Apologies amid brickbats at FTZMA AGM
Apologising for the current state of affairs the government has assured the Free Trade Zone companies that they will not be subjected to any more electricity interruptions and approval for five year resident visas for expatriates.
Export Zones Development Minister D.V. Chanaka addressing the41st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Free Trade Zone Manufacturers Association (FTZMA) on Thursday at the Hilton Colombo firstly apologised to the members for the issues faced by them and the dire state of affairs of the economy.
He noted that the last two years had been very difficult adding: “We will try our best not to continue this.”
Responding to the members’ requests to ensure that there will not be any further electricity interruptions he said that it was just a matter of two days pointing out that this had occurred due to the lack of fuel and the lowering of the water levels.
He assured them that in future there will not be any further electricity interruptions to the zone and that by next week “everything will be sorted.”
Commenting on the visas for expatriates working in Sri Lanka he said that they continued to have discussions in this regard and that they will ensure that this resident visa will be given for five years in future and that medical checks will not be carried out annually.
FTZMA President Jitendra Biala pointed out the need to ensure the government gives priority to this sector describing themselves as the golden hen laying the golden egg.
Mr. Biala noted that they were a sector that continued its operations despite the COVID-19 lockdowns during the past two years and ensured that workers were provided the vaccination and required testing.
In addition he explained that they had take up a very “proactive role in assisting workers with monetary support,”
The FTZMA has also been trying to obtain the required fuel to the zones in a bid to ensure that they can continue to operate their generators during the electricity interruptions. In this respect, they have sent letters and been in discussion with the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and the Lanka IOC.
In fact the Energy Ministry had agreed to approve by Friday an uninterrupted supply of fuel to the BOI zones.
They also asked to focus on the solar energy with the availability of more than 1 million square metres of roof.
He also requested that the annual renewal of the visas of expatriates be reconsidered as it was time consuming and even called for medical tests.
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