The government would liquidate 33 state enterprises which are no longer active nor serve any viable purpose, Cabinet spokesman Dr Nalinda Jayatissa said yesterday.
Addressing weekly cabinet press briefing Minister of Mass Media and Health Dr Jayatissa said that the firms included the budget airline Mihin Lanka, Lanka Cement Company, Lanka Logistics, Hambantota Port Management Company, Expressway Transport Company, he said.
Those state enterprises were mostly inactive with no staff, he said.
He said that the Cabinet had approved the phased winding up and closure of 33 state-owned enterprises that are no longer operational.The decision was made on a proposal presented by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies.
A special liquidation unit is to be established under the Ministry that will oversee the formal closure of these entities.
Dr. Jayatissa said that these institutions were already inactive due to reasons such as failing to align with their original objectives, not meeting current market needs, weak financial performance, and impracticality of continuation.
He said many state enterprises, statutory bodies, and government-owned companies had been set up in the past to provide public services or promote strategic economic activities, but some of them no longer served the national economy or contribute meaningfully to state service delivery. Maintaining such institutions had become an unnecessary burden on the Treasury, he added.
Among the entities to be wound up are: Asian Games (Pvt.) Ltd., Thurusaviya Fund, Selendiva Investments, Commonwealth Games Hambantota (Pvt.) Ltd., Magampura Ports Management Company (Pvt.) Ltd., Mihin Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd., Techno Park Development Company (Pvt.) Ltd, and the Media Training Institute. The full list of 33 enterprises will be presented by the relevant Ministry, the Minister said.
Dr. Jayatissa said that the government would undertake significant intervention to restructure and revive SriLankan Airlines.Some of the firms mentioned were set up during successive Rajapaksa regimes, but Lanka Cement is an old company.
By Shyam Nuwan Ganewatte 