The Free Trade Zone Manufacturers Association (FTZMA) lashed out at the government stating that the prolonged lockdown and travel restrictions are creating a huge economic loss to the export trade and steps should be taken to reopen the country but with strong health guidelines.
Secretary FTZMA, Dhammika Fernando (Pictured) said that the current lockdown and travel restriction have not been very productive and due to this only less than 70% of workers turn out for factories. “Due to this we cannot meet the demand of orders of our overseas buyers and this will have long negative impacts to the economy.”
In contrast Sri Lanka’s competitors like Bangladesh and China are maintaining a 100% operation in their factories and soon some of our buyers will revert to these markets and we will never be able to get these buyers back. He said that in addition to staff issues the travel restrictions are also slowing their supply line which is another major concern. He said that as a responsible government what should be done is to open the country under tight health guidelines and discipline maintained.
Sri Lanka National Arbitration Centre, Chairman and former President National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka, Sujeeva Samaraweera (Pictured) said that what is needed is a curfew and not lockdowns as authorities are not able to implement it properly. “You can see shops half open or people using back doors to buy their stuff. The current system is a joke without proper implementation,” he said.
He also asked the wisdom of vaccinating the public service first ahead of the private sector. “One must agree that currently it’s the private sector (other than essential services) that runs the country and of the total workers that go to officers over 80% are from the Private sector. This is very evident when you take the banking sector. So why is the private sector discriminated against when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations?” he asked. He also said that by not giving vaccine priority to the private sector they tend to become carriers of the virus.
Commenting on the lockdown Chairman, Pelwatte Dairy Ariyaseela Wickramanayake (Pictured) said that the industry is on the brink of facing a major issue due to lack of sales which is a result of closure of shops.
“As responsible company, me and several other players are currently purchasing milk from farmers and soon there will be an oversupply of milk due to lack of sales. When this happens, we will have to reduce our fresh milk purchases resulting in the loss of revenue to dairy farmers.”
Many other sectors too are facing the same issue.
“I can’t understand the government’s logic behind this prolonged lockdown/travel restrictions as it has not yielded the desired results in containing the C-19.”
0 comments: