NITF insurance for TSHDA members

Indunil HEWAGE

The National Insurance Trust Fund (NITF) yesterday entered into an agreement with the Tea Small Holdings Development Authority (TSHDA) to provide health insurance cover for its 81,000 members.

These 81,000 members account for 73 percent of entire tea production in the country generating a large sum of foreign exchange.

The health insurance cover is to be expanded to another 4,000 members in the near future, National Insurance Trust Fund Chairman Senaka D Abeygoonasekara said.

Commenting on the local reinsurance market, Abeygoonasekara said the government needs to implement provisions to regulate the local reinsurance market since all 19 primary insurance companies pay over Rs 20 billion per annum to foreign reinsurance companies.

It has been made compulsory for all insurance companies to retain 20 percent of that money at NITF under the terrorism and civil commotion insurance cover. "However, we are requesting all companies to retain at least 25 percent of reinsurance money at NITF that comes from fire, motor and other insurance schemes," he said.

Abeygoonasekara also hailed the Insurance Board of Sri Lanka's decision to split the composite insurance companies' existing general and life businesses into separate legal entities.

It is also planned to make it mandatory to list insurance companies in the Colombo Stock Exchange. This move will support more prolific investments and financial stability.

NITF will be signing an MoU with the Health Ministry in August to build Agrahara wards in 15 state hospitals with an investment of Rs 1,000 million.

Funding will come from NITF and maintenance and management of the wards will be undertaken by NITF and the Health Ministry.