BUSINESS DIARY

For Better Telecom

September 8: Public lecture by Henry G. Hodaly on quality of service in telecommunications which will be followed by a discussion. Representatives from all telecom operators are also expected to participate in this lecture and discussion at Sausiripaya Auditorium, Wijerama Mw., Col.7 at 4.30 pm.

In the public interest the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSI) has decided to take measures to improve the quality of service provided to all telephone subscribers in Sri Lanka. The TRCSL has invited Henry G. Hodaly, a Canadian telecommunication expert as a consultant. Mr. Hodaly is the Operational Service Results Coordinator of BC Telecom, the second largest telecom operator in Canada. He has been involved in quality of service issues, for the last 10 years.

IT in 2000

September 11: Tony Weerasinghe, Managing Director of Millennium Information Technology will be the guest speaker at the Chartered Institute of Marketing - Sri Lanka branch evening meeting at the Galadari Hotel at 5.30 p.m.

The topic will be 'The IT Galaxy of the new millennium! - Shine in it or get lost in it - it's your choice'. The presentation will give answers to important questions worrying most companies, Mr. Weerasinghe has the distinction of introducing state-of-the-art IT systems in Sri Lanka, including the systems at the Colombo Stock Exchange and Dialog GSM web based system.

He was also interviewed on CNN. Mr. Weerasinghe was the Country Manager of Open Systems Division of Computerland (Pvt) Ltd., and earlier Country Manager for Oracle Products for GMS Ltd. He was instrumental in introducing Oracle to Sri Lanka. The achievements to his credit in the field of computers are outstanding. He is also a member of the British Computer Society and Institute of Data Processing management.

Financial Management

September 11-12: A management development workshop on Financial Management for Marketers will be conducted by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing at Hotel Taj Samudra.

The methodology of this workshop is designed to help participants to develop their problem solving and decision making skills in the application of advanced financial management techniques to marketing and sales management problems.

Presentations by a panel of expert resource persons will be followed by syndicate problem - solving and simulated decision making sessions using computer based business games, interactive techniques and case studies.

The workshop aims to help participants to develop financial analysis skills, interpret financial ratios from an investor's perspective, fund management, understand how financial markets work and hands on skills in effective financial management for marketing and sales. Resource persons include Ravi Banudevan, Director Marketing, Directories Lanka (Pvt) Ltd; Praveer Samarasinghe, Corporate Planning Manager Richard Pieris Group, Dilshan Rodrigo of Standard Chartered Bank and Rohantha Athukorale, Brand Manager Reckit & Coleman.

Oberoi, father of Indian Hoteliering turns 100

Pioneering Hotelier and Industrialist, Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi, celebrated his 100th birthday on August 15. A living legend, Rai Bahadur Oberoi, founder of the Oberoi Group, has put the Indian Hotel industry on the world tourism map.

Mr. Oberoi, described fondly as "The father figure of the Indian hotel industry in India and abroad, and the country's only exclusive hotelier", by the late J.R.D. Tata, was among the first to demonstrate that tourism is an industry of the future. He envisioned that it would be a powerful catalyst for economic growth in the country with high potential for generating direct and indirect employment. He recognized the socio-economic linkages that tourism forges within the country and promoted legislation and government policies in favour of the industry.

Having started his career as a clerk, Mr. Oberoi is an inspirational success story of a self-made man. He is the chairman of the Oberoi Group with hotels located in India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The idea was never merely to make money. The compulsion was to think big, always offer the best and let it happen. The profits would automatically come in," Mr. Oberoi observed. It is to the credit of his visionary leadership that the Oberoi Group is acknowledged to be one of India's first and best-known international hospitality companies. Nine Oberoi hotels are members of "The Leading Hotels of The World", a select group of luxury hotels chosen for their extraordinary levels of guest comfort and service.

Under his chairmanship, the Oberoi Group has diversified into varied sectors of the tourism industry, namely domestic and international travel and tour services, flight catering, corporate air charter services, airport services, airport restaurants and project management.

