Programme to help handicraft artistes

COLOMBO: Clay and timber are two fast depreciating raw materials which should be carefully utilised, since there is a large number of handicraft artistes depending on these two raw materials for their livelihood.

We should go in for a strategy which would protect both the environment and the handicrafts artiste, said Rural Industries and Self Employment Promotion Minister S. B. Nawinna.

The Minister was addressing a conference held at his Ministry recently to overcome certain legal hurdles which governed the transport of clay, timber and other raw materials required by handicraft artistes to continue with their trade.

Minister Nawinna said that since this was a problem, which needed an urgent solution, his ministry would soon devise a joint programme in association with the Ministries of Public Administration and Home Affairs and Environment and Natural Resources to grant redress and relief to the handicraft artistes.

Handicraft artistes who attended the conference presented the problems they encountered in transporting clay and timber needed for their craft .

They said they had difficulty in gathering the clay and timber needed for their industries. Once they found the raw materials they could not transport them to their workplaces due to certain laws and regulations which debarred the transport of these items.

Their industry would face difficulties unless some solution was found to this problem through ministry intervention.