Located at the former army headquarters premises between the Shangri La Hotel and the Presidential Secretariat, The Urban Forest Park project is an extension of Colombo’s most prominent landmark, the Galle Face Green, towards the landside. The project was initiated by the Urban Development Authority (UDA) of Sri Lanka in 2020 with the aim of bring much needed “green” to this part of the city which was increasingly becoming popular with local as well as foreign tourists. With a set of highly ambitious timescales of just 30 days, Plants & Plants was awarded the contract for the soft landscaping works by the end of September 2020. The project included significant soil works and the supply, installation and maintenance of 130 trees, 2,000 square meters of turf and more than 4,500 shrubs.
However, within a week of awarding the contract, many parts of Colombo together with many other districts experienced a widespread surge in COVID-19 and the following weeks saw several lock downs of the area the project was located in. These restrictions posed major issues in planning including challenges in transporting staff, plants and materials to the project site. Furthermore, subsequent to the award, the scope of the project increased by over 50% due to additional planting and earth works that were not part of the original tender. Nevertheless, with close coordination with the Ministry of Defence, the Urban Development Authority, and our suppliers/partners, Plants & Plants was still able to complete the project in just 45 days from awarding. An excellent achievement under very difficult circumstances, a testament to our team’s commitment, resilience and professionalism. What makes this achievement truly remarkable is the fact that all our teams followed extremely strict health & safety procedures stipulated by our HR department without compromising staff safety at any given time. As a result, we have had zero COVID-19 infections in the company to date.