Rai Bahadur was the first to employ women in the hospitality sector. He founded the Oberoi School of Hotel Management. Now renamed the Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development, the only privately run institution recognized by the Prestigious International Hotel Association.

Mr. Oberoi was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1962 and in 1972. He was also elected to the Lok Sabha in 1968.

Mr. Oberoi received the Newsweek Award in 1977 for making significant contributions to the world of business. In the same year, the President of India conferred on him the Udayog Patra for his outstanding contributions to industry.

In 1981 the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) presented him the Hall of Fame Award for furthering the cause of international tourism.

In 1983, he received the Glo

al Hospitality Industry's "Man of the World" Award instituted by the International Hotel Association (IHA), New York. In 1984, he received the coveted Order of Republic First Class from the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, for his valuable services to Egypt.

Mr. Oberoi remains a humble person who has never forgotten his roots nor forsaken Indian culture. An achiever and a self-made man, he is a humanist at heart. He has nurtured and helped people to grow to their optimum potential. A national icon today, Rai Bahadur Oberoi's achievements and success have not taken away his simplicity and old fashioned charm. He still retains a unique humility about himself and says: "I have been able to accept the challenge and make good - there is comfort in knowing that whatever little I have achieved has also helped to raise the prestige of my country."

Agro-Marine marks 25 years in export

The Agro-Marine Group, comprising Agro-Marine Limited (processing seafood for export), Aqua-Gardens (Pvt) Limited (aquaculture) and Aqua-Packaging (Pvt) Limited (manufacturing polybags, exclusively for export), celebrated its 25th anniversary recently.

The seafood industry in Sri Lanka started in the early seventies under severe financial constraints. The time when Ken Nirmalan, presently the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Agro-Marine Limited stepped into the scene, prawn farming was unheard of then, and although the rich waters of the north and east were teeming with bountiful harvests, competition was high amongst existing exporters, many entering the scene to benefit from incentives offered by the government in return for their foreign exchange earnings.

In 1983, Agro-Marine Limited was awarded the prestigious Presidential Export Award for seafood. The celebration began with an awards ceremony at the Sri Lanka Exhibition & Convention Centre on August 15. The awards ceremony was attended by their employees and guests. Gold awards were presented to seventeen employees with over 15 years service and gold awards to another 65 with over 10 years service. 173 employees received 5 years service awards. Souvenir plaques were also presented to the chief guests.

A policy with children in mind

Ceylinco's new children's policy, "Ceylinco Children's Health Policy Plus" (CHP Plus) is an all-in-one scheme, designed to care for the Child's Health, Education and Future, a company release said.

Health, education and a secure environment are the main ingredients in producing a healthy citizen.

This policy will give the children an uninterrupted sound education and give them security and the ability to have good health. In today's competitive environment even children are exposed to the 'rat race' and are involved in many extra curricular activities that decides their future.For an annual premium of only Rs. 1,000 Ceylinco CHP Plus offers the child a comprehensive insurance cover upto Rs. 300,000. If the child needs to be hospitalized the hospitalization and surgical bills will be paid upto Rs. 100,000. Also if the child's education is hampered due to any disablement caused by an accident the child receives Rs. 100,000.

If the parent or guardian expires during the policy period the child will be entitled for a monthly allowance until the child completes education and on reaching the age of 18 years Rs. 100,000 will be given to the child.

Also the child will be entitled upto Rs. 100,000 for hospitalization every year and Rs. 100,000 for accidents and disablements until the completion of education. All these benefits will be free of charge - in other words when the parent or guardian expires there will be no payment of premiums.

Hemas Garments' second opens

Hemas Garments, a member of the Hemas Group, opened its second factory in Welisara on August 5. The specialist knitwear manufacturer exports mainly to UK.

The company has been working steadfastly over the past year for an ISO 9002 certification. The company also prides itself on its use of scientific production techniques which are vital to achieve high levels of efficiency, states a release from the Rowland Company.

