COLOMBO (NewsRadio); Nearly 90,000 individuals have reportedly left the island recently to take up employment overseas.
The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment has said around 26,000 unskilled workers and over 60,000 skilled workers have been sent for foreign jobs recently.
The matter was revealed during a meeting of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Labor and Foreign Employment held in Parliament.
Meanwhile, during the meeting, Minister of Labor and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara instructed the Foreign Employment Bureau to implement a program to educate people about foreign employment.
He also had mentioned that no special quota has been given to Members of Parliament to send individuals overseas for employment.
During the meeting, Parliamentarian Yadamini Gunawardena expressed his gratitude on behalf of the Sri Lanka-Romania Parliamentary Friendship Association for the steps taken to establish a Sri Lankan Embassy in Romania to solve the problems of Sri Lankans in Romania.
Meanwhile, during the meeting, Minister of Labor and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara stated that steps will be taken to prepare the new integrated labor law to prevent the complexities of the existing labor law.
Accordingly, the Minister has said taking opinions and suggestions of all relevant parties including the public will commence on the 2nd of May to formulate the integrated labor law.
The Labor Minister further pointed out that the country’s industrial law, which is currently scattered and complex, is expected to be converted into an integrated labor law, and it is an essential step to encourage local and foreign investors.
Thus, the new consolidated law will facilitate the settlement of disputes between employers and employees.
The Minister also said that these new laws will facilitate the expedient start and running of business activities, especially for investors coming to Sri Lanka.
The attention of the committee was also paid to businesses that are not registered in the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF).
Minister Manusha Nanayakkara pointed out that only 80,000 companies are registered in the Employees Provident Fund.
The MPs stressed that immediate action should be taken against unregistered companies.
Accordingly, it was decided to inform all divisional secretaries and local government commissioners in writing to send information about businesses registered in different parts of the island to the Ministry of Labor.
Also, Minister Manusha Nanayakkara instructed the Department of Labor and the Employees’ Provident Fund to submit a plan of possible future actions against such companies within a month.
State Ministers Jagath Pushpakumara and DB Herath and Members of Parliament Vadivel Suresh, Akila Ellawala, Udayana Kiridigoda, Madhura Withanage, Yadamini Gunawardena, Velu Kumar, and Sudarshana Denipitiya were also present during the committee meeting.
