Browsing by Author "Sirimewan, DC"

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item: Article-Full-text
Analysis of issues in sustainable water management of irrigation systems: case of a developing country
(Emerald Publishing Limited, 2021) Sirimewan, DC; Mendis, APKD; Rajini, D; Samaraweera, A; Manjula, NHC
Purpose Sustaining the irrigated agriculture, while conserving the natural eco-system, are the two main objectives of sustainable water management (SWM) in irrigation. Achieving both the objectives simultaneously is a complex task in most developing countries. This requires a holistic approach of understanding the issues in irrigation water management (IWM) from social, economic and environmental perspectives. Therefore, this paper aims to analyse the issues towards the SWM of irrigation systems in Sri Lanka to help maintain a stable relationship between the aforementioned two objectives. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative interview survey was selected as the research strategy to achieve the research aim. 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts in IWM sector to collect data in the Sri Lankan context. Data were analysed using code-based content analysis, based on directed approach. Findings Findings revealed the issues in SWM in terms of efficiency of irrigation infrastructure; equity of water distribution; environmental integrity and economic acceptability. Most of the issues were related to the inefficiency towards SWM of irrigation systems. Conflicts among water users, especially the people in downstreams aggravated the problem of equity of water sharing. Depletion of groundwater and waterlogging were the major issues towards environmental integrity. Loss of water happened due to the issues in different irrigation infrastructure components hindering economic acceptability. Originality/value Theoretical contribution includes an analysis of issues in IWM from a sustainability perspective. Practical implications include an overview of deficiencies in the SWM to generate appropriate strategies to achieve sustainability for decision-makers such as policymakers in the irrigation sector in developing countries similar to Sri Lanka.
item: Conference-Full-text
Cross-cultural dimensions and cross-cultural orientations in construction projects: case study of Sri Lanka
(2020-11-06) Rajenthiran, N; Madhuwanthi, HAS; Dissanayake, DMPP; Sirimewan, DC
Significant issues affecting the success of construction projects due to globalisation is the establishment of a multicultural project team. Presently, China has emerged as one of Sri Lanka's main sources of foreign and commercial loans in an environment, where the island is seeking to rebuild and modernise infrastructure. However, the involvement of multi-cultural project teams often present unique challenges due to cross-cultural interactions, thereby, creating conflicts through construction projects, makes the conflict unavoidable. Therefore, this study was attempting to identify the cross-cultural dimensions and cross-cultural orientations in cross-cultural teamwork of Chinese contractors in construction projects in Sri Lanka. A qualitative approach was followed in this study in which multiple case study was selected as the most appropriate method for the research. Accordingly, semi-structured interviews were conducted among the selected four (4) respondents from each case to collect the data. Captured data was analysed by the manual content analysis method. An empirical investigation has been validated communication, leadership, trust, collectivism, team selection, uncertainty, team development and management as the common cross-cultural dimensions for all the three cases. This study added new cross-cultural dimensions to the literature in the context of Sri Lankan construction industry namely, coordination, harmony and customs with specific cross-cultural orientations. The study can be further developed to investigate strategies to manage intragroup conflicts occurs in cross-cultural teamwork of Sri Lankans and Chinese professionals in the Sri Lankan construction industry.
