news letter march 2013 slen_new

The Newspaper of The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka Vol. 48, No 02, March/April 2013Registered at the GPO as a Newspaper No. QD/24 /NEWS/2013

ENGINEERING NEWSSRI LANKA

Established 1906

In this Issue

The Institution of EngineersSri Lanka

120/15, Wijerama Mawatha,Colombo 7, Sri Lanka.

Tel: 2685490, 2698426, 2699210Fax: 2699202E.mail: [email protected] / [email protected]: http://www.iesl.lk

The Distinction betweenLeader and Manager..............3Editorial..................................4IESL TOASTMASTERSCLUB.......................................4

PRESIDENT’S CORNERPRESIDENT’S CORNERPRESIDENT’S CORNERPRESIDENT’S CORNERPRESIDENT’S CORNER

Eng. Renuka Weerasri,Editor – IESL Kegalle District Centre

President – IESL, Eng. Tilak De Silva,addressingthe audience.

The CharteredEngineering bodyin Sri Lanka, The

Institution of EngineersSri Lanka (IESL) is therepresenting body of allthe Engineeringdisciplines in Sri Lanka.The Institution operatesfrom its headquarters inColombo while providingthe engineering relatedprofessional, social andother services throughprovincial centerslocated in the maindistricts in all the otherprovinces. In order tofurther improve these activities & services provided by IESL, all the Engineers in bothpublic and private sectors and those engineers residing in Kegalle, organized to establisha District Centre of IESL in Kegalle with the support and blessings of the SabaragamuwaProvincial Center and the headquarters of IESL. Forming District Centres is a conceptof Eng. Tilak de Silva, the President of IESL. Contd. on page 10...

IESL's First Ever District CentreInaugurated in Kegalle

THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, SRI LANKA“Celebrating outstanding achievements and

accomplishments in the practice of Engineering”

ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE AWARDS –2013

CALLING FOR NOMINATIONS/APPLICATIONSIESL, the apex body of the Engineering Profession in the country, invites nominations /applications from its eminent members of repute who are role models of professionalismand excellence in the practice of engineering in their own specialist areas, and fromengineering enterprises, for the recognition of outstanding achievements andaccomplishments in the engineering field.

Award Categories:1. Eminence in Engineering Award

2. Excellence in Engineering Awards for Individuals

3. Excellence in Engineering Awards for Organizations

4. Engineering Entrepreneur Award

5. Award for Excellence in Engineering Journalism

6. Young Chartered Engineer Awards

7. Chartered Engineer Awards

8. Social Responsibilities and Environment Award9. Engineering Heritage Award10. Outstanding Engineering Education Award

For Eligibility Criteria, Nomination/Application Guidelines & Forms:Visit website: www.iesl.lk or Call: 2698426 Ext. 232, E-mail :[email protected]

CLOSING DATE FOR NOMINATIONS / APPLICATIONS:28th JUNE 2013

Nomination/Application forms should be returned under sealed cover with thename of the Award marked at the top left hand corner of the envelope, byregistered post to: Executive Secretary

The Institution Engineers, Sri Lanka120/15, Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo -07

History was made with the inauguration of the first everIESL District Centre in Kegalle on 9th March 2013and the holding of the Professional Review

Examinations – Part B for the first time in the provinces on19th March 2013. Both measures are in line with the promisesI made in my inaugural speech of bringing IESL to itsmembership.

I also had the privilege of ceremonially unveiling the proposedsite for the IESL Northern Provincial Centre building inKilinochchi on 29th March 2013.The event was attended byHon.M. Chandrakumar, MP, Jaffna District, Mrs R.Kethieeswaran – Government Agent for Kilinochchi, Prof. N.Kandasamy – Coordinator for the Engineering Faculty of theUniversity of Jaffna, Mr. S.Nageswaran – Divisional Secretaryamong more than 50 guests. I congratulate the Chairman,Executive Committee of the IESL NPC, Eng. Suntharakumar,upon whose request the land was allocated by thegovernment. It comes at a critical time when the EngineeringFaculty of the University of Jaffna is being established atKillinochchi and demand for professional service byengineering academics and students at the faculty areexpected to add to that by practicing engineers in the province.The land has been fenced and access road built through aBuilding Fund established by the Executive Committee ofthe IESL NPC on a proposal made by Eng. S. Ruthralingam.

On the national front I am pleased to have enabled the IESLto share the limelight of the opening of the 1st phase of theMahinda Rajapakse International Airport at Mattala byparticipating in a media interview on the subject and basedon which articles of prominence were published in nationalnewspapers coinciding with the opening of the facility by HisExcellency, President Mahinda Rajapakse. Sri Lanka’ssecond gateway to the world, the airport is expected to openup new opportunities for the country’s aviation industry,business, trade and tourism sector. Together with theInternational Cricket Stadium, Convention Centre, Harbor,emerging Economic Zone and International IT Park it'sexpected to make the region prosper.

At the International level a delegation of the Institutions ofMachanical Engeneers (IMechE), led by its President, Prof.Isobel Pollock paid a courtesy call at the IESL and helddiscussion on areas of mutual interest.

I am pleased to have inked a sponsorship agreement with aprivate sector company in support of the Junior Inventor ofthe Year (JIY) Programme of the IESL. The finances requiredto successfully conduct this year’s competitions thatencourage creativity and innovation among school childrenare expected to be partly met by this sponsorship. The IESLJIY is affiliated to the Intel International Science andEngineering Fair (Intel ISEF), the world’s largest pre-collegecelebration of science and engineering. Several IESL JIYwinners of the past years have had the opportunity toparticipate in the Intel ISEF held each year in the UnitedStates of America and win prestigious awards.

At a more personal level I would like to highlight the plight ofthe final year undergraduate of the University of Moratuwa,Roshan Seneviratne who was severely injured during theincident that occurred at theuniversity premises on 16thJanuary 2013. Doctors treatinghim had recommended surgeryto insert a Titanium plate to hisfore head. This surgery will costabout Rs.800, 000 (eighthundred thousand rupees).Fulfilling its duty towards theengineering community andfuture engineers, IESL steppedforward to support the fundraiser with a donation of Rs.100,000. However more needs to bedone and I take this opportunityto appeal to the engineeringcommunity to extend theirsupport. Details are found in thespecial appeal publishedelsewhere in this issue.

The following article was first published in 'The Sunday Times' of 31st March 2013.

Sri Lanka Engineering News - March / April 2013IESL NEWS2

A Short Course in ReinforcedConcrete Design

(Based on BS 8110)Suitable for Technicians, Technical Assistants,Inspectors and Engineering Assistants.

