It is reported that the Minister of Labor and Foreign Employment Mr. Manusha Nanayakkara said while attending an event held in the auditorium of the Ministry of Labor and Foreign Employment that some government officials did not support the welfare schemes for expatriate workers.
He also mentions that although the government has taken various decisions for the welfare of the expatriate workers, they have not been implemented so far.
The minister who commented further,
“When implementing various proposals for foreign workers, we did not find support for them. What we found were obstacles. We fought with some officials and worked to provide relief to foreign workers. We have prepared arrangements for those who want to give them housing loans. We have made arrangements for banks. We had proposed, negotiated with the banks and talked to the central bank, got the approval of the cabinet and prepared to give 5 billion to the foreign employment bureau at low interest, but the treasury, the central bank and the banks still could not give the loans to our workers at low interest. About 14 months ago, the cabinet approved me to give more duty relief to bring toffee and chocolate when coming from the airport for money.However, after looking at the money sent to Sri Lanka and suggesting that he should be given this much, our customs people could not. Treat our expatriate workers.
