Your attention please

Expats respond to President's call

President Mahinda Rajapaksa recently called on the country's expatriate community with expertise in various fields to extend their service towards the country's development. Following are a few letters the Daily News has received from Lankan expatriates.

I have been recently reading articles written by various Sri Lankan Expatriates. With reference to the article "Expats respond to President's call", which appeared on the Daily News on 14 June 2006. I would like to point out three reasons that were not mentioned in the articles as to why an increasing number of professionals leave the country.

I am a young person who completed my Degree from a foreign university and returned to Sri Lanka in December. While searching for jobs I noticed that most jobs required number of years of experience. My point is why aren't companies willing to take in young people and give them a proper training to reach the company's expected standards?.

What I am trying to say is that without getting a job we don't receive any experience and without any experience we are not getting a job. The second point is that most jobs hire only school leavers so that the companies do not have to pay them more.

So where do the graduates stand? Only a few companies are willing to hire graduates. During my quest of job hunting I went for about 14 interviews in total and only two companies were willing to recruit me. I am so frustrated and left with no choice but to consider migrating to a foreign country.

Thirdly, due to the political culture of this country. The country is dominated by thugs. If you want the professionals to work here they must be allowed to work without political interference.

Mr President what I mentioned in the letter is for your attention.

Upekha Tennakoon

Expats pay heed

I would like to add to the recent article in the CDN directed at expatriates and the call to pay heed to return to develop Sri Lanka.

We have heard certain politicians pay lip service to this idea. What do expatriates return for? Many of us who have offered our services and can provide experience and education with good ideas for a better Sri Lanka are not considered or provided to do so.

One has to find their own avenues through personal connections which are not always in the best interest of the country. I would like to turn the question over to the politicians and have President Rajapaksa pay heed.

What is Sri Lanka's administration doing to create methods to search for expatriates and provide the necessary support and avenues for bringing back valuable experience and training from developed nations through Sri Lankans ?

They understand the culture and have sound abilities that give them an advantage over foreign experts. Without assurances of fair treatment and selection, expatriates will not return to get shunted from pillar to post and face arrogance from politicos and unqualified but powerful individuals who feel threatened by those who come on their own to help the country.

Expatriates do feel for Sri Lanka, especially when they see incompetent people appointed to handle jobs for which they are ill equipped and not committed. It was not long ago that we saw political favourites appointed to handle tsunami reconstruction.

The incompetence was shameful. Unfortunately, visibility provides more opportunities for incompetent competent authorities to gain access to big positions without any accountability for their performance. Mr. President, seek and you will find lots of willing and capable people who can think outside the box and make a difference.

Don't leave it to corrupt and ill educated politicians and their nepotism. There are expatriates who are more passionate about serving to make a better Sri Lanka than some who live in Sri Lanka and take on positions for their personal gain. Those who have left the country are those who want to work hard and be committed to their jobs. This is not accepted in Sri Lanka. This sad situation is an insurmountable loss to the country.

Anjalika Silva, USA.