The factory was opened by Neal Lindsay, Managing Director of the British based buying office NV Production.

Sunquick wins award for excellence

Scan Products Holding Company Ltd., a member of the C W Mackie Group, recently won the prestigious Co-Ro global award '97 for excellence in sales and marketing, which is its second occasion.

The '97 Co-Ro award is another feather in the company's cap which throughout 1997, went on a huge marketing drive to promote Sunquick to the outstation segment of the country.

Sunquick which holds a leading position for Squash Concentrate in the country for several years, has traditionally received a tremendous demand in Colombo and the main urban areas.

However, with the drive into the outstations, the brand has doubled its volume in sales, widening the gap even further from its nearest competitor.

Ranjan Pelpola, Sales & Marketing Manager for Sunquick said, "Sunquick's heavy popularity hitherto in the urban areas had unfortunately created a totally false impression in the outstations, that the brand was expensive. We dedicated ourselves to the task of correcting this impression with strong marketing communications and sales drive."

Sunquick which is directly imported from Co-Ro Foods, Denmark, is 100% natural fruit juice and is highly concentrated. Rs. 269/50 Sunquick bottle gives more than 40 glasses of juice which makes it a very economical family drink.

Sunquick currently comes in seven flavours, Orange, Mandarin, Mixed Fruit, Apple, Black Currant, Grape Fruit and Lemon with Orange and Mixed Fruit.

ISO 14000, users form association

An ISO 14001 EMS Users Association is to be formed shortly following a seminar and workshop to generate awareness about this standard.

The American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) in collaboration with the United States-Asia Environmental Partnership (US-AEP) in Sri Lanka conducted the seminar which was followed by a two day workshop last week.

The ISO 14000 series of standards address issues such as environmental management systems, (EMS) environmental auditing and labelling, environmental performance evaluation and life cycle assessment.

These international standards are voluntary standards for the establishment of a common worldwide approach to management systems that will lead to the protection of the earth's environment while spurring international trade and commerce.

Although the ISO 14001 management standards are likely to be used in manufacturing or processing industries, it can also be applied to services such as construction, architecture, health care and engineering.

Key EMS benefits include competitive advantage, improved public image, better access to capital and improved compliance.

The ISO 14000 standards and guidelines developed within ISO technical committee's are intended to be practical, useful and usable for companies of all sizes, in both manufacturing and service industries.

US-AEP operates in 13 Asian cities including Sri Lanka, through its offices of Technology co-operation.

Environmental Technology Representatives, who act as environmental experts, problem solvers and links to US-AEP programs and partners, staff these offices.

The seminar which was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development's Technology Initiative of the Private Sector project, the National Development Bank, Environmental Resources Management (Lanka) Ltd and the DFCC Bank was held on August 26 at the Colombo Hilton

The two-day workshop held on August 27 and 28 designed to provide hands on experience in developing an ISO 14001 system was conducted by well-qualified and experienced US consultant Jim Highlands.

Browns Road Show

The Agricultural Directorate of Brown & Co. Ltd., once again has embarked on a 'Road Show' where they will go on tour with a Float which depicts all their agricultural machinery, appliances.

The products to be displayed on the Float are Massey Ferguson tractors, Hudson Sprayers and Rain Bird irrigation systems, a company release said.

Massey Ferguson tractors are virtually a household name in Sri Lanka, with the bulk of the local agricultural community using them through several generations. Hudson Sprayers come in a wide range which include Bak-Pak Sprayers, Vim Sprayers, Com-pression Sprayers, Professional Sprayers, Planter Mist Sprayers and Trombone Sprayers.

Rain Bird irrigation systems come with a maximum Value Package which includes customer service, expert technical support, and a worry free warranty, and have acquired a reputation for being rugged, reliable and uniform.

What triggered the current Asian economic crisis?

By Asiff Hussein

There were a number of factors involved in the making of the current Asian crisis, a top Economic Analyst said recently.

