Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said that State banks are national assets and they should be protected.
The Premier said this at a discussion with trade union representatives held at Temple Trees on Friday (February 16). Trade Union activities and institutional issues were discussed at length during the discussion.
The representatives of the trade unions presented many points regarding the restructuring of institutions, alternative proposals on preservation and maintenance of institutions.
The Prime Minister said, “We are of the opinion that these State banks should be preserved as a national resource. There is no issue regarding this. But we should have discussions on how to make some changes. Otherwise, unilateral decisions might have to be taken.”
He said at present, since we have recovered from the economic crisis to some extent, we should endeavour to protect State banks. It should be discussed at length on measures that can be taken regarding this matter.
The Premier said a serious situation has arisen due to the loans given to several large-scale entrepreneurs.
It is a fabricated story that State banks have confronted bankruptcy due to lending large amounts of money to politicians, and the only option to recover from this situation is to sell it to a private company.
We should not be fooled by such stories and intervene to safeguard these three banks in a special way.
He said some problems have been raised with the establishment of estate villages. Identification of specific areas for setting up estate villages is not yet complete. New houses are not built in any way in areas higher than 3,500 feet. It is a Government decision. Those areas are gradually released to forest conservation.
According to the international climate change agreement that we have currently agreed upon, estates above three-thousand feet can be maintained without residents. Currently discussions on measures that can be taken on the houses that were built in such higher lands are in progress, he said.
There are only 143,000 estate house owners residing in estates. Others do not reside on estates.”
State Minister Sisira Jayakodi, MP Gamini Lokuge, Prime Minister’s Trade Union Coordinating Secretary Attorney at Law Thushara Dissanayake, President of the Public Service United Trade Union Federation W.A. Piyadasa, Secretary, Podujana Pragathisheeli Sewaka Sangamaya Bandula Saman Kumara and other representatives of many trade union federations attended the discussion.