COURSE CONTEXTa. Design of Slabb.Design of Beamc. Design of columnsd.Design of foundations

Commencement – June 2013

Duration – 3 months – Weekend classes

Venue – in Colombo

For Registration – Contract 0112582939Mail address – [email protected]

FORTHCOMINGANNUAL EVENTSCALENDAR – 2013

Event Dates

♦♦♦♦♦Dr. Ray Wijeyewardene Thursday - August 22, 2013 Memorial Lecture

♦♦♦♦♦Induction and Friday – August 23, 2013 Graduation Ceremony

♦♦♦♦♦Engineering Excellence Tuesday- September 24, Awards Ceremony 2013

♦♦♦♦♦E O E Pereira Memorial Friday –September 13, 2013 Lecture

♦♦♦♦♦D J Wimalasurendra Tuesday - September 17, Memorial Lecture 2013

♦♦♦♦♦Techno Exhibition Friday–Sunday October 11-13, 2013

♦♦♦♦♦Inauguration of the Tuesday- October 15, 2013, Annual Sessions

♦♦♦♦♦FEISCA Seminar Friday - October 18, 2013

♦♦♦♦♦Annual Field Visit Sunday - October 20, 2013♦♦♦♦♦Presentation of Monday -Wednesday, Technical Papers October 21-23, 2013

♦♦♦♦♦Presentation of Thursday -October 24, 2013 Technical Papers by Young Members

♦♦♦♦♦Dr. A N S Kulasinghe Friday -October 25, 2013 Memorial Lecture♦♦♦♦♦Annual General Saturday -October 26, 2013 Meeting

♦♦♦♦♦Techno Awards Friday-November 01, 2013 Ceremony

Note:Associate Members who wish to apply for theProfessional Review, are strongly advised to attendall Memorial Lectures and keep a record of theattendance for any future reference.

INVITATION TOCONSULTANTS

Consequent to receiving several requests from members ofthe Institution, the Council has decided to prepareConditions of Contract for engineering projects. It isproposed to prepare a series of contract documents andspecifications that can be used in different types ofengineering projects. This type of documents is presentlynot available for reference by the construction industry.

The preparation of the documents referred to above isexpected to be completed within three months and memberswho are willing to serve in the panels that will prepare thedocuments concerned are kindly requested to apply forsame. All discussions and meetings related to this workwill beheld at the headquarters of the Institution and themembers who re appointed to serve in these panels will berequired at short notice to attend all such discussions andmeetings that will be held at frequent intervals.

Please forward your application to the Executive Secretarywith the words’ APPLICATION - CONSULTANTS FORTHE PREPARATION OF SPECIFICATIONS’ marked on thetop right hand corner of the envelope containing theapplication.

Sri Lanka Engineering News - March / April 2013IESL NEWS 3

by Eng Jayantha Ranatunga

The Distinction between Leader and Manager.

Most of those who answered the question 5 of the section B paper 2013 March have failed to describe the correct difference between the manager andleader. Many of them have misunderstood that the leader is a super or better manager. They mostly blame the public sector seniority based systemfor the promotion of executives to manager designations. Therefore they believe only a few will ever become leaders (or better managers as per their

understanding).

What is disturbing is most ofthe young engineers who gotit wrong have had theoccasion to learnmanagement as part of theirundergraduate training,management development atIESL, and some even atMBA. It appears that thesefundamental differences, wellknown to managementthinkers for over a century,were never taught to them.Accordingly the fault by andlarge is not with thoseyoungsters.

I too feel guilty for setting thisquestion which attractednearly 176 of them inanswering it. Most of themwere ignorant of the fact thatsuch a difference evenexisted. Therefore I thoughtit is my duty to write thisnote.

Henry Fayol a French miningengineer in the 19th centurywrote extensively describingthe roles of manager. In the20th century Warren Bennis,John Kotter, Peter Druckerand StephonCovey identifiedthe difference in the roles ofLeaders and Managers.This becomes further clearwhen one reads about thelives of some of the well-known leaders such as, LordBuddha, Akbar the Great,King Asoka, KingDutugamunu, NapoleonBonaparte, MahatmaGhandi, Mother Theresa,Nelson Mandela, andGeneral Kobbakaduwa.Eventhe likes of Adolf Hitler andMaru Sira, thoughmisguided, were alsoleaders.

Warren Bennis, in one of hisbooks, “On Becoming aLeader” describes his viewon the differences betweenmanagers and leaders asfollows:

♦ The manageradministers; the leaderinnovates.♦ The manager is acopy; the leader is anoriginal.♦ The managermaintains; the leaderdevelops.♦ The managerfocuses on systems andstructure; the leader focuseson people.♦ The manager relieson control; the leaderinspires trust.

♦ The manageraccepts reality; the leaderinvestigates it.♦ The manager has ashort-range view; the leaderhas a long-rangeperspective.♦ The manager askshow and when; the leaderasks what and why.♦ The manager hashis or her eye always on thebottom line; the leader hashis or her eye on the horizon.

The managerimitates; the leaderoriginates.

The manageraccepts the status quo; theleader challenges it.

The manager is theclassic good soldier; theleader is his or her ownperson.

The manager doesthings right; the leader doesthe right thing.

Another influential thinkerwho has written on thedistinction betweenmanagement and leadershiphas been Harvard Prof JohnKotter, an electricalengineering graduate fromMIT who authored the book“ What Leaders Really Do”.John Kotter makes thefollowing observations:

”Leadership andmanagement are twodistinctive andcomplementary systems ofaction. Both are necessaryfor success in anincreasingly complex andvolatile businessenvironment.”

”Most U.S. corporationstoday are over managed andunder led.”

”Strong leadership with weakmanagement is no better,and is sometimes actuallyworse, than the reverse.”

”Management is aboutcoping with complexity….Without good management,complex enterprises tend tobecome chaotic… Goodmanagement brings adegree of order andconsistency….”

”Leadership, by contrast, isabout coping with change…More change alwaysdemands more leadership.”

”Companies managecomplexity by planning andbudgeting, by organizing and

staffing, and by controllingand problem solving. Bycontrast, leading anorganization to constructivechange involves setting adirection (developing a visionof the future and strategiesto achieve the vision),aligning people, andmotivating and inspiring themto keep moving in the rightdirection.”On this topic, Jim Estillposted this great quote onhis blog, “CEO Blog – TimeLeadership” citing a classicarticle from HarvardBusiness Review byAbraham Zaleznik in 1977that discusses Leaders vs.Managers:

“The difference betweenmanagers and leaders, hewrote, lies in the conceptions

they hold, deep in thepsyches, of chaos and order.Managers embrace process,seek stability and control,and instinctively try to resolveproblems quickly –sometimes before they fullyunderstand a problem’ssignificance. Leaders, incontrast, tolerate chaos andlack of structure and arewilling to delay closure inorder to understand theissues more fully in this way,Zalenznik argued, businessleaders have much more incommon with artists,scientists and other creativethinkers than they do withmanagers. Organizationsneed both managers andleaders to succeed, butdeveloping both requires areduced focus on logic andstrategic exercises in favourof an environment where

creativity and imagination arepermitted to flourish.”In the end, we need to begood at leading first andmanaging second, the whyand the what, then only, thehow and the when!

In summary

This table summarizes theabove (and more) and givesa sense of the differencesbetween being a leader andbeing a manager. This is, ofcourse, an illustrativecharacterization, and thereis a whole spectrumbetween either ends of thesescales along which each rolecan range. And many peoplelead and manage at thesame time, and so maydisplay a combination ofbehaviors.