CIMA Lecturer and Deputy Director, Research, Mercantile Merchant Bank, Nouzab Fareed who spoke on 'The Asian crisis and its impact on Sri Lanka' at last Monday's Sunday Times/ Celltel Business Club meeting observed that the floating of the Thai Bhat in 1997 was a big mistake and the 'triggering point' of the crisis.

This combined with the large external debt of the affected countries, the Open Capital Account policy, free access to external borrowing, the devaluation of the Chinese currency and speculative investments in buildings and real estate projects led to the crisis, he observed.

He pointed out that Thailand which had a fixed exchange rate regime of 25 Thai Bhat per US Dollar floated their currency in order to satisfy foreign investor demands for Dollar-based transactions.

This, however, exposed the Thai economy to a vulnerable situation as it was directly exposed to unfavourable market forces. As a result, the Thai Bhat had declined from its former strength of 25 Bhats per USD to 43 Bhats per USD in the short period of one year from 1997-1998.

Unlike Sri Lanka, which has an external debt of only 5.7 billion USD (and that only to international funding agencies and NGOs), the affected countries owed foreign banks huge debts such as Korea's 150 billion USD.

Such external borrowing on the part of the private sector could have serious repercussions on a country's economy as such transactions are based on the US Dollar.

In cases where such currencies depreciate in relation to the US Dollar, the capital debt to be paid, as well as the interest will rise, thus placing such borrowers in a vulnerable position.

He observed that as much as 90 billion USD had been given to the affected countries by Japanese banks, a situation which could have serious implications on the Japanese economy as well in time to come.

Unlike in Sri Lanka, many of the affected countries had open or deregulated capital accounts allowing the inflow and outflow of vast quantities of capital. This again exposed them to dangerous market forces and the manipulation of the market by capricious investors such as George Soros.

He said it is unfortunate that these countries had throughout mentioned their currencies in relation to the US Dollar, although other avenues could have been availed of. Further, the trade of the affected countries had been heavily dependent on the US.

Besides, China had devalued its currency by as much as 40% in 1994 thus making Chinese products highly competitive in the international market. As a result, goods manufactured in the affected states gradually lost their competitive edge.

Another big mistake was the large investment that went into unproductive sectors such as property development. He observed that at one stage there was an excess of office space in these countries which in turn meant less income to the investor. The property market started collapsing resulting in the inability of investors to settle their debts.

This also severely affected the banking sector. He noted that in Thailand alone 50 minor banks were compelled to shut down due to this development.

He also observed that crony capitalism and white elephant projects also affected the economy of these countries to some extent.

Added to all this, foreign investors started losing confidence and began pulling out. Although the affected countries had not foreseen the crisis, the downfall had been predicted in 1996 by Economists such as Jeffrey Sasch.

As for its effects on Sri Lanka, Mr. Fareed observed that the crisis will not have a significent impact on the country as its foreign investment of 800 million USD is negligible to that of countries like Malaysia which has a foreign investment of 32 billion USD.

He however said that although foreign direct investment are not expected to suffer, foreign portfolio investments have been severely affected and that a significent downturn has been recorded in the stock market.

He noted that at present, the stock market is at its lowest point in seven years, while the portfolio value of such institutions like DFCC and NDB have declined by almost 50 percent.

He however noted that Sri Lanka fortunately has a closed Capital Account which functions as a safety net. Besides, the country's commercial banks are well controlled and supervised, while the traditional exports like tea and garments face no immediate threat.

He also observed that although local commercial banks presently engage in speculative investments, this is expected to end shortly with the proposed reforms to the local banking sector which are expected to come into effect by early 1999.

Award fires Ace Cargo to do better

Ace Cargo (Pvt. ) Limited , a member of the Aitken Spence group bagged the National Export Award ' 97 in the service providers category at the awards ceremony of the National Chamber of Exporters Sri Lanka held recently.

" This award will help us to revamp our motivation and continue to do better and live up to expectations of the sector " said Managing Director of Ace Cargo Rohantha Pieris.

