The Container Truck Drivers’ Association (CTDA) has warned of launching a trade union action if delays in clearing imported containers are not resolved by this week. 

Addressing the media yesterday, the Container Truck Owners’ Association (CTOA) President Sanath Manjula said the delays in clearing imported containers has severely inconvenienced container truck drivers.

Revealing that truck drivers were facing a lot of hardships, including the lack of basic sanitary facilities, he said they have warned of a trade union action if these delays are not addressed within this week.

Warning that a trade union action will affect both the import and export sectors, Sanath Manjula alleged that the lack of coordination between the relevant agencies has led to the delays.

Stating that in addition to the Customs, the other related government institutions should also work 24 hours a day, he proposed that the Government deploy security forces personnel to related duties to resolve the issue. (Newswire)

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A leading transport service in Lithuania which plans to recruit 600 truck drivers for its trans-Europe services has focussed its attention on Sri Lanka. 

The Prime Minister’s Office stated that the Lithuanian company has sought Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena’s intervention for a speedy training process for selected drivers.

The PM’s Office said in a statement that this request was made by Dana Janerikaite, Senior Director of Manvesta in Lithuania who called on Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena at the Temple Trees yesterday (13).

She said the company plans to recruit 600 truck drivers but could select only 109 persons with good driving skills and basic English knowledge.

“We pay a monthly salary of Rs. one million to work in our trans-Europe truck services. We have contracts for the transport of luxurious vehicles including Mercedes Benz, Tesla etc. and food and other goods to over 500 clients. We need good drivers and I prefer to recruit from Sri Lanka because it is easy to teach basic skills to literate persons,” she said.

Responding, the Prime Minister said the company could use the driving training facilities available at CTB Driving School and other training centers to speed up the process. He said he would take up the issue with the Labour Minister and the Foreign Employment Bureau to establish a data bank on applicants for driver employment.

Also participating in the discussion, local recruitment agency, Fortuna’s Managing Director Vimal Perera said the Manvesta’s training manager has used the trucks available at the Port of Colombo to test the driver skills and has recruited more than 100 out of 300 applicants. “We urge the government to provide left-hand drive trucks for these tests,” he added.

Secretary to the Prime Minister Anura Dissanayake, Manvesta’s Head of Training, Aussie Isganaitis and Fortuna’s Director Sussie Perera also attended the meeting. (NewsWire)

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