District labour office opened in Vavuniya

Suraj A Bandara

A District Labour Office was opened in Park Road, Vavuniya with the participation of Labour Relations and Productivity Promotion Minister Gamini Lokuge yesterday.

In line with this inauguration of the labour office, an opening of SLjobsnet was also carried out to find job opportunities for the Northern youth. This project was carried out with the financial support of the Australian Government. This project is an initiative of AusAid for Local Empowerment through Economic Development (LEED).

The Minister said the youth of the North are now recovering from all their harrowing experiences. Now they want to brighten their prospects. Therefore, President Mahinda Rajapaksa is keen on developing all infrastructure facilities in the North and East and give them satisfaction through development programs.

Now it s evident that the North and East are achieving a tremendous development even more than the South. “We all can travel to any part of the country without fear and suspicion. The President should be commended for the service he rendered to bind all communities into a single unit.

Fifty women were given assistance and the required technical knowhow to develop their self employment prospects.

The Minister further noted that due to LTTE terrorism many things were lost by innocent people of the area. Therefore, those who lost their EPF and ETF benefits were promised their benefits.

The Australian Government and Sri Lankan Labour Ministry signed a three year agreement to empower the livelihoods of the people of the North. International Labour Relations Country Officer Sheria Khan and Minister Lokuge signed the agreement at the function.

Under this agreement, employment, social protection, fundamental rights and social dialogues of the people of the north will be improved.

For this the Australian Government has granted over Rs 300 million financial support.