Subject Leader Manager

Essence Change StabilityFocus Leading people Managing workHave Followers SubordinatesHorizon Long-term Short-termSeeks Vision ObjectivesApproach Sets direction Plans detailDecision Facilitates MakesPower Personal charisma Formal authorityAppeal to Heart HeadEnergy Passion ControlCulture Shapes EnactsDynamic Proactive ReactiveRisk Takes MinimizesRules Breaks MakesConflict Uses AvoidsDirection New roads Existing roadsTruth Seeks EstablishesConcern What is right Being rightCredit Gives TakesBlame Takes Blames

Seminar Series of Student Chapter held atSeminar Series of Student Chapter held atSeminar Series of Student Chapter held atSeminar Series of Student Chapter held atSeminar Series of Student Chapter held atPeradeniyaPeradeniyaPeradeniyaPeradeniyaPeradeniya

sent by Eng. W R M U WickramasingheThe Student Chapter at Peradeniya Engineering Faculty organized a series of Seminarsfor the benefit of Engineering undergraduates.The first talk of the series was delivered by Eng. S.B. Wijekoon on 12 February 2013. Thetopic was “Ethics for Engineers”.

On 20 March 2013, Dr. Jayalath Edirisinghe made a presentation on “CV Writing andFacing Interviews” for the benefit of the Final year students, who will be looking for careeropportunities in the near future.


Sri LankaEngineering News

Greetings for a Happy andProsperous Hindu andSinhala New Year!

Decline of Library usageat IESL

Recently it was found that the IESL library has beenused by (an average) twenty five users per day. Itshould be noted that this average number goes up

to 25 because of weekend users, mainly the students ofCollege of Engineering. This leads to a conclusion thatthe engineers do not use the IESL library may be due tolack of reading materials or/and mainly due to internetfacilities. Wikipedia explains this “As technology becomesincreasingly available and digital information expands ona daily basis, academic library use is on thedecline. Research libraries on college and universitycampuses are finding that “gate counts and circulation oftraditional materials are falling at many college librariesacross the country, as students find new study spacesin dorm rooms or apartments, coffee shops, or nearbybookstores.” Therefore, the point I am talking here isglobally acknowledged. However, this has to be looked atfrom a different angle. How many engineers are normallyvisiting IESL? They sometimes visit IESL (annually) onlyto pay the membership fees. Now, it is also not needed asthe online payment system is there. If the engineers whovisit IESL for any reason could visit the library and couldpropose improvements, it would be a great contribution toIESL. I personally feel that the library facilities can beimproved if our engineers do request to purchase newbooks, journals and propose improvements etc. Why don’tyou write to IESL regarding your requests? Always doremember that IESL is ours, if your requests are notproperly addressed, please raise your voice.

Eng (Dr). Udeni P. [email protected]

Sponsorship for JIYProgramme

The JIY 2013 programme was provided financialsponsorship by M/S Acecam (Pvt) Ltd. An MOUwas signed in this regard between the company

and the IESL on 20th March 2013 at 4.00 p.m. at the IESL.Eng. Tilak de Silva, President-IESL, signed on behalf ofthe IESL while Mr. Ruwan Manchanayaka- Director, signedon behalf of Acecam (Pvt) Ltd.

In return for their financial sponsorship M/S Acecam (Pvt)Ltd will get the opportunity to promote their product,SolidWorks Education Edition Software.

Most of the young graduate engineers present their information inthe form of Auto CAD designs, Project Proposals,Project Reportsetc. Majority of these are in hardcopy formats. It is the

responsibility of the senior engineer, to present these to higher authorities;generally such interactions with higher management are associated with

verbal briefing on the subject. The presenter must be confident on the subject, as well as thearrangement of specific points which he or she is going to convey. If not, the message willnot be communicated effectively.

The above is just an example to illustrate the possessing of presentation skills to be articulatedby all level of engineers. Young graduate engineers too would develop as EngineeringManagers in years to come. So, the competency in public speaking is the jewel in the crownof the career of any engineer.In today’s article, an area which hinders one’s speech withouthis or her knowledge will be discussed. As novices, many of us may have experienced thisduring our speeches in front of an audience. In the last paragraph, you will be shown adirection in which you can march to find resolutions to below described area, and many otherhardships you face in public speaking.When an individual has been requested to deliver a speech to an audience strange to him orher, this person would feel like a fish out of water, or in common terms, he or she experiencestrembling fingers, shaking legs and dried throat. If you too have felt similar to above, identifythese as symptoms of nervousness; which means one is nervous of making a speech infront of an audience. Below paragraphs would disclose basic reasons for that, and bestremedies.There are few reasons for being nervous of speaking in public. One reason is the fear ofrejection of information during the speech. One would think that he is not well dressed andas a result not smart enough to face the crowd. What happens if you are criticised in front ofeveryone, is another reason for nervousness. This syndrome is not limited to public speaking;nervousness can occur at the beginning of an examination, an interview, or a recital too.Bystudying the causes for nervousness, understanding the reasons for it and gradual workingfor controlling it can give immense advantages in public speaking. It is a bit difficult to anindividual to listen to his own speech while it is being conducted. So, there we need to havesomeone who can listen to our speech, and observe our body movements during the deliveryof speech. Upon completion of the speech, the observer can give us valuable comments onvarious aspects of our speech. This is the best way to review our performance during thespeech.Nervousness can be controlled by practising following tips as much as possible.

• Know your material or subject• Know the Audience• Relax• Visualize yourself giving your speech• Concentrate on the message – not the medium

Nervousness is always there irrespective of one’s experience in public speaking. In short,even an experienced speaker feels nervousness at the beginning of a speech. What mattersto the successes is the level of controlling the nervousness at the beginning and delivery ofthe speech. With proper instructions and guidance, a speaker can develop skills for controllingnervous behaviours at the beginning and during the delivery of the speech. Just to give anexample, one can ask a question from the audience. To reply the question, audience maytake few seconds. During this time gap, the speaker can tactfully accustom to the situation,finally he can negate the nervous feelings.

As I mentioned at the beginning, now I am showing you the direction that you have to marchin to improve your communication skills. It is seeking a “Toastmasters Club” and to participatein activities of such a club. Toastmasters club is a society where all members are assemblingto improve and further improve their communication skills and leadership skills, and they arealso volunteering to help other club members to improve and excel in said skills. A few of thevariety of activities adhered to in the agenda of a toastmaster club includes speeches,impromptu speeches, speech evaluations etc. For leadership tracks there are many roles,and few of them are topic master, grammarian, timer etc.

Coming back to the elaboration on nervousness, any speaker's sign of nervousness is assessedduring the evaluation of the relevant speech. The evaluator usually quotes the part of the speechwhere the speaker has shown nervousness, and definitely suggests methods to improve.Sometimes he would demonstrate an alternative for you to learn. Not only on nervousness, thereare many other areas where an evaluator gives comments; vocal variety, gestures, eye contact arefew of them. The evaluation in Toastmaster clubs has got inherent features. All the evaluators areclub members. They do all evaluations in an environment which is very conducive for learning,sharing of thoughts, and suggestions for improvements etc. All the members of toastmasterclubs maintain excellent inter-personal relationship practices.

So for a young engineer, if you need to be proud of your profession and if you need to practicehigh command of communication and leadership skills, there is a clear way for that. Thisway is toastmastering; by marching along this way you can become a confident engineer infront of an audience!.All members of IESL and non member engineers too can taste the benefits of toastmasteringby stepping in to any of IESL Toastmaster Club meetings which are usually held on everysecond and fourth Thursdays of every month.(The writer is the Vice President, Public Relations of The IESL Toastmasters’ Club. Heworks for the Alumex Group as the Group Manager- Engineering. He has got the First degreeand a Masters degree in Engineering. He is an Associate Member of The Institution ofEngineers, Sri Lanka. He can be contacted via mobile phone 077 3868134 or [email protected])

IESL TOASTMASTERS CLUBA Point on Art of Communication for

Budding Professional Engineers!by T M Susil Hewawasam CC


IESL Contributes toUniversity of Moratuwa Final Year

Undergraduate’s Surgery

President of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, Eng. Tilak De Silva handing overthe IESL contribution towards meeting the cost of surgery to the injured final yearundergraduate of the University of Moratuwa, Roshan Seneviratne.