He said the company is committed to finding innovative methods that prevail outside Sri Lanka and introduce new service products such as special removal and tracking systems, inventory control, multi -country consolidation systems in order to serve customers better.

Ace Cargo functions under several sub divisions that include Airlines,Shipping, Freight Forwarding, Distribution and Packaging and a Courier service.

The Courier section has a broad network with offices in many parts of the country including Ratmalana , Biyagama, Katunayake Export Zone , Galle and Kandy.

" Special packaging of the company is mainly used by people going abroad , home bound customers , embassy officials , Non governmental organisations and UN officials " said one of the Directors and the head of the courier division Mohan Perera.

The courier division has established relations with one of the international courier services , TNT Express Worldwide.

He added one division of the company has already achieved the ISO 9002 standards while the company has set a firm target for the rest of the divisions to achieve the standard before the end of 1999.

" The cargo division has gone one step further by establishing a joint venture with Bangladesh where Sri Lankan staff is already in Bangladesh to carry out operations.

We are closely looking at Pakistan and India to go into joint ventures while we have already lined up a prospective Indian partner" said Mr. Pieris.

The Cargo division that has links with reputed companies in USA , UK and Asia is fully insured by the Transport Club of UK.

" We also send our company staff to other countries in order for them to get the necessary exposure needed

The mission of Ace Cargo is to be the best transportation company in the SAARC region whilst exploring other opportunities and persistently delighting all our stakeholders " said Mr. Pieris

New logo for Hayleys

Hayleys Photoprint Ltd., the Hayleys Group's diversified imaging, information, paper and medical products subsidiary, has re-designed its logo to reflect the company's growth and increasing scope of activity.

The new logo draws inspiration from nature, with the sun as a focal point, projecting an image of growth, vitality and vigour of the company, explained Hayleys Photoprint's Director/General Manager Ashan Abeyesundere. He said that the growth and expansion of the company into new areas of activity had prompted the development of a new logo which reflected this trend.

"The dynamism of some of the world's leading brands such as Fujifilm and Conqueror which we represent are also incorporated in the new logo", he said.

Explaining the rationale behind the logo, he said it depicted the company as the sun, focussing on its power and glow and comparing it to the company's personality. The main stakeholders of the company, its human resources, customers, suppliers, financiers, shareholders and the community are represented in the logo, along with the company's competition.

"The concept or the underlying story of our new logo is of Hayleys Photoprint growing and expanding together with the stakeholders and rising above our competitors", Abeyesundere explained.

Stock market on ETv and Swarnavahini

Swarnavahini and ETv will commence live transmission of trading prices of stocks at The Colombo Stock Exchange from Monday September 7 onwards at 9.30 am to 12.30 pm on trading days, a company release said.

This new service is the result of a collaboration between EAP Networks (Pvt) Ltd., the operaters of ETv and Swarnavahini, the Colombo Stock Exchange who provide the programe input, Electrotecs Network Services (Pvt) Ltd., the suppliers of the wireless links between the stock exchange and the transmission studio, and Micro Image (Pvt) Ltd., who provide the software for the operation.

According to Stock Exchange sources, the stock symbol and price of every traded security will be scrolled across the screen, together with an indication of any upward or downward movement of price.

The All Share and Sensitive indices will be displayed every 15 minutes.

"The ETv transmission will be in English while the Swarnavahini transmission will be in Sinhala,'' said Mr. Jude de Valliere of EAP Networks.

Appointments

Q1: In our office certain employees are in a habit of coming late. Sometimes, they report for work two hours after the scheduled time. We have warned them verbally on several occasions. But there is no improvement. What is the course of action available to us regarding this late attendance?

If there is no improvement despite warning, as the employer you have the right to deduct their salary for the total time of late attendance. This is not a "pay cut" but you are paying them for the actual time they worked. As the second step you can warn them in writing. As a further step, you can suspend their increments for a specified period. If still there is no improvement increments can be stopped or even deferred. If the employees continue the practice of late attendance despite the above action you have the right to even terminate his services.

