With the vision of the President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s ‘Vistas of Spledour and Prosperity’, Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) recently launched a Maritime Training Course with the objective of producing highly skilled and talented sea-farers with sound knowledge on the subject in Sri Lanka.
This sailor training course is conducted by the ‘Mahapola Ports and Maritime Academy’ of SLPA under the full auspices of the International Labor Organization (ILO). 24 talented youths from low income families in various parts of Sri Lanka have been selected for this sea-farer training course conducted by the institute at a cost of one million rupees.
Addressing the gathering at the inauguration of the programme, Ms. Simrin Singh, Country Director for the ILO Country Office for the Sri Lanka and the Maldives, said that the course would be of great help to Sri Lankan youth seeking new employment opportunities in the naval and maritime sectors. She also said that she was pleased ILO to grant patronage for this course which is being conducted as a training course by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).
Secretary to the Ministry of Ports and Shipping, U. D. C. Jayalal, addressing the gathering, said that the course, which was being implemented under the President’s ‘Vistas of Splendour and Prosperity,’ and on the instructions of the Minister of Ports and Shipping, Rohitha Abeygunawardena, would enable the youth of Sri Lanka to obtain opportunities in the naval and maritime industries that would in return fruitfully contribute for the socio-economic development of the country.
SLPA Chairman – Capt. Nihal Keppetipola, Managing Director – Upul Jayatissa, Director (Human Resources Development) – Nalin Aponso and a number of higher officials of SLPA and Sri Lanka’s maritime industry also attended the event.