Final year undergraduate at the University of Moratuwa, Roshan Senevirathnewas severely injured during the incident that occurred at the university premises on16th January 2013. Doctors treating him had recommended surgery that will cost

about Rs.800, 000 (eight hundred thousand rupees).

Fulfilling its duty towards the engineering community and future engineers, the IESL hasstepped forward to support the fund raiser with a donation of Rs.100, 000/. However, moreneeds to be done towards helping him meet the full financial requirements for the surgery.

For those willing to support raising the lacking Rs. 350, 000/=; his details are as follows:Account Holder : W.A.R.I. Senevirathna, Address: Roshan, Sampath Mawatha,Padalangala, Account Number: 8468514, Branch: Bank of Ceylon, KatubeddaUniversity Branch

THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, SRI LANKACompetition

on

“Eco Efficient Water Infrastructure forSustainable Development / Management

Experiences gained from Integrated Water ResourcesInfrastructure Development /Management in Sri

Lanka”

Session 2012/2013Sponsored by

St. Anthony’s Industries Group (Private) Ltd.(MANUFACTURES OF ANTON PVC PIPES AND FITTINGS)

Two competitions will be held this year for the award of certificates and cash prizes. Thecompetition soliciting original Technical Papers on research and case studies are acceptedfrom members of IESL who are above 35 years.

There will also be another competition for members who are 35 years and below on 01October 2013. This competition is open to members of IESL and final year students ofFaculties of Engineering of Universities in Sri Lanka who are student members of IESL orwho obtain such membership before submitting their technical papers.

AWARDS & PRIZESABOVE 35 YEARS ON 2013.10.01

First Prize - Rs. 50,000/=Second Prize - Rs. 25,000/=Third Prize - Rs. 10,000/=

The members (Fellows, Members, Associate Members, Associates, Companions andStudents) who wish to participate must obtain the application forms from IESL and submitbio data & full Technical Papers to reach the Executive Secretary, Institution of EngineersSri Lanka, No. 120/15, Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 07 on or before 28th June 2013.

Further information could be obtained from the Chairman, Steering Committeeon Water Resources Development of The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, onTel: 072- 3421493 or Publicity Officer-IESL 011-2685490, 011-2698426 or 011-2699210, ext - 232, 207, E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] , Fax :011-2699202Note : Forms and Guidelines could also be downloaded from the IESL Website,www.iesl.lk or obtained from the IESL Secretariat.

35 YEARS AND BELOW ON 2013.10.01

First Prize - Rs. 25,000/=Second Prize - Rs. 15,000/=Third Prize - Rs. 5,000/=

There are few, dedicatedand devoted persons whohad served towards

development of this islandduring the rule of Europeannations in the last fourcenturies. One such Englishgentleman left his mark inhistory but not much is knownabout him in the modern era.He lived in this country for aperiod of fifty years and servedfor the well being of the peopleof this country. Thomas Skinnerwas born on May 22, 1804 inSt. John City of New Foundlandin United States of America. HisFather was an Officer of theBritish Army. His mother diedin his childhood. He went toEngland with his father in 1811and entered the school inFastbury of Doshedshire for hisstudies. He could not succeedin his education but wanted totravel, by sea, in search of newcountries.

Thomas Skinner came to SriLanka in 1819 to see his father.He joined the British Army inthen Ceylon as a Secondlieutenant although his fatherwanted his son to continue withhis education. His first task asan army officer wasaccompanying a regiment ofmachine gun soldiers fromTrincomalee to Colombo viaKandy at his fifteen years age.He could successfullycomplete his first duty in BritishColonial rule and he waspraised by the British Governor,Sir, Edward Barnes for hisbravery as a young boy. Afterthe taking of the KandyKingdom under Britishadministration, and after therebellion in 1818 Colonial rulerswanted to link Colombo andKandy by roads so that BritishArmy could be easily reached.The Governor, Sir EdwardBarnes selected Major ThomasSkinner as the suitable personfor this task and assigned himfor the construction of roadnetwork in the country. His firsttask was to construct a roadfrom Colombo to Kandy. Duringthat time, there was lack ofgood roads besides footpathsfor travelling purposes. Hisservice was devoted to theconstruction of roads net workin the up country. He was given200 native labourers for theconstruction works. Hesurveyed the lands andprepared maps for roadconstructions for the first time

in this country. Thefirst transportable road wascompleted from Colomboto Kandy in 1820 under theguidance and supervisionof Major Thomas Skinner.The Englishmen, includingMajor Skinner had to facerisky and perilouschallenges with malariaepidemic, threat ofelephants and other wildbeasts while clearingjungles for roads in the hillcountry. Sometimes, as ahunter, he had to killelephants and otheranimals in the jungles.However, he loved thebeautiful environment ofthis island and was fond oftrees and creepers injungles. His services for theroads constructions in thiscountry are mentioned asfollows in historicaldocuments. “The Kandyanconvention of the March1815 by which the islandof Ceylon was ceded to hisMajesty the King ofEngland heralded an era ofremarkable progress in theIsland. Within nine years,the great Kandy road wascommenced by Sir EdwardBarnes the Road maker(1824 – 1831). When heresigned from thegovernment in 1831 therewere carriage roadsconnecting every town ofimportance. Much of thisprogress was due to thecourage and endurance ofMajor "Thomas Skinner"“(Ceylon Railway byG.F.Perera) “The history ofroad making in Ceylonfrom the times of SirEdward Barnes the RoadMaker“ and his indomitableassociate Major Skinnerare the romance andincident of the old coachingdays should form aseparate essay.” (CeylonRailway by G.F.Perera)Major Thomas Skinner hadto work in duties of severalpositions like SurveyorGeneral;Head of CivilWorks Department andAccountant and Civiladministrator. He did hisduties in any positionefficiently and effectively

Contd. on page 10...

The Pioneer of RoadConstruction in Sri

Lanka,Major Thomas

Skinner ( 1804 – 1877 )by K.D.Dumindusena


CEREMONIAL COMMENCEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION WORKS OFIESL-NCP CENTRE BUILDING

sent by Eng. C.S.Lokubarana(NWS&DB, Anuradhapura) - Editor - NCP Centre.

Taking another step towards inproving the services rendered by the IESL – North Central Province Centre it has commenced construction work of theirown centre building. The Centre expects to complete the building in two stages. Estimated cost of the stage one is rupees Million 18.5 which is to beraised through fund raising activities and sponsorships.

Ceremonial commencementof construction works of thebuilding was held on 31st

January, 2013 in the landaquired at Puttlum Road,K o r a k a h a w e w aAnuradhapura. (Opposite ThePalm Garden Village Hotel.)President IESL, Eng. Tilak deSilva attended this event asthe chief guest and laid thefoundation stone at theauspicious time. Eng RohanaMithra – AGM – CECB andEng. C.K.B. Senevirathne –Deputy Chief Secretary(Engineering) participated asguest of honor who alsoparticipated in the laying offoundation stone. To mark theevent several trees wereplanted by guests andmembers representingdifferent organizations.

