Sri Lanka’s premier R & D facility moves on to bigger things

By Lakwimashi Perera

After 50-years of working amidst the hustle and bustle of Colombo city, the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) formerly known as the Ceylon Institute for Scientific and Industrial Research (CISIR) is finally moving to a state of the art facility that is worthy of the 21st century.

The present and original location which is 55-years old

The new premises will be a welcome departure from the honking horns and passing traffic that has always disturbed the scientists’ thought process.

The ITI, currently located in Colombo 7 near the BMICH, is relocating to the Technology Park in Malabe.

ITI Director/CEO Dr Azeez M. Mubarak, hailing the move, said, “the Colombo 7 area is a very expensive place and it is not an area where you can do research and development because research and development requires expansion.”

Initially, the plan was to build a Japanese funded state of the art Food Technology Lab in the Colombo premises itself, but as a result of the area where the ITI is currently located being identified as an Independence Square Development Area, preventing high rise buildings from being erected, that proposal had to be scrapped. The new facility will be situated on a 10 acre block of land in Malabe that was granted to the ITI by the government.

Pointing out another positive outcome of the move, Dr Mubarak explained that 80 per cent of industries are in Colombo and the Western Province. Due to this, everyone gets attracted to this area creating other problems.

He pointed out workers who come to Colombo looking for jobs and as a result, spend most of their salaries on accommodation as an example. According to him, most of the ITI staff are from the outstations, requiring long hours of travel to get to and from work.

Dr Azeez M. Mubarak

When they get to work they are tired and not in a position to work. “These are all issues. People don’t realize the real issues.” Dr Mubarak explained that in R & D there is no “9 to 4.45 (hour)” limit but that he cannot force people to work late as they have other personal matters to attend to. “The move might help because we’re going to have accommodation for the scientists.”

He says scientists have to be given the correct environment and a conducive atmosphere to think.

The proposed facility will have a park atmosphere, similar to a Western facility, with a lot of greenery to help create an environment where the scientists can peacefully engage in their work.

A requirement of the Malabe Park is for buildings to be high rise but Mubarak shows a preference for a lay out that requires his staff to walk from building to building. Hence, the new complex is designed so that the buildings are spread out instead of rise up in the 10 acres. “Even in the West, the latest trend is to have buildings far away so that people must walk.” The new proposed facility will include such facilities like a swimming pool, a herb garden, tennis courts etc. These facilities are designed to make the staff feel at ease and create an environment conducive to peaceful thought and also build team spirit.

The ITI has made a request to the UDA for a building plan that is not congested and have adequate spacing between the buildings.

The shift is spread out over a period of 10 years with construction beginning with the Japanese-funded Food Technology lab. The government is funding the building of the administration building and is also providing the funds for the land.

The total required to complete the project over a period of 10 years will be Rs 3.5 billion. “We will identify specific blocks and look for foreign grants,” The ITI director said, adding that he is confident that he could get the project going and seek the necessary funds.

Asked about the perennial problem of an exodus of qualified personnel from the state sector looking for greener pastures in the private sector, Dr Mubarak stated that R & D of the private sector has not developed to an extent where it has lured ITI employees but admitted that better pay in the private sector has resulted in loss of qualified personnel – to other jobs. “For example a chemist may become a banker in the private sector” he said. When asked what is being done to curb this problem he said that the Minister for Science and Technology, Prof. Tissa Vitharana is fighting for a bigger budget to secure competitive salaries for experts so as to retain them.

“It is a loss for the country to train people as scientists – after investing so much money from primary education to University level – when they go into different fields,” he said.

He also said that many qualified Sri Lankans are going overseas as they get much, better salary packages.

Currently the ITI is trying different ways of attracting professionals. One is to try to get Sri Lankan scientists living abroad to work in Sri Lanka for short periods. At the moment they come for a very short period.

“We want them to come for at least 1 – 2 years, but again, the issue of salaries comes in.

For them to come here, they need to be offered salaries similar to what they receive abroad.”

The ITI director said a small section of the ITI will remain at its current location which would have a marketing unit, a library and maybe a small testing facility so that the industry would be linked to the Malabe facility, when it is up and running.