Q2: What is the overtime rate applicable to lorry drivers under the labour law? They are paid monthly salaries.

Lorry drivers are coming under the Motor Transport Trade Wages Board. According to the decisions made by this wages board the overtime rate applicable to drivers is as follows

1. In respect of each hour of work (not part of an hour) in excess of the normal working day, the minimum overtime rate shall be one and a half times the monthly hourly rate, ascertained by dividing the monthly salary by 200.

2. The drivers are entitled to 4 off days during a month with pay. If a driver is employed on any of those off days, he should be paid overtime at the rate of one and a three quarter (13/4 ) times ascertained by dividing the monthly salary by 200.

Q3: A minor employee assaulted a supervisor working in our company when the supervisor instructed him to resume his work after the tea interval. I want to take disciplinary action against the employee and issue a charge sheet. Please advice me what I should include in the charge sheet.

A charge sheet should include the following.

1. Statement asking the employee to show cause in writing why he should not be punished.

2. Statement specifying the charges with the date time and place (approximate) of the commission of the offence.

3. A time limit to reply the charges.

4. Intimation to the employee that should he fail to submit his explanation before the specified date it would be presumed that he has no cause to show and action would be taken on the basis.

Q4: In our company Factory employees are paid a "Performance Bonus".

This payment is made based on the performance of each employee. However we do not consider this payment when making contributions to the EPF. Can the Labour department find fault with us for not making contributions to the EPF on this payment?

According to the EPF act, contributions to the EPF should be made from all earnings of the employee. Any incentive payment tied to the production is included in the "earnings", although "Bonus payment" is not included. If your performance bonus is a payment tied to the production, you are liable to make contribution to EPF from such performance bonus.

Gillette winner back with Rs. 3.89 lakhs

Ponnaiah Dhar–maratnam, 43, who participated in the Gillette World Cup Million Dollar Challenge contest held in Paris, has brought home winnings of Rs. 3.89 lakhs. He says his money will go towards building a new house.

Altogether it was an unforgettable dream-like experience in my life,'' Dharmaratnam says in a media release. His week-long, all-expenses-paid trip to France, sponsored by Gillette, culminated at the thrilling final match of the 1998 Football World Cup.Account Relationship Manager at Standard Chartered Bank Dharmaratnam won his way to Paris after emerging as finalist at the Gillette Spot the Ball contest held at Hotel Taj Samudra, Colombo, on April 28, a news release says.

This is the 28th anniversary of Gillette's sponsorship of the World Cup, making it the longest-standing corporate sponsorship of this event. Headquartered in Boston Massachusetts, The Gillette Company is a world leader in male grooming products, including blades, razors and shaving preparations and alkaline batteries, with Duracell.

Gillette is a top seller of writing instruments and correction products, with Parker and of toothbrushes and oral care appliances, with Oral-B.

New Head takes over at ITI

Science and Technology Minister, Batty Weerakoon, has appointed Vidya Nidhi Dr. N.R. de Silva, as the new chairman of the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI), with effect from August 1. Dr. de Silva replaces Vidya Jyothi Dr. R.O.B. Wijesekera, who has been appointed chairman of the newly established National Science and Technology Commission (NASTEC).

Dr. de Silva is no stranger to the ITI (successor to the CISIR) having been associated with many activities of the institute for several years, during his long tenure of office at the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI).

He first served on the Governing Board of the then Bureau of Ceylon Standards from November 1976 and subsequently became the Director of the Bureau in March 1983. He served in this capacity until January 1984, at which time he was appointed the Director General of the successor to the Bureau of Ceylon Standards, the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI), in which capacity he served until November 1989.

In 1994, he was appointed chairman of the SLSI, a post he held upto the point of his appointment to the ITI.

Dr. de Silva has been actively involved in the field of Standardisation and Quality management at a national level, having initiated several programmes in education and training both at school level and in industry. He was responsible for the establishment of Quality circles in selected industries and also for formulating the frist Laboratory Accreditation Scheme in Sri Lanka.

