Youth not paying attention on FTZ jobs

Chamikara Weerasinghe

There are over 1,500 job vacancies in factories at the Free Trade Zone(FTZ) of Katunayaka alone. But the youth seeking job opportunities do not seem to any attention on FTZ jobs because of their unawareness, Economic Development Deputy Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena yesterday said during an inspection visit to the Katunayaka FTZ.

He said although there are special privileges and facilities on offer for those seeking jobs at FTZ at Katunayaka under the Board of Investment, the youth do not pay much attention on them as they expect to get Government jobs.

Deputy Minister Abeywardena said however much the expectations of the people to get Government jobs, they could not be generated in a short time.

Abeywardena's attention went to increasing residential facilities at FTZs to accommodate workers who come from outstations.

He said he will bring the matter of renovating infrastructure such as roads in the FTZ to Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

Deputy Minister Abeywardena was accompanied by Board of Investment Head of Security ,Operations and Human Resources Major General Sunil Thennakoon. Katunayaka FTZ Director Upatissa Sirigampala, Smart Shirts Lanka Ltd. General Manager B. Jeyaratnam, Tropical Findings Pvt Ltd. General Manager Dhammika Fernando and factory managers at the Katunayaka FTZ.