By Rathindra Kuruwita
The government was all out to privatise profit-making government institutions on the pretext of restructuring Sate Owned Enterprise (SOEs) Dr. Nalaka Godahewa said on Wednesday night following a meeting with representatives from the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) unions.
“A large number of people now believe loss-making SOEs must be restructured or privatised. The government is using this sentiment to privatise profit making entities. If we do this, the state will lose its income while continuing to be burdened with loss making enterprises,” he said.
Dr. Godahewa, a former Chairman of the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation said that the President and some ministers were speaking about privatising the SLIC. By misdirecting public sentiment to get rid of profit-making state assets, the government might be trying to sell them to political allies.
“SOEs must be reformed, but we must have a proper plan on what needs to be done.
Meanwhile, E.W.U.R. Diwakara of the Rakshana Podu Sewaka Sangamaya said the SLIC should not be privatised and they would launch union action if that is attempted.
H.L. Sugath, President of the Sri Lanka Nidahas Sewaka Sangamaya said that SLIC was a profit making entity and made a profit of close to 10 billion rupees in the last financial year.
“SLIC also helps vulnerable groups. We get very little profit from that. A private company will never accept such low profit margins. The privatisation of the SLIC would be a disaster for the vulnerable people,” he said.