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Sri
Lanka, US urge donors to invest without delay Economic Reforms
and Science and Technology Minister Milinda Moragoda said donors
should not postpone - until current peace negotiations are concluded
- any decision to help Sri Lanka while US Deputy Secretary of State
Richard Armitage called for international support for the "momentum
of peace" in Sri Lanka. But no pledges
were made by either donors or lending agencies at the preparatory
meeting in Washington ahead of the Tokyo donor summit in June. Finance
Minister K.N. Choksy told The Sunday Times FT that no commitments
were made by any country nor did Sri Lanka put forward any expected
figures on funding requirements. However, Choksy
said the IMF, in a report submitted to the meeting held in a State
Department auditorium and attended by 25 countries, had said $ 1
billion would be required annually - for the next three years -
for Sri Lanka's reconstruction and rehabilitation needs. Moragoda, who
led the Sri Lankan delegation for the half-day meeting, said some
donors, as a matter of policy, may think it desirable to defer assistance
pending signing of the peace accord but he urged them to invest
without any delay. "By allowing the flow of assistance to commence
now, we could begin to show to every section of our people, including
the LTTE, that a peaceful accommodation of interests would bring
tangible prosperity and a better quality of life for all,"
he noted. Moragoda also pointed out it was not feasible for Sri
Lanka to deal with the reconstruction of war-ravaged areas in isolation
from the development of the rest of the country, which, he said,
has also suffered economic and social damage as a result of the
war. "The situation
we face demands first that we undertake reconstruction and development
activity right away in the South as well as the North on some equitable
basis looking at urgent development needs over the country as a
whole. "Some of the tasks that need immediate attention are
locating and neutralizing some one million land-mines scattered
in unmarked areas; rebuilding whole towns and villages and restoring
their basic services; providing shelter for the estimated one million
internally displaced persons and rebuilding schools. Armitage said
that the LTTE was unhappy about their exclusion from the Washington
meeting which was primarily because the US had placed the LTTE on
its list of foreign terrorists organizations in 1997. He said that
while the US is encouraged by the recent behaviour of the LTTE,
"we do not yet see a rationale for lifting the designation
as a foreign terrorist organization. Our position is crystal clear.
The LTTE must unequivocally renounce terrorism, in word and in deed,
if we are to consider withdrawing the designation." The LTTE said last week they were disappointed at being excluded at the US meeting and is now reviewing its decision to take part in the crucial Tokyo meeting in June. People's
Bank opens export/import unit in Trincomalee Its Eastern
Region Manager B. Manohara declared open the unit in the presence
of People's Banks' International Export and Import Division Manager,
Leslie Alahakone. Manohara said
with the opening of the international export and import unit local
entrepreneurs could directly export their produce to foreign countries
and also they could import their needs by opening a Letter of Credit
with the PB branches functioning in their areas in the district.
Up to now this facility has been available at Colombo main office. The bank has made arrangement with the Export Development Board, Board of Investment and National Chamber of Commerce to assist small outstation industrialists to develop their industries. (SG) Namal
fund value rises in 2002/3 The NEF was
launched in December 1991 as the first balanced Unit Trust Fund
in Sri Lanka. "Investors in the fund have received a dividend
every year totalling Rs. 9.25 per unit to-date," NAMAL said
in a statement. NAMAL said
it is encouraging that the corporate performance in general has
improved as a result of the peace initiatives in the country creating
favourable conditions for business to operate. The reduction in
the corporate tax rate since 2002 and lower interest in the economy
has also helped to reduce their tax and interest burden. "The fund's
asset allocation was increased to the equity market considering
the lower interest rates prevailing in the fixed income market and
the expectation of better performance of the well managed corporates
listed in the stock market," said P. Samarasekera, Fund Manager
at NAMAL. S. Jeyavarman,
NAMAL CEO, said the company adopted a value oriented investment
philosophy to achieve long-term performance to investors. "The short
term volatility in the market is mainly due to domestic and global
political situations and we are confident that the fund would achieve
its long term growth objective to investors from its equity investments,"
he said adding that NAMAL continually monitors corporate performance
with good governance to improve the quality of equity portfolio
and to ensure above market performance in coming years.
Central
Bank silent on Standard Chartered retrenchment The concerned
employees fought hard to justify that they are not excess workers
during the Labour Department inquiry conducted by Mr. Norton Fernando.
The employees argued that the Standard Chartered Bank management
has now employed more than 200 people on casual and contract basis.
The 99 permanent staff could easily be absorbed if the bank terminated
the services of these casual workers whom the Bank recruited after
the merger of the two banks. The Commissioner of Labour surprisingly
ignored the fact that casual employees are working for the bank
and gave a ruling in favour of the Standard Chartered Bank. He permitted
the bank to terminate the services of the 99 employees by payment
of compensation. Such decisions are as a result of the bank management
influencing top government officials. The bank management at the
inquiry admitted meeting the Commissioner of Labour while the inquiry
was pending. It is like meeting the judge while a case was on trial.
Can anyone say there is excess staff after the merger when so many
have been outsourced after the merger? The Central
Bank has been silent on the whole issue. The concerned employees
and the trade unions wrote many letters to the Central Bank raising
concerns. A condition laid down by the Central Bank during the initial
stages of the merger is that "any staff retirement should be
purely on a voluntary basis". Standard Chartered has openly
violated this condition and the Central Bank has taken no action
about it. The Labour Commissioner also ignored this fact though
it was raised at the inquiry. Compensation
is not the solution for young employees. Money cannot compensate
the time and energy these young people have put into the bank. All
of them are above 30 years and finding another job is near impossible.
The latest tactic of the bank is to outsource its key departments
to India. Already IT operations and Human Resources divisions are
operated from India. The salaries of present employees are paid
from Chennai, India. Our personnel files have been sent to Chennai.
There may be
more departments that will migrate in this manner. Has the Central
Bank approved this kind of outsourcing? We urge the Central Bank
and the government to do something about this situation. |
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