The main objective of establishing the NBRO was to provide necessary technical advice in the building field for national developments projects. The NBRO was constituted under the Ministry of Local Government, Housing & Construction in 1984 then, with assistance from UNDP and the UNCHS, by bringing together all laboratories and building research facilities available in different agencies under that Ministry. In succeeding decades the NBRO built a strong  reputation as an organization that provides an honest service to its customers. It continues to play an active role through consultation services related to construction.

It has also more recently emerged as the leading authority in Sri Lanka in the field of landslide study and the promotion of mitigatory measures to deal with related disasters. This accords with its transfer in  2007 to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, which also contributed to more proactive management structures and enhanced services in Research relating to Disaster Management.

Today NBRO is engaged in research services relating to natural and man-made hazard assessment, prediction and mitigation and in assisting state and private institutes, and also ordinary citizens, with regard to hazard related issues. It continues with its seminal role in landslide and slope studies and in research to reduce and restrict related disasters and mitigate their effects. It is involved in forecasting and the issue of early warnings in these areas, which is of vital importance with regard to planning and implementation of infrastructure projects as well as protecting livelihoods.

NBRO thus has a distinguished record of service in the various fields it covers through the development of criteria, guidelines, standards and codes of practice for construction. It also works in the areas of human settlement planning and environmental management, matters of immense concern in disaster prone areas.

I am glad to congratulate the NBRO and to be associated with it at a time when its services have contributed to the increasingly vital functions of this Ministry. I hope the NBRO, in working more actively as an integral component of the envisaged new Disaster Management Authority, will go on from strength to strength. I wish the Silver Jubilee celebrations and the Symposium all success.

Prof Rajiva Wijesinha
Secretary
Ministry of Disaster Management & Human Rights And Chairman Interim Management Committee of NBRO.