After laying the foundationstone Eng. J.A.D.R. Sujithkumara, chairman of NCPcentre delivered the welcomespeech.


An artists impression of the proposed building

The foundation stone for the building being laid by thePresident, IESL.

Eng. Tilak De Silva addressing the audience at theoccasion.

Name board of the proposed building site being unveiled bythe IESL President.

The follwing article was first published in 'The Sunday Times' of 10th March 2013.


Building Services Engineering Sectional Committeerequests your support

The Building ServicesEngineering SectionalCommittee (BSESC)

has identified manyshortcomings and lapses inthe practice of BuildingServices Engineering (BSE) inSri Lanka and it is workingtowards overcoming thesedeficiencies and uplifting thequality of facilities andservices in local buildingconstruction industry. Toachieve that BSESC hasalready taken steps to;

1. Promote BSE inthe local construction sectorby creating awareness on theimportance of BSE amongbuilding developers and theprofessionals involved inplanning, design andconstruction of buildings.

2. Publish adirectory of the CorporateMembers of IESL who arecompetent to practice BSEand deliver their expertiseknowledge. BuildingDevelopment Regulations ofthe Urban DevelopmentAuthority stipulate therequirement of BS engineer’scertification for certain buildingcategories.

3. Contribute toregulatory bodies by assistingin preparing and updating ofBSE related regulations,specifications guidelines etc.

4. Contribute toprofessional development ofBS Engineers by conductingCPD courses, workshops,seminars and technical andmanagement lectures etc.

5. Make availablethe BSE related text books,codes of practice, guidelines,specifications and standardsetc. in liaison with the IESLlibrary.

6. Acquire duerecognition of BS Engineersin the industry and as well inthe society.

Recent Activities

Knowledge SharingLecturesBSESC started shorttechnical lectures at the endof its monthly meetings asvalue addition so that theexpertise knowledge isshared among allparticipants.

Recognised places forTraining of BS Engineers

BSESC is in the process ofidentifying and evaluating theinstitutions that can providenecessary training forengineers who intend toprofessionally qualify asChartered Engineers of IESLin BSE discipline.

Field visitsBSESC recently conductedtwo field visits giving theopportunity to building servicesengineers to acquireknowledge on technologicalapplications, maintenanceissues etc., in various buildingservices.

Field visit to World TradeCenter on 2nd March 2013 Engineers who visited theTwin Towers of WTC were ableto study how the design andmaintenance of variousbuilding services and facilitiesin this large commercialbuilding is done. BSEsectional committee is gratefulto Eng. Indradeva Mendis &Eng. Prasanna Narangoda andstaff for making the visit asuccess.

Field visit to the Buildingof Nikini AutomationSystems Pvt Ltd. 16tthMarch 2013

BSESC Members experiencedthe automated, energy efficientand environment friendlybuilding developed by NikiniAutomation Systems Pvt Ltd.This building is a show pieceof real blend of passivecontrols and moderntechnology.

BSESC is grateful to the MDMr. Upendra Weerasuriya andhis staff for making the visit asuccess.

Eight engineersparticipated in the ½ dayfield visit on 16th March2013 to Nikini automationbuilding at Kirulapanaorganized by BSESC.

This 4 storied building has800 m2 of floor area for officeand technical facilities.

It consumes only 22 kwwhich is delivered from 32kw PV power plant. Netmetering system of CEBhas made it possible to gain5000kwh in credit

Building capsules aredesigned to shade thesolar heat gain whileallowing sun light into theworking area.

Shading outside theautomated louvers ideallycontrols solar heat gain.

♦ Occupancy andlight sensors eliminate theneed for many manualswitches while internal LEDlighting saves energy.

♦ VRV type A/C sare also inverter driven andmaintain 25oC roomtemperature.

♦ The installationdone by Nikini is designedfor longer run whilemaintaining solar powerconversion without reducingefficiency for 4 years.

♦ The building is agood example to energyefficient design well suitedto local climate.

Registration of BSEngineers with IESLand UDACorporate Members of IESLwho are qualified in thevarious specialties underBSE discipline have beenselected for enlisting in theIESL Directory of BuildingServices Engineers-2013.These members becomeeligible as QualifiedPersons under the BuildingDevelopment Regulations ofthe UDA.

Working group activitiesfor updating fireregulationA working group of selectedBS Engineers hasdedicated their valuabletime to contributing theirknowledge and experience

by Eng. D U AmarasingheCommittee Member-BSESC

for the development andrevision of specifications forFire Detection and ProtectionSystems associated withBuildings. BSESC embarkedon this task on a requestmade to the IESL by ICTADin connection with theupdating of fire regulations andcodes of practice by ICTAD.The working group has comeup with a final draft afterseveral sessions ofdeliberations.

Revision to SCA 8-Specification for M & EworksA working group of selectedBS Engineers and sub-groups including experts arecurrently working on therevision of SCA 8 that waspublished 10 years back byICTAD.

CPD course on PlumbingA short course on Plumbingis under preparation and thedetails will be announcedsoon. Please Log on towww.iesl.lk.

Get together of BSEngineers- 2013

A get together of BSEngineers was held on 31stMarch 2013 at ParadiseBeach Hotel-Negombo.

An Annual Get-together isbeing planned to promotegoodwill and friendship amongthe BS Engineers and theirfamilies.

BSESC appeal all practicingengineers to be a volunteer formaking pathway toprospective carrier in BSE.

BSE NEWS

Field visit to World Trade Center

Get togetherField visit to the Building of Nikini AutomationSystems Pvt Ltd. 16th March 2013


THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS,SRI LANKA

Competitionon

“Water ResourcesDevelopment and

Management FutureChallenges”

Role of Engineering meetingFuture Challenges of WaterResources Development /Management in Sri Lanka”

Session 2012 / 2013Sponsored by

International WaterManagement Institute (IWMI)

We are pleased to announce that arrangements are beingmade for the forthcoming Competition on Water ResourcesDevelopment sponsored by IWMI towards the AnnualSessions of IESL in October 2013. The prizes will be givenfor the two best Technical Papers under the abovementioned theme prepared for this competition by AssociateMembers & Corporate Members of IESL. Jointly authoredpapers will be accepted, provided at least one of the authorssatisfies the above criteria. Papers must be original anddemonstrate the author’s knowledge and experience ofthe subject. The award winning articles will be publishedin the journal, “Engineer” of the IESL.

Water is a vital input in industrial, energy, tourism,recreational, navigation, agriculture, forestry, livestock andfishery sectors. As water scarcity grows, competitionamong sectors and users, and between the human needsand the environment intensifies. Effective and efficientwater management is therefore a prerequisite forsustainable socio-economic development.

The paper can address extraction, storage, distribution,use and disposal issues in any economic sector. It shouldillustrate how engineering and technology is applied inincreasing productivity, in balancing supply and demandof water and/or in reducing water pollution and protectingfreshwater ecosystems.

Preference will be given to papers of an empirical andanalytical nature based on primary and/or secondary dataalthough papers addressing topical issues throughconceptual development may also be forwarded.

