The junction past the Maligawatta Police station is popularly known as the ‘Elba junction’ by the people. Known as an area with shops selling spare parts for three wheelers, a popular mode of transportation in Sri Lanka, Elba is the name of the largest store there.
Hence the junction is locally known as the ‘Elba junction’. Due to Sri Lanka’s dollar crisis and increase in shipping costs as well as taxes, the prices of three wheeler spare parts now are at an all time high. Around 90 percent of the parts are imported from India.
 H.B. Milton |
With prices skyrocketing day by day, a Sri Lankan has now commenced manufacturing three wheeler spare parts in the country. He is H.B Milton and was first introduced to the people by our sister newspaper ‘Silumina’ in September last year.
Milton’s factory is in Transport Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena’s electoral seat of Homagama. Hearing of Milton’s work, the Minister together with Nalin Welgama had visited the factory long before Milton became popular.
Having listened to the various issues faced by Milton in registering e-three wheelers, Minister Dr. Gunawardena presented these concerns to Parliament the very next day. It is through his efforts that the approval for the act needed to allow e-three wheelers to be registered and for petrol three wheelers to be converted to e-three wheelers was obtained.
Milton said he extends his gratitude to the Minister, Nalin Welgama and Ven. Galagama Thera for their efforts. According to him, if other Ministers act expeditiously such as Dr. Gunawardena, many issues of the country along with the current crisis could be resolved.
Electric boat engine
On our visit to witness Milton’s latest venture, we also met Minister of Fisheries Dougals Devananda who was at the factory to check a boat engine. Milton gave us a brief description of his latest invention. According to Milton, the electric boat engine developed at the request of Minister Devananda can be charged for one hour and used to travel 100 km. “When the solar panel is attached to the roof of the boat there is no need to plug it in for charging,” he said.
During a walkabout in the factory we were able to witness how many parts for three wheelers were being manufactured. “I have visited the Bajaj factory in India over 50 times. There are around 1,000 houses around it. All the parts are made in these houses. In India this is a home-based industry,” he said.
According to him quality control happens at the factory as well as assembly of three wheelers. “Thousands could be employed in Sri Lanka if we start this industry here,” he said. Milton said as he is able to manufacture parts he even requested the President to ban the import of such parts to Sri Lanka or to limit it. Minister Devananda who witnessed the production at the factory has now promised Milton to raise the issue of local manufacturing of three wheelers with the President and forward Milton’s letter to him as well.
Today around 80 persons are employed at Milton’s factory. He said with Government support he could generate 600 jobs. “All I need is a subsidised loan. It is impossible to develop this business after obtaining loans under the current interest rate,” he said.
Insurance Companies in Sri Lanka have also become an obstacle in developing the three wheeler spare parts industry in Sri Lanka as they only award insurance claims for vehicles that use parts imported from India. While an imported three wheeler goods carrier costs Rs. 150,000, a locally made one is only Rs. 80,000. These parts made in Sri Lanka are also not prone to rust, unlike the imported ones.
According to Milton, moulds needed to make the parts cost millions of rupees if purchased from India. He said, however, these moulds were made locally by Lakmadhu Engineering and even the machines used to manufacture the parts were purchased from Sri Lanka.
Milton said currently there are around 1.1 million three wheelers in Sri Lanka. According to the Central Bank report 543,351 three wheelers have been registered from 2012 - 2021. “We can make parts for these locally, but the dollar crisis has led to an increase of costs. We do not use substandard materials in the production process. I have written to Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka requesting his support,” he said.
Foreign orders
Milton said he even receives foreign orders via the internet. With Bajaj three wheelers being a popular mode of transport in Africa, Milton said in 2014, Bajaj closed down its operations in Tanzania. Visiting Tanzania, Milton together with another colleague in the country began his business venture there. He produced every part other than the engine. However he suffered significant financial losses and thus lost his ownership in the business.
Milton said he has now once again received an invitation from Tanzania to open a factory there as Indian body parts are known to rust. He hopes to receive the support of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Central Bank and others to develop the business here and then export the parts to countries around the world including Tanzania. “I love Sri Lanka more than any other country,” Milton said.
Milton said he may consider moving the business to Tanzania if he does not receive the necessary support. “Everything is politicised in Sri Lanka. People who can serve the country are ignored and everyone wants to just import stuff and get a commission out of it. For how long should we wait to see benefits in investing in businesses such as this?,” he asked.
Milton said he has received a proposal to provide him with the raw materials on the condition that he only exports the parts manufactured in his factory. But according to him, his intention is to provide parts to three wheeler drivers in the country who are struggling before exporting his products.
“My business was built thanks to the local three wheeler drivers. If the Government supports me I can provide parts to the local market and then export to bring in foreign exchange,” he said.
Milton also believes converting these three wheelers to run with electricity would reduce the country’s fuel import costs. “We do not even need electricity to charge these. It can be done through a solar panel sticker placed on the hood,” he said. Therefore, promoting and supporting such businesses will undoubtedly avert a crisis in the three wheeler industry in Sri Lanka and support the development of the manufacturing industry in the country while generating hundreds of job opportunities.
Pix by Sulochana Gamage