamber’s efforts to promote the country’s construction industry internationally should be supported by the Government together with private sector participation. To meet international demand, careful planning and reasonable time is necessary to establish linkages, he said.
There is a drop in the demand in the Gulf region due to the global recession. We need to wait till the Gulf economy picks up. There would be a positive impact on the local construction industry with the recession slowing down and we could expect a demand for our industrialists in the near future, he said.
Excon 2009 - Exposition for the Construction Industry will be the first international construction exhibition with over 300 trade stalls to be held from October 30 - November 1 at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre organized by the Chamber of Construction Industry. “Over 60 foreign industrialists have confirmed participation.
The exhibition would focus on property developers to resurrect abandoned properties and development projects to facilitate the sale of completed apartments. It also intends to attract direct foreign investors, local financial institutions and potential buyers under one roof”, he said.
The accredited representative of the domestic construction industry has designed “Excon 2009”, the sixth in the series of trade fairs presented by the Chamber to enhance the capabilities and competitiveness of construction industrialists.
The exhibition will showcase and introduce cost effective, environment friendly and alternative construction technologies and materials, building linkages between the SME sector and regional contractors with major constituents and overseas contractors. It will promote the export of construction related professional services and contracting capacities and facilitate foreign direct investments in infrastructure development, urban regeneration and other construction related projects.
Source By:Daily News

You Need

Long Time

Long Time ......................

What have I got to do to make you love meWhat have I got to do to make you careWhat do I do when lightning strikes meAnd I wake to find that you're not there
What do I do to make you want meWhat have I got to do to be heardWhat do I say when it's all overAnd sorry seems to be the hardest word
It's sad, so sadIt's a sad, sad situationAnd it's getting more and more absurdIt's sad, so sadWhy can't we talk it overOh it seems to meThat sorry seems to be the hardest word
What do I do to make you love meWhat have I got to do to be heardWhat do I do when lightning strikes meWhat have I got to doWhat have I got to doWhen sorry seems to be the hardest word
Elton John

Southern Expressway

Southern Expressway ready by 2011

The first stage of the Colombo - Matara Expressway (up to Galle) will be completed in July 2010 and the total project would be ready by 2011.

Total length of the expressway would be 126 kilometres, which is 34 kms less than the existing Colombo - Matara highway.

The expressway costing Rs. 84 billion is Sri Lanka's biggest development project in history and is also the first access controlled expressway (EW) in the country.

Design speed of the project starting from Kottawa on Highlevel road and ending at Godagama in Matara is 120 kilometres per hour.

"One of the biggest advantages of the project is that a motorist would be able to reach Matara in just one hour and twenty minutes and Galle in one hour," said Project Director, Southern Transport Development Project (STDP), S. Meihandan.

The EW is a four lane dual carriageway with eleven interchanges with toll gates and one rest area in Bentota with a 1.5m wide centre median with a cable barrier.

The access to the expressway would be from Kottawa on High Level road and from Kahathuduwa, Gelanigama, Dodangoda, Welipenna, Kurundugahahetekma, Nayapamula, Pinnaduwa, Deegoda, Weligama and Godagama on Matara Akuressa road.

There would be 153 underpasses and 27 overpasses as well. The EW would also be linked to the Colombo - Katunayake EW and the proposed Colombo - Kandy EW.

He said the EW was originally planned to be a two lane expressway and it was converted to a four lane anticipating the future demand. "We estimate that the Southern expressway would be sufficient to meet the demand for another 25 years.

There is provision for two additional lanes for the future," he added.

Two Special ambulances and a fire brigade would be assigned for the Expressway in case of an emergency.

Commenting on the proposed 'toll' (TM) he said that the STDP, hopes to charge a toll of Rs. 3 per kilometer from Cars, Rs. 6 from Vans, Rs. 9 from Buses and Lorries and Rs. 12 from Container Trucks.

A toll card is also planned for regular users. No motor bikes or three wheelers would be allowed in the EW.

Japan International Co-operation Agency, (JICA) Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government would fund the project.

The main objective of the project is to assist the development of economic activities of the Southern Province by encouraging growth in industries such as tourism, fisheries and agriculture.

Another advantage would be the reduction of fatal and non-fatal accidents (Most of the present victims are pedestrians and cyclists) in the A2 highway. Security against potential tsunami impacts between North and South on the Western Coast has also been considered. Land acquisition and resettlement has been substantially completed. Post resettlement activities such as income restoration, home gardening development and environmental monitoring are in progress.

He said that nearly 1340 families were displaced and Rs. 4.57 Billion had been paid as compensation so far.

Commenting on new technology the project director said that application of Compact Vacuum Consolidation and heavy tamping methods to treat soft soil areas were introduced. (source: Sunday Observer)

Historically Significant Earthquakes

		Historically Significant Earthquakes
	Year	Location	Magnitude	Deaths (Estimated)
	1201	Upper Egypt or Syria	unknown	1,000,000
	1556	Shaanxi Province, China	unknown	830,000
	1693	Sicily; Naples, Italy	unknown	160,000
	1703	Jeddo, Japan	unknown	200,000
	1755	Lisbon, Portugal; Spain; Morocco; Persia	unknown	100,000
	1797	Ecuador; Peru	unknown	41,000
	1811-1812	New Madrid, MO, U.S. (3 quakes)	unknown	few deaths
	1883	Java	unknown	100,000
	1905	India	8.6	20,000
	1906	San Francisco, CA, U.S.	8.3	700
	1906	Valparaíso, Chile	8.6	20,000
	1920	Gansu Province, China	8.6	200,000
	1923	Tokyo; Yokohama, Japan	8.3	130,000
	1927	Nan Shan, China	8.3	200,000
	1939	Concepción, Chile	8.3	30,000
	1939	Erzincan, Turkey	8.0	30,000
	1949	Tadzhik S.S.R	7.5	120,000
	1960	Puerto Montt, Valdivia, Chile	8.3	6,000
	1964	Prince William Sound, AK, U.S.	9.2	130
	1970	Northern Peru	7.7	66,800
	1976	Guatemala	7.5	23,000
	1976	Tangshan, China	8.0	240,000
	1978	Northeastern Iran	7.7	25,000
	1985	Mexico City	8.1	4,200
	1988	Armenian S.S.R	6.9	30,000
	1990	Northwestern Iran	7.7	60,000
	1993	India	6.5	30,000
	1995	Japan	7.2	6,400
	1995	Russia	7.5	2,100
	1997	Northeastern Iran	7.1	1,560
	1998	Northwestern Afghanistan	6.1	4,000
	1998	Northern Afghanistan	7.1	5,000
	1999	Western Turkey	7.4	15,000
	1999	Taiwan	7.6	2,400