Minister of Labour, Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva says that the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) will pay for the PCR tests conducted at the Airport on migrant workers returning to Sri Lanka from overseas employment.

The Minister made this statement at a discussion held at the Ministry today.

Hon.Prasanna Ranatunga, Minister of Tourism, Hon.Priyankara Jayaratne, State Minister of Foreign Employment Promotion and Officials from the Airport and Aviation Services Company, the Army and the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) also attended the discussion.

Commenting on this process, the Minister of Labour, Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva stated that PCR tests will be conducted at the new laboratory set up at the airport premises for these migrant workers who have earned foreign exchange for our country while working abroad.

Minister of Labour, Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva said that the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) had decided to pay US $ 40 per each PCR test in recognition of the service rendered by the migrant workers.

Speaking at the discussion, Minister of Tourism, Hon. Prasanna Ranatunga said that the main objective of the program was to conduct a PCR test and enable the migrant worker to return home within a short period of three hours.

Minister, Hon.Prasanna Ranatunga further said that migrant workers who have been fully vaccinated, will be given the opportunity to return home directly, if they are not identified as Covid -19 infected persons by the test.

State Minister, Hon. Piyankara Jayaratne stated that special attention will be paid to Sri Lankan workers seeking employment in the Middle East and Korea.

Mr. Pathirana, Secretary to the Ministry of Labour, Maj. Gen. Mahinda Hathurusinghe, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), and Mr. Rajiva Sooriyarachchi, Vice Chairman of the Airport and Aviation Services Company were also present on the occasion.