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Fisheries Corp. owes employees Rs. 620 mn

14 Sep 2022

  • Union claims EPF, ETF, gratuity for retirees unpaid for lengthy period
  • Writes to Minister Douglas Devananda
BY Buddhika Samaraweera   As the Ceylon Fisheries Corporation (CFC) has not been making payments related to the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF), the Employees' Trust Fund (ETF), and the gratuities of retired employees for a prolonged period, the CFC Employees’ General Union (EGU) has alleged that the outstanding amount of such payments has now exceeded Rs. 620 million. In a letter to Minister of Fisheries Douglas Devananda, CFCEGU Secretary J.H. Nishantha has notified the latter that the CFC has not made ETF, EPF, and gratuity payments for a long time. He has also mentioned in the letter that as of 31 August, the arrears owed by the CFC to its employees have exceeded Rs. 620 million.  “This outstanding amount includes Rs. 575 million to be paid to the EPF and ETF. Apart from that, a sum of nearly Rs. 23 million, which should be credited to the EPF in parallel to the cost of living allowances calculated from 2006 to 2016, has also not been paid. As the CFC's account has been suspended, the employees are also not able to obtain the 30% advance payment of the ETF and EPF,” he stated in the letter.  He also mentioned that the gratuity payments of about Rs. 22 million, due to 51 employees who have retired from the service in the past few years, have not been paid. He said that due to the non-payment of the relevant funds, a large amount of interest that should be added to the employees' accounts has been lost. He said that the Ministry of Finance had taken steps to restructure the CFC when a similar situation arose in the past. “The CFC should not allow the outstanding amount of Rs. 620 million to grow further. Therefore, the CFC should take steps to make the relevant payments to the employees in full,” Nishantha noted, concluding the letter which has been copied to several parties including the Secretary to the Fisheries Ministry, as well as the CFC’s Chairman, Managing Director, and General Manager. CFC Chairman Chathuranga Udawatte was unavailable for comment on the matter. The CFC was established in 1964 under the State Industrial Corporations Act, No. 49 of 1957 and commenced its commercial operations in 1965. The main business activities carried out by the CFC include the purchase of fish directly from fisherfolk through its regional offices, the import of fish, the distribution and sale of fish through retail fish outlets, the sale of packaged fish, the supply of fish to all Government hospitals, conducting mobile fish sales in rural areas, the production and sale of fish fillets, the production and sale of ice to the fisheries sector and other traders, providing processing facilities to foreign fishing vessels, and the purchase of fish from foreign fishing vessels.


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