AWARDS & PRIZES

(A) Rs. 45,000.00 - For members of IESL over35 years of age on 01 October 2013

(B) Rs. 30,000.00 - Engineering graduatesholding membership of IESL and 35 yearsof age and below on 01 October 2013007

Intention to participate in this competition should beintimated to us along with your bio-data & the fullTechnical Papers on or before 28th June 2013.

IESL form IWMI/1 obtained from the IESL should be usedfor this purpose.

Further information could be obtained from theChairman, Steering Committee on Water ResourcesDevelopment of The Institution of Engineers, SriLanka, on Tel: 072- 3421493 or Publicity Officer-IESL 011-2685490, 011-2698426 or 011-2699210,ext- 232 , 207, E-mail: [email protected],[email protected], Fax : 011-2699202

Note : Forms and Guidelines could also bedownloaded from the IESL Website, www.iesl.lk orobtained from the IESL Secretariat.

In the contemporarysociety, with the

v a r i o u st e c h n o l o g i c a l

influences, even a 3 yearold kid would know theterm “Web Browser”. Dueto the fact that internet ispretty close to manyfamilies, children knowthat they need a webbrowser to surf internet.But most of them and alsomost of the generalpublic are not aware ofthe functions of a webbrowser beyond the factthat it shows us webpages that are requestedby us.This article will givea simple overview of webbrowsers. But pleasenote that there are manycomplex aspects of webbrowsers when it comesto completing its mainobjectives.Web browser is asoftware application thatenables retrieving,presenting andtraversing information inthe internet as well as inweb servers that hostweb based softwareapplications via privatenetworks. Thesebrowsers are sometimecalled as clients as theyact as a client or interfacebetween the user (youand me) and backend(server side).

Famous web browsersare:

• Internet Explorer forWindows

• Safari for Mac

• Opera, Google Chromeand Mozilla Firefox formany platforms and alsothere are many otherstoo….

Brief History:

The very first webbrowser was created bySir Tim Berners-Lee in1990. It was then calledWorldwide Web and laterrenamed Nexus.In 1993,web browser technologywas innovated by MarcAndreessen with therelease of Mosaic (laterNetscape), “the world’sfirst popular browser”,which made the WorldWide Web system easyto use and moreaccessible to theaverage person.

Andreessen’s browsersparked the internet boomof the 1990s but theintroduction of Mosaic in1993 allowed the world toexperience one of the firstgraphical web browserswhich led to an explosionin web use (Reference/Source: Wikipedia)

Function in brief:A web browser preliminaryknows the language, i.e.HTTP (Hyper Text TransferProtocol). That means aweb browser sends andretrieves data(communicate)by using theabove protocol. Most of themodern browsers knowprotocols like HTTPS(Hyper Text TransferProtocol Secure), FTP(File Transfer Protocol).

Objectives of abrowser in a nutshell:♦ Retrieval ofinformation upon requestby the user♦ Rendering theinformation retrieved.(Allow the users to view theinformation)♦ Access otherinformation (When usersclick on other links)

So, the function starts withuser giving the neededURL. What is a URL? Itstands for UniformResource Locator, which ismost commonly known asthe web address.Example URL is http://www.dailynews.lk/2013/02/21/main_News.asp♦ The prefix of theURL or the first set ofstrings stands before thecolon mark (:), is called theUniform ResourceIdentifier or URI, thatdetermines how the URLwill be interpreted i.e. whatis the protocol that shouldbe used for communication(when it comes to the termcommunication, a webbrowser always act ascommunication interfacebetween the user and theserver which are located intwo different places, So thiscommunication is called thec l i e n t - s e r v e rcommunication). In theabove example,it isHypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP) which is the mostcommon protocol.

♦ Browser will sendthe request to the relevantserver which host the webpage and then retrieve it.

If it is a LAN (Local AreaNetwork) of an organizationor institution then mostprobably they have proxyserver before their networkis exposed to the outerworld (i.e. Internet), So, inthose cases the requestsent by the browser isaccepted by the proxyserver (which should bealready configured in thebrowser) and if the proxyserver has the particularweb page in its cache thenit shows it.♦ So, after havingretrieved the information(which are HTML – HyperText Markup Language)and other associatedcontent (image files,formatting information suchas CSS, etc.), thoseinformation are sent to thebrowser ’s layout engine(which is in-built with thebrowser) to transform theminto a readable and visibleinformation. This process iscalled “rendering”.What is a web browserengine? (or layoute n g i n e / r e n d e r i n gengine)

A web browser engine, isa software implementation(normally built-in with thebrowser) which absorbsmarked up content (e.g.HTML, XML, image files,etc.) and formattinginformation (e.g. CSS, XSL,etc.) and displays theformatted content wherethe user can read andvisualize the information ina lucid and palatable way.

This engine is embeddednot only in web browsers butalso in e-mail clients, e-book readers or otherapplications that need thedisplaying (and editing) ofweb content. Typicallyengines may wait till all dataare received beforerendering a page, or maybegin rendering before alldata is received. Thatdiffers with the enginedesign technology.

Browser engines of famousweb browsers:

Trident - MicrosoftInternetExplorer

Gecko - Mozilla Firefox

Presto– Opera

What does a Web Browser do?by Eng.Tharindu Weerasinghe

[MSc.Eng, BSc.Eng(Hons)]


The inauguration was heldon 09th March 2013 at theSalika Inn Hotel in Kegalle.Eng. Tilak de Silva, thePresident IESL, attended asthe Chief Guest. Eng. (Prof.)S. Pathirana, the formerDean of the Faculty ofEngineering, University ofPeradeniya participated asthe Guest of Honour. Alsothe SSP of Kegalle Mr.Priyalal Dasanayake, thePresident of the BarAssociation of Kegalle Mr.Rajan Ranatunga, AdditionalDistrict Secretary, Mr.A b e y w i c k r a m aWanasooriya & Dr. SisiraW i c k r a m a a r a c h c h irepresenting Chief ExecutiveOfficers’ Association(CEOA) of Kegalle, thePrincipal of HettimullaBandaranayake M.V., Mrs.H. T. Dayawathi and theManager of NationalDevelopment Bank, Mr.Nalin Jayawardenaparticipated as specialinvitees. After lighting thetraditional oil lamp, Eng.Ajith Abeysooriya deliveredthe welcome speech. Eng.(Prof.) S. Pathiranadelivered the guest lecture.In his speech he requestedthe new centre to be formedto focus more in the area ofinnovation as the formationof the centre was itself acreative innovation.

Eng. Jaliya Bandara, FounderChairman of the IESL DistrictCentre - Kegalle

Contd. from page 1...

IESL First Ever...

The President of IESL in hisspeech expressed his gratitudeto the organizing committee forworking with the organizationslike the police and requested tosupport those organizations withthe Engineering knowledge forthe betterment of the society andfurther he pledged that he wouldsupport to start memberservices initiated by the districtcentre in future.

Eng. Jaliya Bandara, theRegional Manager of Sri LankaTelecom was elected as thefounder chairman of the centreand in his speech he expressedhis willingness to work both withthe society and to provide themember services moreeffectively. As a social initiativeof the elected chairman and alsoas the chairman of the YoungMembers Section of IESL, ascholarship to fund for the wholeduration in the University wasawarded to student BuddhikaSampath from HettimullaBandaranayake M.V. who wasthe district first in math streamin the last advanced levelexamination with the support ofNDB Bank Kegalle branch.

and was praised both by the British government and public. Mr.Skinnner made valuable contribution for the transportation inSri Lanka by making the network of roads connecting everymajor town in the island during his service under the BritishColonial administration. He had been appointed to the post ofRoad Commissioner of Ceylon by the Governor in 1841.