item: Conference-Full-text
The impact of material and labour cost variables on contactors’ budgeted cost
(Ceylon Institute of Builders - Sri Lanka, 2022-06-24) Jayathilaka, RDWW.; Waidyasekara, KGAS; Sirimewan, DC; Sandanayake, YG; Waidyasekara, KGAS; Gunatilake, S
An accurate budget is important for all construction stakeholders, but it is difficult to maintain the budget within the initial estimation. The contractors’ financial stability tends to complete the projects within the budgeted cost without destructing the contractors’ cash flow. The major impact for the contractors’ budgeted cost overrun in construction projects has happened with the material and labour costs. Therefore, it is necessary to find the contribution of material cost and labour cost to the contractors’ budgeted cost in construction projects to minimise contractors’ budgeted cost overruns. This research aims to analyse the impact of material and labour costs on contractors' budgeted costs in building construction projects, Sri Lanka. Hence, three-building construction projects were selected, and documentary review was the main data collection tool to find the required data. Sensitivity Index (SI) in Sensitivity Analysis was adopted for data analysis. As research outcomes, the average contribution of material cost to the cost of civil work was assessed as 60%, whereas the cost of labour was indicated as 35%. Moreover, plastering, tiling and painting works were identified as the main civil work categories that can highly influence the material and labour cost overruns in Sri Lankan building construction projects and ultimately would impact the contractors’ budgeted cost. Therefore, contractors should pay special attention to the budgeted cost of these work categories when preparing the initial budget
item: Conference-Full-text
Issues in sustainable water management of irrigation systems in Sri Lanka
Sirimewan, DC; Manjula, NHC; Samaraweera, A; Mendis, APKD
As the largest consumer of water, the irrigation sector has to play a critical role in managing water resources. Nevertheless, the current water management practices of irrigation are not achieving the benefits of sustainable use of water. The failure in achieving the expected performance of irrigation infrastructures urges the need for Sustainable Water Management (SWM). Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate the issues in existing Irrigation Water Management (IWM) practices towards SWM of irrigation systems in Sri Lanka. The research aim was approached through a qualitative survey strategy. Expert interviews were conducted as the data collection technique. Twelve experts were selected through a purposive sampling strategy, who had experience in water management and technical development in irrigation systems. The collected data were analysed using the manual content analysis method. Findings of the research revealed that though numerous techniques are being practiced in IWM, there is a failure in water management in the current context. It was identified, water losses throughout the system, improper system operation and poor maintenance of structures, inefficient practices of irrigation, dis-integration of system components and lack of government intervention as major issues to achieve sustainable use of water in the case of irrigation. The identification and assessment of issues provide a range of their impacts to reveal the constraints in achieving SWM of irrigation.
item: Conference-Full-text
Management of variations with the use of standard forms of contract in public sector building projects in Sri Lanka
(2020-11-06) Senadeera, AD; Sirimewan, DC; Perera, BAKS
In most of the public construction projects in developing countries, a large number of ‘variations’ that result from the changes made to the original scopes of the projects urge the need of variation management by the parties to a contract. This study explores the ways of managing variations in public sector building projects executed in Sri Lanka with the use of Standard Forms of Contract. It applied a qualitative research approach and used a comprehensive literature review expert interviews for data collection. Manual content analysis was used to analyse the collected data. The findings reveal numerous causes of variations for which the Employer, Consultant, Contractor, or certain other factors are responsible. The research also reveals that the variations could be minimised by adopting strategies, such as the preparation of a fully detailed Employer’s brief, review of the design and deployment of qualified personnel. The study proposes to modify the variation clause by adding more explanations in the Standard Form of Contract to facilitate effective variation management in Sri Lanka.
item: Conference-Full-text
Sustainable water management in irrigation systems
(2018) Sirimewan, DC; Manjula, NHC; Samarawickrama, S.
The increasing demand for water, coupled with its scarcity, has become an unceasing issue worldwide. Therefore, Sustainable Water Management (SWM) has become a major challenge in the 21st century. Irrigation systems are consuming around 60-70% of water around the globe, and thus play a critical role in water sustainability. This paper therefore aimed to investigate the issues due to poor Irrigation Water Management (IWM) practices, and the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) as a tool for SWM in irrigation systems. Research have identified issues in IWM under four main categories, namely, issues in: efficiency of the system; equity of water distribution; economic acceptability; and environmental integrity. The major issues, which affect to the efficiency of the irrigation systems, were water losses in conveyance channels and field applications. Issues in water allocation lead to inequity of water distribution among the water users. Waterlogging, salinization and ground water depletion are the major issues caused by poor IWM practices. Further, failure to achieve the expected performance over the investment is a threat to the economic acceptability of irrigation systems. SWM evaluation models are useful in decision making regarding the issues associated with three dimensions of sustainability from local to global level, both in short-term and long term perspectives. IWRM can be identified as an enabling tool in SWM, which can be used in managing water resources as a whole. This paper proposes a conceptual model to address issues in SWM in irrigation sector using IWRM, which can be applied to Sri Lankan irrigation sector to ensure sustainable and economical water management strategies.