The Sri Lankan government is taking down notes onthe Philippines’ programmes and services for itsmigrant workers’ sector.

“We have a lot to learn from the Philippines [on howyou treat your migrant workers],” Prof. RajivaWijesinha, the chairman of the Council of AsianLiberals and Democrats and a member of the parlia-ment, said during a press conference at the Dusit ThaniHotel in Makati City (Metro Manila) on Sunday.

Wijesinha is in the country as part of the delegationof Sri Lankan Prime Minister DissanayakeMudiyanselage Jayaratne on the occasion of the Vesakor Buddha Day.

He said that the Philippines provided “better servic-es” to its millions of migrant workers than Sri Lanka.

Wijesinha noted the special lanes at the NinoyAquino International Airport, which aids faster docu-ment-processing for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“It’s the mechanisms that you have . . . the speciallanes for workers. We should also recognize the contri-bution of workers by doing things like that,” he toldreporters.

The Sri Lankan official said that Filipino migrantworkers are paid higher wages than Sri Lankansbecause “your communication [skills] are better.”

Filipinos are known for being “excellent Englishspeakers,” he added.

Wijesinha also commended the Philippines for hav-ing “more coherent” training programmes for migrantworkers than Sri Lanka.

“We also need protection from problems… exploita-tion, etc . . . [we need to] empower our migrant work-ers,” he said.

There are about two million Sri Lankan migrantworkers around the globe.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Agency puts

at eight to 11 million the number of Filipinos workingin various countries around the world. (Manila Times)

Home NewsThe Island Wednesday 18th May, 2011 3

ASBESTOS CEMENT

INDUSTRIES LIMITEDNotice is hereby given that the

transfer books of the Com-

pany will be closed from 21

June 2011 to 04 July 2011,

both days inclusive.

By Order of the Board,

ASBESTOS CEMENT

INDUSTRIES LIMITEDSecretary.

175, Sri Sumanatissa Mawatha,

Colombo 12.

12 May 2011

ARPICO FINANCE COMPANY PLC

ISSUE OF

DUPLICATE SHARE CERTIFICATESWherein the following Shareholder has applied to the

Directors of Arpico Finance Company PLC for the is-

sue of Duplicate Share Certificates in place of the fol-

lowing Original Share Certificates which have been lost/

misplaced. Notice is hereby given that if, within 14 days

from the date of this publication no claims are made or

objections lodged, the Directors will proceed to issue

Duplicate Share Certificates, the Originals of which will

be deemed to be cancelled.

Name of Share No. of Distinctive

Shareholder Certificate Nos. Shares Nos.

Mr. Asantha Peter ----- 50 56251 - 56300

Wijeyeratne ----- 50 56401 - 56450

----- 33 577446 - 577478

1458 99 972408 - 972506

2100 116 1407547 - 1407662

By Order of the Board

146, Havelock Road,

Colombo 5.

Alliance Management Services (Pvt) Ltd.

Secretaries

SATURDAYFORTUNE

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Date: 13 -05 - 2011 Draw No. 2393

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JAYAVIRU Date: 02-03-2011

Draw No. 552Winning Nos :V- 26-46-51-56

VASANASAMPATHA

Date: 12-05-2011 Draw No. 868Bonus No. 56C - 32-37-57-61

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Date 13-05-2011 Main DrawZodiac - Leo

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Second ChanceZodiac symbol - Scorpio

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Philippine President Benigno Aquino shakes hands with Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne during the premier’s courtesy callat Malacañang Palace on Monday.

Lanka praises programmes for OFWs

BY ZACKI JABBAR

Bangladesh says that it welcomesSri Lankan investments in asmany sectors as possible, both in

and outside Economic Promotion Zones.High Commissioner Mahbub uz

Zaman told The Island that Bangladeshwants to deepen its investment relation-ship with Sri Lanka and this couldinclude textiles, knitwear, linen, leather,pharmaceuticals, agro based industries,information technology, education,health, hospitality, steel and engineeringsectors.

The companies could be establishedwithin Economic Promotion Zones oroutside it, he said.

The most important aspect ofstrengthened bilateral economic cooper-ation was the expansion of trade andcommerce, with Sri Lanka becoming thethird largest destination of Bangladeshiproducts in South Asia, Mahbub uzZaman said “However this does notreflect the strong political ties andpotential for expansion. The total vol-ume of two-way trade in 2009-2010 wasUS$ 36 million with the balance margin-ally in our favour. We have been

impressed by Sri Lanka’s positivegrowth and economic figures.”

The last one year had witnessedsome remarkable developments with anexchange of high level visits by politi-cal, trade and business delegations.Bangladesh participated in variousregional meetings, workshops and semi-nars in Colombo. In January ForeignOffice consultations were also held aftera long time, he said adding thatPresident Mahinda Rajapaksa’s recentvisit to his country had further cement-ed the bonds of friendship.

The High Commissioner said thatcooperation has also included coordina-tion on issues of common interests inthe international arena, especially in thevarious organs of the UN.

Relations go back since ancienttimes. Lankadeepa (Lanka Island) wasfamous for cinnamon, herbs and spicesand there were frequent mercantile andtrade contacts via ships that pliedbetween Bengal and Sri Lanka, Mahbubuz Zaman said. “Our ties became formalafter Bangladesh obtained independencein 1971.We, accord priority to cultivatingclose relationships with our neighbours.Our cultural affinities, common histori-

cal experiences and values make usproud. Let us use these linkages towardsbuilding harmonious relationships.”

