Srilanka, Feb. 9 -- The construction industry, a key pillar of the economy sustaining a large segment of the skilled and semi-skilled workforce who are currently out of work, will collapse if projects to the tune of at least Rs. 1,500 billion do not get off the ground this year, according to a construction sector expert.

According to statistics, between 300,000 to 500,000 workers lost their jobs due to the global pandemic that shut the doors for many workers in the industry which is a highly labour-intensive sector of the economy.

Secretary General/CEO, Chamber of Construction Industry of Sri Lanka (CCI) Nissanka Wijeratne said the construction chamber faced far too many challenges during the past four to five years without large scale...