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| Sunday, 24 July 2005 |
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Sathosa Retail - take over soon, says Minister Sathosa Retail Ltd(SRL) will be taken over by the Government as soon as the ministry finds the funds. Trade, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle has assured employees that SRL will be taken over as soon as he gets the funds which is around Rs. 700 million. The ministry is trying to sell or mortgage a property at Union Place which belongs to Sathosa to get the funds. He has discussed with the Bank of Ceylon and the People's Bank on the possibility of mortgaging the property and obtaining a loan. The Minister has obtained Rs 13 million from the Treasury and paid an allowance of Rs. 4,000 each to the employees of SRL as they did not get their June salaries. Meanwhile, the employees of Sathosa Retail Ltd (SRL) have started a fast as the government has not taken action to take over SRL and ensure continuity of employment. "We informed Sathosa Chairman Mahinda Gammanpila that in the absence of a proper plan to take over SRL by the government and ensure continuity of employment by July 10 that we will resort to continuous trade union action," a member of the Inter Company Employees Union SRL branch said. We met the Chairman and the Minister of Trade, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Jeyaraj Fernandopulle on July 14 but since we did not get a proper answer we have decided on the fast. We will continue the fast until we get a clear answer from the minister together with dates of implementation of the action plan. When a delegation met the minister on June 29 he said that since there is no possibility to pay the salaries he will pay an allowance but the delegation said that it should be substantial. SG |
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