The State Minister points out that creating a society full of industrial labor would help earn valuable foreign exchange.
He was addressing a ceremony to hand over National Vocational Training Certificates to a group of youth from the Mahaweli Zones who completed a heavy vehicle and mechanical training held at the Mahaweli Center in Colombo (23).
The ceremony was held under the patronage of Irrigation Minister Chama Rajapaksa. 50 youths from ten Mahaweli Zones who were trained in the heavy vehicle mechanical sector received the NVQ or National Vocational Training certificates. The training was held by Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority in collaboration with the Maga Neguma Institute.
Addressing the gathering, State Minister Siripala Gamlath said it is high time the youth entered alternative jobs in the face of unemployment issues in the country.
He further said: ‘When we visit the village, the major demand put forward before the politicians by the people is the need for employment. But many of the job seekers have no necessary qualifications. Therefore, the program to encourage those who dropped-out of schools due to economic hardship towards vocational training should be strengthened. His Excellency President Gotabaya Rajapaksa always points out that the need to raise a happy family. The Vision of Prosperity national program clearly highlights that it would increase the opportunity for industrial and technical vocational training. We should march towards such goals.
There is talented youth in the Mahaweli Zones. It is a tragedy to allow their manpower to go waste. As a government, it is our responsibility to make the necessary facilities for them to build their own economy. Plans are afoot to enable the Mahaweli settlers to enhance their economy under the guidance of Irrigation minister Chamal Rajapaksa. It is happy that Minister Chamal Rajapaksa, as one of the senior ministers with matured political experience is acting very sensitively to improve the living standards of Mahaweli settlers’, said State Minister Siripala Gamlath.
Secretary of the State Ministry of Mahaweli Zone Canals and Settlement Infrastructure Development, Engineer W.B. Palugaswewa, Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority Director-General Keerthi B Kotagama, Director of the Mahaweli Authority Institutional Development Division, Mahendra Abeywardana, and several officials of the Foreign Employment Bureau and Maga Neguma Institution participated.
