The highest income from gem exports since 2010 has been recorded this year, National Gem and Jewellery Authority of Sri Lanka Director General Pradeep Thenuwara said.
He said more than 380 million USDs have been earned this year from the export of gems, including sapphires.
The National Gems and Jewellery Authority said that in the last 11 months, it has earned a record income more than the previous year.
Accordingly, it is reported that the 355 million USD income that was targeted to be earned from gem exports this year has already been exceeded.
Mr. Thenuwara said that sapphires found in Sri Lanka are popular in the world market and the largest amount of exported gems are sapphires.
Most gems have been exported to China, the US, Britain, Malaysia, Hong Kong while Israel has bought diamonds.
An income of 500 million USDs has been targeted from gem exports for 2023, and the Authority said it will provide facilities including new technology to the miners to achieve this target.
Two employees of House of Fashion at Bambalapitiya who were injured during the recent brawl that took place with a customer have been admitted to the hospital.
During the conflict, the employees kicked and beat up the customer with sticks while the customer also attacked the employees.
The Bambalapitiya Police are investigating the incident and they have recorded statements from the customers yesterday (23). They are a couple residing in Maharagama.
Statements were recorded from the employees as well.
However, no one has been arrested in connection with this incident so far.
Cause of the brawl..
On January 21, a customer has complained that his vehicle had been blocked by another vehicle in the car park.
The vehicle owner blocking the customer’s car has parked the car in House of Fashion “parking” and had gone to another location.
Therefore, the customer had gone and complained to House of Fashion along with his wife resulting in an argument which had led to the brawl.
Excuses..
Meanwhile, the House of Fashion issued a statement yesterday (23).
It said, “We feel this incident has badly impacted our goodwill with the customers. We at House of Fashion always make sure that we do our best to protect our customers and do the best customer service at all times.”
One sided CCTV..
Meanwhile, House of Fashion had released CCTV footage obtained from one side to several media outlets.