He has a special degree in Chemistry from the University of Ceylon, in 1957 and masters and Doctoral degrees from the University of Bristol where he specialised in Analytical Chemistry.

De Silva has been a University lecturer, and headed many Standards Institutions' international forums.

Oram Shipping starts Col/Cal feeder service

Oram Shipping (S) Pte Ltd., will inaugurate their Feeder service on the Colombo -Calcutta and Calcutta- Colombo section, commencing with M.V. "Acacia" expected to arrive in Colombo on September17.

In the initial period M.V. "Acacia", with a capacity of 500 teus will be deployed and this will be increased to a minimum of two vessels providing services on the Colombo/Calcutta Sector eventually.

Oram Shipping started as a common feeder operator running the Singapore/Calcutta/Singapore sector last year and has emerged as one of the market leaders in this sector. They have continuously enhanced the service standards, taking into account the customer expectations.

The objective of Oram Shipping is to invest their resources in the Indian sub-continent, and they hope to enter into more trade routes to offer a comprehensive package to its clients.

Oram Shipping has appointed Pership (Shipping) Ltd., as their general agents in Sri Lanka.

Shippers to Meet

By Gunapala Ranasinghe

The Ministry of Finance hopes to summon a meeting of associations and organisations dealing with shipping for a meeting to obtain their views and comments on the implementation of various tariffs connected to the shipping industry.

The ministry has felt that the country is losing valuable foreign exchange on a large scale due to rate undercutting by some organisations, in direct violation of the Exchange Controller's approved tariffs.

In the meantime, Howard Lamb, Managing Director of Sea-Land, Colombo, has written to the controller of exchange asserting that he should cease involving himself in setting tariffs for ancillary services.

The various tariffs are set by the Controller of Exchange in accordance with government policy to safeguard local industries and the country's economy.

Lubserve of Caltex launched

M T Lubserve, the largest dedicated lubricant carrier in the port of Singapore was launched in May at the Ang Sin Liu shipyard.

This purpose built harbour tanker for Neptank is designed to supply lubricants to Caltex's marine customers.

A unique launching mode was adopted whereby the vessel was first lifted some 80 metres from her building block to the dock basin with the help of a "Marine Travelift".

The vessel was then carefully lowered by the slings into the dock basin until the hull and bottom touched the water.

The vessel was christened by Mrs Robyn Lonergan wife of Leo G Lonergan, Chairman and Chief Operating Executive of Caltex Group of Companies in Singapore.

The gleaming new "Lubserve is yet another example of Neptanks dedication to specialised services, an offical said.

P&O Nedlloyd move to switch ratings condemned

London: Anglo-Dutch container shipping group P&O Nedlloyd is to replace 330 British and New Zealand seamen with "cheaper" Filipino workers, blaming tough market conditions for the move.

The move brought an immediate condemnation by British deputy Prime Minister John Prescott who described it as a blow to the British shipping industry and especially to loyal seafarers who work in it.

"I deplore P & O Nedlloyd's decision, particularly at a time when I am trying with the industry to develop a joint policy to revive British shipping and secure more jobs for British seafarers," Mr. Prescott was quoted as saying by Lloyd's List.

The plans were also angrily greeted by Britain's Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) trade union, which described it as "an unforgivable decision."

"We shall be consulting our members affected by this decision, recommending a ballot for industrial action," said union official, Tony Santamera.

The job losses will hit 300 British and 30 New Zealand "ratings" who are responsible for on deck and dockside duties.

Industry sources said the new Filipino staff will be employed at half the cost of current employees, which are paid an average tax free salary of £15,000 (S$42,750) a year.

"It's true we have been consulting unions with a view to replacing these staff," said Peter Smith, director of corporate affairs at the container shipping group.

P&O denied it was sacking staff to exploit cheap emerging market labour to overcome short term difficulties. The move comes as the pound is strong and Asian currencies weak from economic turmoil.

