Construction Chamber teams up with ETF

The Construction Chamber (CCI) in collaboration with the Employees Trust Fund (ETF) has launched an islandwide campaign to provide selfemployed construction craftsmen with membership of the ETF while enrolling them to a craftsmen's guild formed by the Chamber to secure their future and employment benefits while facilitating their accreditation to NVQ level III through recognition of prior learning and provision of short term training.

It is estimated that over 1.4 million persons are employed in the construction sector with nearly 800,000 of them belonging to the informal self-employed sector. Most of these craftsmen travel from worksite to worksite seeking temporary employment at village level or travel from the village to sites in urban areas.

Hence, it is imperative to expose these craftsmen to knowledge in relation to their rights and provide them with membership in statutory bodies such as the ETF so that they could make monthly contributions to the fund based on their means and build a lump sum to fall back on when they retire or if they are no longer able to work, apart from the other benefits afforded by the ETF including medical and loan facilities.

So far the Chamber together with the ETF has conducted two major events focused on a membership drive, in Minuwangoda in the Gampaha district under the patronage of Minister of Health, Indigenous Medicine, Social Welfare, Probation and Child Care and Council Affairs WP Prasanna Ranatunga which attracted over 800 craftsmen and in Kelaniya under the patronage of Minister of Labour Dr. Mervin Silva which also attracted over 500 craftsmen.