Garments without Guilt

The infamous tagline by which Sri Lanka sought out to position itself in a global economic skirmish between the sweatshops of India and China, the meagerly paid Bangladeshis and a barrage of other under developed countries which offer labor at the cost of 20 cups of Starbucks Coffee or less seems to be withering away. Sri Lanka’s Apparel industry reminds me of the uncanny ability of some good ol brits from London who seem be able to play beautiful football but can’t win any silverware. Yes, we are the Arsenal of the apparel world. Quality, compliance, working conditions are brilliant but somehow we seem to lack the competitiveness that promises that the industry is truly stable and the promise of an FA cup, long term competiveness is more than merely just a fable that bears no resemblance to reality by any means.

An alcoholic will tell you, getting over self denial is the first step. The private sector seems to be constantly shouting out ‘’Hi my name is wrecked and I’m an Alcoholic’’ but the government seems to be chuckling at this statement and continues to indulge in giving the industry constant shots of zambooka and Martinis which are forced down the throat of the poor ol industry which seems to be crying out for rehabilitation.

‘’Zambooka’’ in the form of an overvalued rupee, ‘’Martini’’ in the form of Inflation, and of course how could we forget a shot of tequila also popularly known as ‘’comically high rates of burrowing’’, add a pinch of lower demand for alcohol driving the cost of liquor down also known as the ‘’Global economic crisis hitting retail markets in the west’’ and we have one terrible alcoholic of an industry!

For once I wish the pragmatic understanding of Dr. Harsha De Silva hit the policy makers in power like a Leyland lorry overloaded with coir traveling at 100 Km per hour down a narrow Sri Lankan road tooting its horn as if the Drivers Arse is on fire. But it seems to be useless.

I read recently that the overvalued rupee is nothing more than merely an election tactic to bring the cost of imports and hence cost of living down prior to some elections which I quite frankly am not bothered about. Forgive my unpatriotic approach to Sri Lankan politics.
Hoping that 50,000 or more direct jobs will still be with us at the turn of the decade, I leave you for now.