"The replacements will be Filipino seafarers. It's recognized they will be cheaper. The world of container shipping has become extremely competitive and if we are to remain competitive we have to take steps to reduce costs," said Mr. Smith.

"The situation has been particularly exacerbated by the Asian situation," he said, pointing out that Western exports to Asia had fallen dramatically.

P&O Nedlloyd said its move simply caught up with what competitors were already doing.

Mr. Smith said analysts were expecting the group to report pre-tax profits of US$ 65 million (S$115 million) this year, representing "a very poor return" on assets of around US$2 billion.

The sackings will result in an extra charge against this year's profits, said Mr. Smith, who declined to comment further.

He added that not all its British and New Zealand staff would be unhappy with the job losses, in light of potential pay-offs.

The company's move towards Filipino staff will complete a process already underway. P&O Nedlloyd employs around 750 ratings.

Excluding the 330 jobs under discussion, the remaining ratings jobs in the company are all held by Indonesians.

But P&O Nedlloyd, which is a joint venture between Britain's P&O Steam Navigation Co. and the Dutch Royal Nedlloyd, said senior jobs will continue to be carried out by Dutch and British employess.

- Reuters

Hongkong Ferry to lose franchise

The Hongkong government has decided not to renew the franchise of Hongkong Ferry (Holdings) (HKF), when it expires in March next year.

Submissions of interest for the 12 routes have been received from eight parties, including HKF'

More than 1,000 staff of the Group's Hongkong & Yaumati Ferry Company may lose their jobs if their franchise bid is unsuccessful.

The franchised ferry services lost HK $119 million (S$27 million) last year, although non-franchised services made an operating profit of HK$75 million.

Originally founded in 1923 by the father of honorary chairman Lau Chan-kwok, the company grew into a major local shipowner up to the 1970's but has suffered setbacks from land-based transportation systems ever since.

Taiwan to relax rules on cross-strait shipping

TAIPEI- Taiwan will relax rules on semi-direct shipping links with China at the end of August to allow foreign-registered vessels that are currently allowed to ply direct cross-strait routes to extend their routes to third countries without offloading cargo, an official from the Department of Navigation and Aviation under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said.

Currently, Taiwan only allows vessels flying a foreign flag to ply cross-strait routes and stipulates that ships carrying cross-strait goods must travel via a third port while ships plying direct cross-strait routes can only carry transhipment cargoes.

Meanwhile, under the existing cross-strait shipping plan put into practice in April 1997 vessels are only allowed to ply direct cross-strait routes between Taiwan's southern port of Kaohsiung and China's south-eastern ports of Xiamen and Fuzhou.

"We will announce the new policy and the new measure will go into effect at the end of this month" said the MOTC official.

"Under the new plan, vessels now allowed to ply direct cross-strait routes can extend their routes to ports in third countries, without being obligated to unload their cargoes - the ones between Taiwan and the third countries - on board to another ship on the way", said the official.

Watching Falcons from Hotel Sigiriya

By Asiff Hussein

Hotel Sigiriya recently inaugurated the Shahin Falcon Track Bird Watching Programme as part of its effort in creating public awareness on wildlife conservation.

The programme was launched on August 29 with an exhibition 'About Birds' comprising photographs and posters especially meant for amateurs and students and dealing with adaptation, feeding, nesting and migration.

Three bird trails ranging in duration from one hour to four hours have been marked out to allow visitors to observe a wide variety of indigenous and migrant birds, some of which are endemic to the country.

Four members of the hotel staff have also been trained as bird guides for the purpose, with the assistance of the Field Ornithological Group of Sri Lanka who are actively involved in the programme.

Sigiriya's archaeological ruins, rock outcrops, waterways and forest cover are said to have become the habitat for most of the country's 150 species of dry zone birds.

A rare species, the Shahin Falcon, a couple of which have been spotted in the vicinity of the hotel and Sigiriya rock, have been taken as the highlight of the bird watching programme.

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