He said that Bangladeshi’s who cele-brated their 40th anniversary of inde-pendence recently recalled with pro-found respect the Father of the NationBangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,proclaiming freedom for his people onMarch 26, 1971. “Responding to his clari-on call, the courageous people from allwalks of life participated in the war ofliberation and achieved victory througharmed struggle. We also rememberedwith deep respect our national leaders,valiant freedom fighters and organizerswho rendered their dedicated efforts andenthusiastic support that accelerated theachievement of our independence.”

Looking at 2010 in retrospect,Bangladesh can proudly boast of signifi-cant achievements and gains. PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina was awardedthe UN crest on September 19, 2010acknowledging the contribution made bythe government and people ofBangladesh towards achieving theMillennium Development Goals, theHigh Commissioner said.

Bangladesh welcomes Sri Lankan investmentsin varied sectors – Mahbub uz Zaman

Sri Lanka third largest destination of Bangladeshi products in South Asia

Bangladesh High Commissioner Mahbub uz Zaman, Sri Lanka’s Senior Minister of HumanResources D. E. W. Gunasekera and Bangladeshi Civil Aviation Minister GhulamMuhammed Quader cut a cake, at a recent ceremony in Colombo, to celebrateBangladesh’s 40th anniversary of independence and National Day.

The government is to translate the‘Darusman report’ into Sinhala for thelocal masses to read, a GovernmentMinister said.

Minister C. B. Ratnayake said thatthe report will be made availablethrough all divisional secretaries afterthe Vesak period.

He said that the government iskeen to ensure the general public, amajority of who cannot read English,will be able to read the translated ver-sion and know exactly what the reportcontains.

Minister Ratnayaka is spearhead-ing a signature campaign against thereport compiled by a panel appointedby UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon. (News Now.lk)

BY DILANTHI JAYAMANNE

The Public HealthDepartment of the ColomboMunicipal Council said the sit-uation of food preparation andhygiene in eateries hadimproved within the last fewmonths.

Chief of the Public HealthDepartment, Dr. PradeepKariyawasam said on Tuesday

(17) that the PHD had found animprovement in food prepara-tion following last weeks raidscarried out on eateries that pre-pared ‘kottu roti,’ in the SlaveIsland area.

The numbers have comedown from 37 percent at the endof December last year to fifteenpercent of stale food samplesby the end of last week. 31 food

samples were taken last weekand only five of them werestale. That would be 15 percentof food samples.

Only one ‘kottu roti,’ sampleout of ten samples was spoilt.This was because ‘godambaroti,’ taken to prepare the Kottuwas stored in the refrigeratorwhich also contained raw meatand other items at this particu-lar eatery. Dr. Kariyawasam

said that one fish curry, onebeef curry, one Chinese rolland one boiled egg had beenstale from the samples that hadbeen taken. The Staphylococcusand E.coli bacteria were foundin some of those samples.

He said the germs were dueto the unhygienic conditions offood handlers. Some of thosepeople would have had skin dis-

eases while others would nothave washed their hands prop-erly before food preparation.The accommodations of theseworkers also matter as most ofthem live in the eateries or bou-tiques. And most owners pro-vide tube well water for sanita-tion afforded to these workers.Tube well water is contaminat-ed, Dr. Kariyawasam said.

However, he stressed theneed for health check ups foremployees in those eateries.

Some of the other samplesalso had germs but they werewithin the accepted limits.There are varies accepted lim-its for varies types of germs.However, it’s best to eat thefood one purchases from eater-ies as soon as it is prepared, headded.

Dr. Kariyawasam said thePHIs and food inspectors werescheduled to visit the Vesakdansalas yesterday evening. Itis not to take action againstthose involved but to observethe conditions, he added.

Environmentalists,researchers and naturalistsyesterday expressed concernabout a website based inEurope, stating that indige-nous reptiles – snakes andtortoises and agamids–lizards – can be purchasedin no time following an order.

Sri Lanka’s leading her-petologist Anslem De Silvatold The Island yesterday thatwhen he got know, throughfellow German researchers,that indigenous snakes wereavailable in the foreign mar-ket, he in turn immediatelyinformed the Department ofCustoms’ Biodiversity HeadSamantha Gunasekara,Wildlife Director General Dr.Chandrawansa Pathiraja andleading EnvironmentalLawyer JagathGunawardena.

“I was shocked to see that

almost all snake species inSri Lanka, particularly thevenomous ones, which have ahuge market, due to medici-nal values, were on that list,”he added.

Animals like tortoises,lizards, crocodiles andpython come under theCITES list while species likeRussell’s viper and Cobracome under the Protectedlist.

Environmental LawyerJagath Gunwardena said thatthough Cobra and Russell’sviper are not protected underthe Fauna and Flora Act,there is no permission grant-ed for trade purposes.

Sri Lanka, along with theWestern Ghats in India, areconsidered rich biodiversityhotspots in the world andhomes to more than 100snake species.

Hygiene at eateriesimproves

Local reptiles sold onlineBY IFHAM NIZAM

‘Darusmanreport’ inSinhala