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| Sunday, 28 September 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Govt. seeks investor for Kabool Lanka by Hiran H. Senewiratne The Government is looking for an investor to resume commercial operations very soon at Kabool Lanka Ltd (KBL) according to informed sources. KBL, the only major yarn factory in the country with 3500 employees, has been closed for many weeks due to management problems. The Korean management left the country, after getting the factory into heavy debt and the employees on to the streets. However, the Ministry of Enterprise Development, Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion, along with the Board of Investment (BOI), is promoting it to attract a suitable investor. "We are trying our best to re-start operations of the factory," said Secretary to the Ministry Ranjit Fernando. He said an Indian company's representatives, who had visited the factory, had negotiations with banks to take it over, but nothing has been finalised. The Indian company is negotiating with the Hatton National Bank and the Bank of Ceylon on this deal. Fernando said the Ministry is concerned about job security, but at this stage the Ministry cannot run the factory, nor are the banks in a position to do so. According to employees, the company had not paid salaries for August while the Korean management has left the country without notice. Adviser to the Ministry of Policy Planning Mano Wijeratne blamed the Korean managers for mis-managing the factory by paying exorbitant salaries for their people. He said the factory owes about US$ 100 million to banks, while the total value of the property including the machines is around US$ 80 million. Wijeratne said the factory produced very high quality yarn not only for the local market, but also for the export market. He said the Koreans had a very good export market that included Malaysia and Turkey. |
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