He retired from public service of Sri Lanka in 1867 under BritishColonial administration. After his retirement, when he was leavingthe country, the civil chieftains and general public of the countrymade a thanks giving ceremony and praised his service for thedevelopment of the country. An important fact is that, he hadonly secondary education and not much professional trainingand had only army training, but he had the ability to constructroads as would an eminent in technical profession.After his retirement while he was in England, he wrote a booknamed “ Fifty Years in Ceylon” , in which he explained hisexperience and information related to the economic, political,sociological and geographical situation that prevailed in thecountry during nineteenth century.He was awarded CMG honour by her Majestic the Queen. Hewas also honoured by awarding the membership of St.Michealand St.George in 1869. After his retirement he lived happily inEngland for about ten years in the evening era of his life. Hedied on 24 July 1877 in England. Sri Lanka is indebted to himfor his services rendered for development of the country.

Contd. from page 5... The Pioneer...


What is Insurance? Thingsthat all Engineers should know

about Insurance.Interviewed by,

Eng. M. K Chandrasekera/Lusail City/Qatar19th September 2012

Questions and Answers

This Article is based on a discussion held by me with the well-known Insurance Consultant/Loss Adjuster/Presenter, Eng. Sreenath Bandula. Amarasekera C Eng. via Skype.

Q: What is Insurance?

A:It can be generally described as ‘an economic device for reducing and eliminating riskthrough the process of combining a sufficient number of homogeneous exposures into agroup in order to make the losses predictable for the group as a whole’.

Q: What is risk as understood in the Insurance practice?

A: It could be described as ’a condition in the real world in which there is possibility ofloss. In another way it refers to ‘the property/asset insured’ or ‘the peril insuredagainst’ as applicable to insurance practitioners.

Q: I did not understand what you meant by ‘peril’

A: Peril is the cause of loss. Usually, an Insurance Policy covers a number of perils.

Q: How does one quantify the Risk?

A:Risks applicable to a Policy is determined by applying the ‘law of large numbers’ or inother words ‘the probability analysis’. In the Insurance companies there is a group ofprofessionals called Actuaries whose job is to analyse the risks applicable to eachpolicy and to determine the Premium to be charged for the Policy to provide covers forthe identified risks.

Q: What do you mean by a Premium?

A:It is the payment the Policy holder is asked to pay for an Insurance Policy. It can be aperiodic payment or once and for all payment.

Q: Are any types of Risks Insurable?

A: No. Depending on the Client’s brief, the Insurer will assess the Insurable risks andinform the Client what and what risks could be covered depending on the Premium he/she is prepared to pay.

Q: Could you elaborate it a little more?

A: Insurance Policies cover the types of risks which are ‘sudden’ and unforeseeable’. Forexample, if you are a known heart patient the Insurer may not insure you against deathdue to a heart attack. However, a healthy person will be insured against sudden deathdue to heart attacks. Client is required. Insurer expects the Client to answer all questionsgiven in the Application form, truthfully. In case of doubt, when a Claim is made, Insurerwill deploy Investigators to verify if there were any wilful non-disclosures in the Application.

Q: Insurance Companies? Do they perform a social service or operate with profitmotives?

A: They are business companies with profit and growth motives.

Q: If they operate on profit motive, how can a customer obtaining an Insurance Policyexpect a fair deal?

A: That is a good question. Fair deal is limited only to what they agree to cover in thePolicy. They will never compensate your full loss. Compensations will be alwayssubject to ‘excess’ and ‘exclusion’ Clauses indicated in the Policy.

Q: What do you mean by Excesses and Exclusion Clauses?

A: ‘Excess’ is a specifiedamount indicated in the Policy. Client will agree to absorb this amount by himself. Fromeach Claim, the Insurer will deduct this amount when making payments.

Justification for doing so is, because the expenses incurred by the Insurer to process aClaim of small value will be out of proportion ompared to the value of the damage assessed.

‘Exclusion’ means an exempted risk indicated in the Policy. The exclusion clauses aregiven as attachments to the standard Policy Formats .For example, a Policy issued for amotor vehicle which is ‘fully insured’ may contain an exclusion clause for damages causeddue to ‘floods’. Client may simply assume that since his vehicle is fully insured, he couldclaim the damages caused to his vehicle due to a flood. But the reality is that it is not,unless you have obtained ‘flood cover’ by paying an additional Premium.


In addition, the Policy willhave clauses to ensure thatthe Insured will take duecare of the insured assetand take all precautionarymeasures to avoid orminimize the damagescaused due to a particularoccurrence.

In short, the term ‘fullyinsured’ is totallymisleading.

Q: What do you mean by an‘occurrence’?

A: An’occurrence’ is definedas a happening thatprogresses and ends withina certain period of time. Tosuit different Perils, thePolicy will specify thedurations of ‘occurrences’.As an example, the damagecaused by a flood might belinked with the duration of arainfall event. You can makeonly one Claim for thedamages caused due to thespecified duration of theoccurrence.

Q: What are the roles of theInsurance Agents,Marketing representativesand the InsuranceBrokers??

A: An Insurance Agent is aperson or an entity who willget a briefing from a partyrequiring an Insurance abouthis need is and then explainabout the types of coversavailable. They will assist inthe paper work, paymentsand also will deliver thePolicy to you saving yourtime. For their service, theInsurance Company will paya commision to them.However, whether you gothrough an Agent or directlydeal with the Company, thePremium charged by theCompany from you will besame.

Marketing representativesare those who go to thedoorsteps of the prospectiveClients and convince theClients to accept aparticular package at anegotiated price. WhenReps working for severalcompanies visit the sameClient, they try to beat eachother by offering discounts.An unsuspecting Client whomay agree to the lowestpremium deal, may sufferin the end, since those cutprice Policies will invariablyhave some exclusionClauses to limit thecompensation.

Insurance Brokers are thoseacting with the authority ofInsurance Company. Theycould negotiate a package,

accept money and issue aPolicy signed by them.

Company pays them thestandard Brokerage fee of3%.They are also allowed tokeep the money and thePolicies issued by them fora specified period withouthanding over to theCompany.

In Sri Lanka, up to recently,the Brokers were allowed tokeep the money and thepapers for six months. Thisperiod has been recentlyreduced to 2 months, afterinsured parties made claimsbased on such policies whilethe company was unawareof the existence of suchpolicies until the time theClaims were received.

Q: That means there is hotcompetition among theInsurance Companies forbusiness?

A: Yes, of course. Currentlythere are about 24 InsuranceCompanies in Sri Lanka. Allof them try for the mostrewarding deals. There havebeen many incidents ofInsured parties having beentaken for rides by the ‘cutthroat’ Policies promotedby the Marketingrepresentatives or issued bysome of the brokers.

Q: In such backdrop, as alayman, what factors shouldone consider before going toa particular Insurer?

A:.One consideration wouldbe to go by the declaredRating of the Companies. Itwill give an idea of thestability of the Company.However, there is noguarantee that the best ratedCompany will give the bestpolicy due to prevailing pricewar among the Companies.In the end, the loser will bethe party who obtained theCover as the Companycould reduce the amountpaid by using of somehidden Clauses that theyhad introduced tocompensate the lowerpremium charged.

