Public, private sector help for self-employment - Prof. G. L. Peiris

The Private and State sectors have come together to create self-employment opportunities for women and thus enable them to earn an additional income while keeping their self-respect intact, said Export Development and International Trade Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris.

Such opportunities have been created in the cultivation of flowers, foliage plants and other crops as well as rearing of exotic fish for the export market and in fields such as beauty culture he said.

The Minister was speaking at a workshop on beauty culture to generate self-employment among the women of Wellawaya, organised by the Prof. G.L.Peiris Foundation to run parallel with the UPFA elections campaign in the Uva Province. It was held at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Conference Hall at Wellawaya.

More than 1,000 women from Wellawaya and surrounding areas attended the workshop along with several Ministers and Parliamentarians.

The Minister pointed out that there was a great demand for agricultural and industrial products from Sri Lanka in the world market and this in turn offers several opportunities for women to engage in, without being far away from their homes and the loved ones and also keeping their self-respect intact. Prof. Peiris said that with the infusion of technical know-how and capital and with proper guidance, these opportunities could be turned into great money-making ventures.

Power and Energy Minister John Seneviratne said the power grid had been extended in the Uva Province to benefit 75 percent of its population. A few years back only 50 percent had access to electricity.