- Labour Ministry can intervene only in formal sector
- Agriculture records highest losses, affecting 36,875 people
- Govt preparing programme to assist those hit by livelihood losses
More than 78,000 people have lost their livelihoods due to the dry weather conditions caused by El Niño, but the Labour Ministry says it has no mechanism to intervene as most of those affected are engaged in agriculture and other informal-sector activities.
Deputy Labour Minister Mahinda Jayasinghe told The Daily Morning that there was currently no situation requiring intervention by the Labour Ministry, noting that its mandate allows it to intervene only in employment-related issues in the formal sector.
He said people employed in the formal sector had not faced similar employment-related problems as a result of the prevailing conditions, although a significant number of people engaged in agriculture and other informal-sector activities had lost their livelihoods.
“People working in the formal sector have not faced employment-related issues. But, people engaged in agricultural activities and other sectors in the informal sector have lost their livelihoods,” he said.
Jayasinghe said the Government was already preparing a programme to assist those who had lost their livelihoods. However, he stressed that the Labour Ministry currently had no mechanism to intervene in livelihood losses in the informal sector.
“There is no problematic situation to the extent that the Ministry needs to intervene. We can intervene if an employment issue arises in the formal sector, such as if factories and companies are closing down. At present, we don’t have a mechanism to intervene in the informal sector,” he said.
The comments came after Environment Minister Dr. Dammika Patabendi told Parliament on 10 September that 78,368 people belonging to 25,037 families across seven Districts had lost their livelihoods as a result of the dry weather conditions caused by El Niño.
The affected Districts are Monaragala, Badulla, Ratnapura, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara and Anuradhapura, with livelihood losses reported among people engaged in fishing, agriculture, plantation work, self-employment, business and livestock farming.
According to figures presented by Dr. Patabendi, agriculture recorded the highest number of livelihood losses, affecting 12,304 families comprising 36,875 people.
The plantation sector was affected by losses among 2,333 families involving 7,889 people, while 2,107 fishing-sector families comprising 7,491 people were also affected.
A further 1,769 families, involving 6,039 people, suffered livelihood losses through self-employment.
The livestock sector recorded losses among 2,966 families involving 9,408 people, while 108 families comprising 369 people were affected in the business sector.
Another 3,450 families, comprising 10,297 people, were categorised under other livelihood-related activities.