Thalatha says no funny business in insurance dealings

Foreign Employment Minister Thalatha Athukorala on Saturday strongly denied Joint Opposition accusations of an alleged loss of Rs.1. 5 billion in an insurance scheme of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) for migrant workers.

“The minister regrets these allegations and is ready to appear at any inquiry in this regard and states that she did not accept any personal advantage or benefit out of the insurance scheme,” a statement to the media issued by her media secretary said. The accusation was made on December 6 by opposition legislators.

The statement said that on March 10, 2015 the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) proposed an overseas insurance scheme to the former chairman of the SLBFE.

It was an agreement for an insurance scheme to financially indemnify the loss of life, physical injuries, medical treatment and legal expenses incurred by the employee during the period of employment and stay abroad.

Taking into consideration the number of migrant workers, the problems they encounter and the credibility of the proposer the SLIC, being the leading state insurance provider, the Board of Directors of the SLBFE entered into an agreement with the insurer to enforce the scheme.

Under this, the premium for the policy, 30 Kuwait dinars is paid by the foreign agent or the employer and not by the employee or the local agent thereby not burdening the employee. The premium of 30 dinars is for two years. The SLIC pays the SLBFE two Kuwait dinars as an administrative fee which amounts to approximately Rs.12 million per annum, the statement said.

“It was alleged in media that the SLBFE has by circular discontinued the insurance scheme to Kuwait in question based on a statement made at the parliamentary session on November 30. This is false,” it said.

The statement pointed out that what in fact was discontinued was the mandatory insurance scheme for a section of the workers in Qatar and the UAE. “Based on the representations made by the employers of the non-domestic sector, the SLBFE discontinued the mandatory requirement of an insurance policy for this segment. (However) the requirement of an insurance policy for the domestic sector still continues,” the ministry said.

Minister Athukorala urged a prompt and speedy inquiry in to the charges against her purportedly lodged at the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, the statement said.