Today we are going to introduce an entrepreneur who uses Pinus plants removed by the “Thuru Community” green forest conservation project, in innovative ways.
P. Aruna Keerthi Udaya Kumara Satharasinghe was born on August 14, 1960. When his father decided to retire from the wood business in 1977, he decided to continue the business. This timber business, which was maintained in Makumbura, Pannipitiya, faced a crisis in 1978 with the introduction of the open economy.
At that time, Aruna was a teenager. Plans were being prepared to start the Mahaweli program and Aruna got the contract to cut down the forests in areas such as Polonnaruwa, Habarana and so on. In the meantime, Aruna arranged to sell Kempas wood from Malaysia.
In 1990, Aruna met with an accident in Havelock Town while traveling on his motorcycle. Aruna, who was admitted to the National Hospital, came to a different decision about his business while undergoing treatment there. It was to quit tree felling contract work and start a saw mill. Aruna, who used to read newspapers while in the hospital, saw a news item published in Subasetha newspaper about auspicious times for starting a new business. This was exciting news for Aruna, who was hoping to start a saw mill.
After leaving the hospital, Aruna went to his father and said, “I want to start a wood mill on an auspicious day, will you help me”. The father, who understood Aruna’s interest and commitment, agreed. At that time, Aruna had 38 perches of land. While working on the gradually built saw mill, Aruna developed a desire to season wood.
Aruna travelled around Sri Lanka in search of places where wood was tanned. But he found only three or four sawmills. He went to those places and studied woodworking. At that time, Aruna recognised a technician who worked at the Plywood Corporation located in Kosgama and started wood tanning training.
Plywood Corporation
Aruna, who first turned to tanning rubber wood, gave this seasoned wood to Macpack located in Piliyandala. They exported the product. Then he gradually expanded the wood business. He installed modern-style wood splitting machines, wood tanning machines and warehouses that can be heated and dried instantly as well as several machines that can routinely make large planks from small pieces of wood. But with the closure of Macpack in 1997, Aruna faced a big crisis.
“When I was wondering how to get out of this crisis, I met a French buyer. He was sending furniture and wooden toys to European countries including France. I started making furniture and wooden toys and sending them abroad through that French buyer. After that I turned to providing furniture to Arpico.”
“Meanwhile, Singer started a furniture factory. They came to me to buy seasoned rubber wood. Accordingly, Arpico was given furniture while Singer was given planks. In that way, the business developed and came forward. During that time, I participated in programs related to wood businesses in China, Germany, America, France, and so on.
On a trip like that, I saw a machine that can use wood and planks to join small pieces of wood. At that time, this method had not been successfully used in any timber plant in Sri Lanka. Most of the people use plywood board to make pantry cupboards. But after a while they start to crumble. But when it is arranged in this way, nothing will happen. So we started making planks and wood that way. A big market was created in Sri Lanka because these were sold with a warranty. This method does not require the removal of even a small piece of wood. Even our wood chipping machines do not leave wood unnecessarily because planks are cut from logs very delicately.
Delicate surface
“When cutting wood with a circular saw, a large amount of wood is wasted especially on the outside. But because of this wood chipper, only a very delicate surface is removed. They are used for our seasoned wood drying boiler. The wood dust left over from shredding is given to the mushroom business. Therefore, not even a tenth of a log that comes to our wood factory goes to waste. Due to this, unnecessary wastage of wood has been prevented. The reason for that is the advanced technology we use. Most people in this business do not have a proper understanding of the pressure treatment that is done when tanning wood.”
“Many people think that coating the surface of the wood is enough. But the fungus that damages the wood is formed deep in the wood. They pierce the wood from the inside and come out. Therefore, this treatment should be done on the surface of the wood as well as on the inside. We need a high pressure chemical plant. We have the largest high pressure chemical plant in Sri Lanka. The chemical we use for this purpose is used in America, Canada and even Australia. Because they do most constructions with wood. Such high quality raw materials are used by our company. Because of this, we can provide a 50-year quality guarantee for outdoor timber construction and a 100 percent indoor quality guarantee for our products.”
His two sons have become Aruna’s greatest strength in updating this technology. They are Punitha Satharasinghe and Nisitha Satharasinghe. Punitha is a young man with a special understanding of wood tanning. Punitha is the only person in Sri Lanka certified in high standard wood tanning. He went to Australia and studied a special training course and is engaged in business with his father. Presently, most of the responsibilities of this business are borne by Punitha and Nisitha. The two of them have started a project of building houses completely made of wood through their company A Wood Lanka. Anyone can get them to build these houses which are made only of wood in a very luxurious way to suit the modern world.
Behind the scenes
Apart from this, they also construct cabanas for tourist hotels. Aruna’s wife Ajantha Shyamali Senadheera is doing all the work behind the scenes which is their strength in making all these tasks successful. Aruna Satharasinghe says that without her blessings, encouragement and dedication, none of this success would have reached them.
His Pinus plantation is spread over 600 hectares only around the Sinharaja forest. Pinus wood is used extensively for the wooden constructions they build for the tourism industry. Earlier they got this wood from countries like France, Ukraine and Russia. But in view of the situation Europe is currently facing, the import of this wood has become a costly affair.
This is also a good assessment of the quality of wood production in our country. Therefore, the ground has been prepared for the expansion of the country’s wood market as a country where high quality wood can be purchased. It will become a great source of wealth that can earn foreign exchange in such an economic crisis. Currently, the first order of 15 seasoned fine wood containers is contracted to be shipped within two months.
Also Malaysian and Indian wood cannot match the quality of wood produced by A Wood Lanka, says Aruna Satharasinghe with responsibility. Also, you can come to A Wood Lanka and turn any type of wood you have into long-lasting high-quality wood, and it is also possible to get high-quality seasoned wood here in any quantity, he said.