Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has called on industrialists and the business community to protect their employees during the Covid 19 epidemic instead of removing them from the workforce. He  was speaking at a discussion on issues faced by Sri Lanka’s apparel and retailer bodies.

The representatives who attended the meeting spoke on issues such as obtaining bank loan concessions, resolving issues in opening letters of credit (LOCs), vaccinating garment workers, obtaining permission to open readymade garment shops as per Covid guidelines, Employees Provident Fund and Employees Trust Fund issues.

The delegation pointed out that their business activities have been paralyzed for nearly 24 months following the terrorist attack on Easter Sunday in 2019 and the global epidemic of Covid-19 and requested the Prime Minister to provide emergency relief through the Ministry of Finance to maintain business and trade.

Representatives of these unions said it has also become difficult to keep employees in the business while maintaining business and that there was no other option except laying them off but it is also a difficult task, ColomboPage reported.

The 2019 terrorist attack was carried out by a local Islamist group where they detonated series of bombs and suicide bombs within an hour. Sri Lankan authorities, which failed to stop attacks despite having clear intel inputs, have had devastating consequences thereafter.

Apart from the lives, the island nation lost billions in tourism revenue as a result of the attack. Unfortunately, soon after the attack, the top political leadership of the country was seen avoiding accountability for their failure.

(SAM)