Several foreign investors and expat workers have protested against a compulsory ‘annual health check’ that had been introduced from early this month.
According to this health regulation, all expats in Sri Lanka have to annually take a health check prior to applying for their visas for Sri Lanka.
Former President Free Trade Zone Manufacturing Association Dhammika Fernando said that several foreign investors and expat workers have complained to them against this move. They have pointed that taking a health check annually is harassment and the procedure to make an appointment and take the test and collect the result all take over one month. “And this has to be followed up every year and this is not at all being investor friendly.”
Fernando said that at a time when Sri Lanka is encouraging more investors this move is not a ‘friendly gesture’ and it may even reflect negatively on the Sri Lanka’s ‘doing business index’ ranking.
When contact a health Ministry official said that Sri Lanka has globally made huge progress with regard to eliminating TB, Malaria and some other diseases completely. “In recent time lot of foreign labor too is being ‘imported’ to Sri Lanka and we need to guarantee that they too do not bring unwanted and alien diseases to Sri Lanka and this is the reason this ‘health check’ was introduced,” he said.
He also said that this health check is also implemented by some other countries and Sri Lanka is not the first country to do this.
“We are not happy that the investors have to go through this,” said Chairman BOI, Mangala Yapa.
“However the Health Ministry has also made huge progress with regards to controlling and eradicating epidemics and eliminating TB, Malaria and some other diseases completely. Hence we have to respect Health Ministry for this. We are now talking with the government to see how this ‘Health Check’ could be simplified and made more user friendly”.
He said that they are also looking at extending the duration of the renewal of resident visa for expats from one year and this is now moving in the right direction.
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