It will be good for you to readthe Draft Agreement. TheseAgreements are deliberatelyprinted in very small font.However, you should try toread it in full and ask a lot ofquestions from the personsyou deal with, at anInsurance Company, beforeyou obtain the cover. Onceyou sign the papers andmake payments,you arerestricted by the Clauses inthe Policy.

Q: Once you obtain anInsurance cover against acertain risk can you restassured that any loss

caused due to incidentscovered by the Policy couldbe recovered from theInsurer?,

A: No. No. You have tocheck the Policy to seewhat protective/preventiveaction you are required totake, to safeguard theInsured Asset from thenamed Perils. If you neglectthis, your chances ofgetting fair compensationmay not be realized.

Q: If some damage wascaused to the InsuredAssets due to anoccurrence which could beclassified as ‘sudden andunforeseen’ as defined inthe Policy, what is theprocedure you should followto get a Claim?

A: First and foremost, youshould inform the Insurancecompany of the damage assoon as possible. Youshould not disturb thedamaged asset, untilinspected by theinvestigators sent by thecompany, unless there isdanger to someone’s life orsafety. You will have toobtain the services of aqualified/competent personto work out the cost of thedamage estimated togetherwith any supportingevidence(for example therainfall records, in the eventof a flood damage) andsubmit a Claim to theInsurer in accordance withtheir prescribed forms.

The Company appointedinvestigator (Loss Adjuster)will eventually come toinspect the damagedasset. He will ask pertinentquestions to which candidanswers should be given.He may collect originalconstruction drawings (ifany available with you),does surveys, takemeasurements, photos etc.interview the witnesses ifany. Make inquiries fromthe statutory authorities likethe Police, MeteorologyDepartment etc.

Q: How will a Loss Adjustermake a fair estimate of aLoss?

A: As per my answer toyour previous question,when the Loss Adjustervisits the Site, he willcollect the necessaryinformation. This entireinformation gathering willhave to be done in one visit.At times, the Insuredparties will refuse to giveeven the available details.At times the Loss Adjusterwill have to make riskymanoeuvres such asclimbing to unsafe heightswithout any personalprotection attire, to creepinto dark places, hollow

towers, undergroundbasements etc. Since you willhave to go to all kind of oddplaces near and far andsometimes abroad you cannotpre plan anything. Wheneveryou go to faraway places likeSeruvila, Kilinochchi, Mannaretc. you will have to rough out.In my case, very often,irrespective of the distance, I tryto complete the informationgathering as quickly aspossible and return on thesame day Fortunately, I have areliable driver, who is myassistant and the companion..When I go to Resorts in MaldiveIslands, soon after I disembarkin Male, I will fly by seaplane orget a sea ride by speedboat tothe destination. Those are veryrisky trips. Same day or thefollowing day I do as much workas possible and return on thefollowing day. Some Clientsattempt to mis-lead us and tryto hide some evidence. Theyalso make highly inflatedClaims.

In the case of damages toroads under construction,caused by Landslides etc., bythe time you reach the damagesite, all the debris has beenremoved and the road clearedfor traffic without leaving anevidence of the damage. In suchcases, the Loss Adjuster willhave to ask for ask for availablerecords such as pre-damagesurvey cross sections, if any,design cross sections andcurrent cross sections etc. tomake an estimate of the extentof damage. If the damage iswithin the design excavationsection which the Contractorwas anyway required to removeunder the Contract, then wecould recommendcompensation for debrisclearance only.

Other difficult exercise is thedetermination of the value of theasset at the time the damageoccurred. Since the Asset isseen in the damaged form,Loss Adjuster will have todevelop a replica of the Lost /damaged Asset by way ofDrawings and Sketches. He willhave to then prepare a Bill ofQuantities of the damagedparts. Then derive rates for eachBill Item and Value the Loss. Insome of the Policies, the valuewill have to be the depreciatedto the present value at the timeof loss. In some other Policies,it should be the replacementcost. However, the replacementwill be only to bring back theasset to the pre-damagedcondition, without involving anymodernization. All this is notvery simple. In some policies,the loss of business too iscovered. It will need anotherstudy.

Next step is to find whether thecause/s is/are within the namedPerils in the Policy barring anyexclusion clauses. In a way itis similar to the role of aforensic doctor. In some

countries there areEngineers called ‘ForensicEngineers’ who havespecialized in this field.

In some Insurance Policiescertain very common Perilsare placed within theexclusions. For example inthe landslides which occurin roads under construction,Items such as ’debrisclearance’ are in theexclusions). Hence theInsured will not get anycompensation although theyhave to incur a large sum ofmoney for restoration work.

Q: Will the Insurer acceptthe Loss Adjuster’s reportin Toto?

A: Never. They have their inhouse staff who willscrutinize the LossAdjuster’s Report thoroughlyand seek variousclarifications. Not only that.When the claim values arelarge, even the Insuredparties sometime retainexperts when they find theamount recommended isless than their expectations.In fact, the Claim preparationtoo is a very complicatedprocess, which could behandled only by competentpersons.

There were many instanceswhere I was required todefend my Reports againstcross examinations byhordes of expatriate ClaimConsultants, in the numberof cases I handled,especially in those related todamages caused to holidayresorts in Maldive Island

Q: Are there anycompulsions by the Insuredparty to boost up the Lossestimation?

A: Why not.But, if you want to earn thereputation of the Insurers toensure that you getassignments from them,100% integrity is required.They have various sourcesto check how you act inhandling the givenassignments. If you get oneblack mark from even asingle case, you will lossyour good will built up withthe other companies too.The expectation of theInsurers is to get out of aClaim by paying the smallestamount of compensation butwithout losing theircustomers. When theClaims are submitted byvalued customers, at timesthey go to the extent ofmaking ‘ex gratia payments’even when the Claims couldnot be paid in accordancethe agreed Policyconditions.

Contd. from page 10....

What isInsurance?...

To be contd. on the nextissue...


In his speech he praisedthe support andcommitment of themembers in North CentralProvince and said that itis the main reason whichprompted him to takesuch a huge challenge.He also thanked the IESLHead Office for theirassistance and guidanceand thanked specially thepresident of IESL for hisparticipation in the eventeven with his busyschedule.

Then the president of IESLaddressed the gathering.He pledged full support ofhis and the mother centreto make this project areality. Further heappreciated the activitiesbeing carried out by thecentre and stated that heexpects other centers tofollow and construct theirown center building. Healso shared some futureaspiration of his regardingthe development of IESLand thanked the executivecommittee of NCP centrefor inviting him to theoccasion.

Around fifty membersrepresenting differentorganizations participatedin this event.

Contd. from page 7... CEREMONIAL COMMENCEMENT.....IMechE DelegationPays CourtesyVisit to IESL

A delegation of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers(IMechE) led by its President, Prof. Isobel Pollockpaid a courtesy visit to the IESL on April 04, 2013.

The IESL delegation for the meeting was led by Eng. Tilakde Silva, President, IESL and consisted of Eng. LasanthaKulakuruarachchi,Eng. T K G Ranasinghe, Eng. A N PWickramasuriya, Eng. S T Perera. The discussionfocused on areas of common interest to the twoInstitutions.

news letter march 2013 slen_new

Documents