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Rural producers praise CB's Isuru scheme By Ishani
Ranasinghe Rural producer
G.V. Lalith said projects under the bank's Regional Development
Department were beneficial to them. "The scheme gives poverty
stricken people the opportunity to come forward with their products.
It also helps us with loans at low interest," he said. Dozens of rural
producers met at the rural fair organized by the Central Bank for
those who come under the "Isuru Credit Scheme" operated
by the department. The Isuru Credit Scheme or the Small Farmers
and Landless Credit Project is carried out in the districts of Kandy,
Puttalam, Galle and Matara. The Vihara
Maha Devi Park, where the fair was held, had a range of stalls selling
vegetables, curd, antiques or clothes but unfortunately the fair
did not attract many buyers or had few sales despite it being organized
on an annual basis. Lalith and
his colleagues Titus Chaminda and S.M.D Padmasiri were representing
the Small Farmers and Landless Credit Project group in Suduwella. Sellers of
antiques, paintings and a few sweetmeats, they are also exporters
of antiques. "There isn't much of a business here," said
Titus whose paintings done in the stall showed signs of true talent.
His paintings captured the moods the true essence of the subjects.
They were appreciative of the Isuru Scheme saying it helped to develop
them. Hand-woven
lace has always been in demand in Sri Lanka mainly by the foreigners.
Clothes that are sewn with this are undoubtedly eye catching and
charming in its own way. S.K. Nandani has started a small-scale
business of hand-woven lace (biralu) with her sister. "We buy
the material from Pettah, and after that we design various clothes
using the laces to make it more beautiful," she said. The small-scale
business she does gets support from the Isuru Loan Scheme helping
the business to blossom and reach its full potential. "It didn't
really sell that well today because this lace is more attractive
to foreigners," she remarked. Her stall had a wide range of
table mats, dresses, blouses and other garments. "Our products
are also given to Laksala and there is big demand from their customers,"
she said. Representing
wood carving producers, Jagath Rohana also expressed the view of
other stall owners that the fair didn't provide them with much custom.
"No one really knows about this fair," said Rohana, adding
that his products mainly attracted foreigners. All the carvings
are done at his workshop at home with most of the products sold
in tourist sites like Aluthgama and Hikkaduwa. However, for
D.A. Nirmali Priyadharshini, a plant seller from Lihiriyagama, business
was brisk at the fair. "Today has been a very successful day
for me," she said looking pleased with the number of plants
that had been sold. N.B. Dulrukshi
from Kandy is a producer of wallets, bags, little trinket boxes,
wall hangings with intricate designs made out of reed (hana). This
has been a family business for generations and her family had exported
the products to other countries. The bank's Isuru Scheme was praised by rural producers who said it provided them with much-needed, low-interest capital, organised district fairs, and gave them exposure. Training for women on binding and finishing INGRIN Sri Lanka has introduced a training programme in Binding and Finishing for women who wish to take up a career in this field in the printing sector. The tertiary education and training institute said in a statement that there was an increasing demand for female employment in this sector. It said in a statement that there was employment potential in this sector for females not only in Sri Lanka but also in the Middle East and Europe. The training programme would be conducted in Sinhala for a period of three months. More details could be obtained from the INGRIN Institute of Printing and Graphics at 290, D.R. Wijewardene Mawatha, Colombo 10. Watawala tea factories win 5S awards Four tea factories
of Watawala Plantations, manufacturer of Zesta, won awards at the
recently held 7th Taiki Akimoto 5S Awards Ceremony organised by
the Japan Sri Lanka Technical and Cultural Association (JASTECA).
The Taiki Akimoto 5S Awards recognize the unique and innovative
ideas and achievements made by government institutions and private
sector organisations in the Japanese 5S concept. Among the Watawala
group, Abbotsleigh Estate, Hatton won the runner-up award for Best
5S implementation in the plantation industry while Kenilworth Estate,
Ginigathhena and Dickoya Estate won a merit award each. Waltrim
Estate, Lindula, won a commendation award. Vish Govindasamy, Chief
Executive Officer of Watawala Plantations said these awards reflect
the high standards of quality maintained by these factories and
are an incentive for other tea factories to strive for higher standards. Sri Lanka close to clinching TIFA deal with US Sri Lanka chances
of finalising a free trade agreement with USA was re-confirmed at
the second joint council meeting of the US-Sri Lanka Trade and Investment
Framework Agreement (TIFA) concluded recently in Washington. Commerce and
Consumer Affairs Minister Ravi Karunanayake said the US delegation
led by Ambassador Jon Huntsman was satisfied with Sri Lanka's progress
on various aspects, including economic policymaking implementation
and governance. The Minister, according to a Ministry statement,
said that from the success of the two joint council meetings, the
next step is finalising the Free Trade Agreement, which hopefully
will be achieved after the third joint council meeting. Sri Lanka
is one of the 11 countries selected by the USA for the TIFA scheme
which was signed in Washington last July during Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe's visit. Other members of the Sri Lankan delegation
were Minister of Enterprise Development, Industrial Policy and Investment
Promotion and Constitutional Affairs, Prof. G.L. Pieris and his
Secretary Ranjith Fernando, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Ministry
Secretary, Harsha Wickramasinghe and Sri Lanka Trade Representative
in the US, Saman Udagedara. Tritel revises Universal Card tariffs Tritel Services
(Pvt) Ltd, the largest payphone network operator in the country,
has announced the revision of tariffs for its 'Universal Card',
provided exclusively to HSBC credit cardholders. "With
the liberalization of the international sector the cost of making
an international call (IDD) has been substantially reduced. In keeping
with our promise, to give value for money, we will pass on this
cost saving to our customers with lower call rates starting at Rs.
25 per minute," Chief Executive Officer of Tritel Robert Schuster
said in a statement. Tritel supplied
the 'Universal Card' to HSBC's 110,000-strong credit card base in
Sri Lanka. It is activated and recharged through the owner's HSBC credit card, for the amount the cardholder desires. |
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