Colombo: Putting behind the LTTE days, a Sri Lankan bank has announced its decision to open its first branch in the North and has decided to recruit the staff entirely from the Tamil speaking region.
The Colombo ‘Sampath Bank’ is reaching out to the people of Jaffna by opening its first branch in the Northern Peninsula, the first banking house to do so since the end of the civil war.
In accordance with the Government development scheme Uthuru Wasanthaya, the Bank decided to exclusively recruit qualified residents of Jaffna to staff its newest branch.
Sampath Bank has recruited 27 members for the Bank's first branch in Jaffna from over 2,000 candidates through a rigorous and comprehensive structured interview process.
This first batch has proved to be a first for Sampath Bank in many ways, says the state run 'Daily News.'
With 16 of the 27 successful Tamil recruits being graduates, this batch holds the highest number of graduates the Bank has ever had, many holding first class degrees in varying disciplines.
It may be recalled that few years ago the LTTE was running "The Eelam Bank" in North and East before it collapsed when the Sri Lankan army started capturing their towns and cities in the East in 2007, according to a report.
Police investigations had revealed that the LTTE had operated ten branches of the Eelam Bank mainly in the East and in the Wanni in the North
The entire Eastern Sri Lanka was captured by security forces from the LTTE in July 2007.
"The Bank of Tamileelam shows the way to your prosperity and the Economic Development of the Tamil Homeland.", a bank's advertisement recovered recently said.
Three of the branches were at Kokkaticholai in Batticaloa, two at Sampur in Trincomalee and five other branches in Wanni.
However, these banks ceased to function following the liberation of the East and the gradual fall of Wanni areas held by LTTE, with the police unaware of the fate of several millions of rupees deposited by the people.
Investigations also revealed that large sums of money had been remitted to the "Eelam Bank" by the Tamil Diaspora, the Island Newspaper had reported recently.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, August 24, 2009, 14:33