Embilipitiya Paper Corporation to be leased to Australian company
Machinery and assets Rs. 400 million:
Ridma DISSANAYAKE
The government has made arrangements to lease the Embilipitiya Paper
Corporation to an Australian company for a 30-year period as part of the
restructuring of public enterprises under the State Resources and
Enterprise Development Ministry.
The ministry said that the Embilipitiya Paper Corporation was handed
over to Perth Engineering and Maintenance Private Limited for Rs. 600
million.
The government has valued the machinery and assets of the company at
Rs. 400 million, and the business value has been estimated at Rs. 100
million.
The lease agreement to hand over the paper factory was signed by
Ministry Secretary Willie Gamage and Perth Engineering and Maintenance
Private Limited Executive Director Priyanga Mallawarachchi yesterday in
the presence of State Resources and Enterprise Development Minister
Dayasritha Tissera, with a cheque to the value of Rs. 400 million
received and the balance to be paid within three months, ministry
sources said.
The ministry said the government is in the process of restructuring
23 state enterprises and the first phase included four enterprises. The
Embilipitiya Paper Corporation was one of the four state enterprises.
The Kantale Sugar Company, Sri Lanka Rubber Products and Exports
Company and the Ceylon Ceramics Corporation are the other three
institutions to be restructured.
The ministry is currently in the process of studying the Expressions
of Interest (EoIs) sent by private investors for the Kantale Sugar
Company, Minister Dayasritha Tissera said.
The minister said that 283 employees of the two institutions will be
compensated and laid off.
The government through the measures expects to recommence production
in the factories that had been closed for some time and provide more job
opportunities for the public.
Perth Engineering and Maintenance Private Limited Director and
National Paper Corporation chairman Ashoka Subasinghe also participated.
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