The Tourism Ministry has stepped in to help small entrepreneurs market their products to foreign and local tourists.

The latest intervention came for the people of Balapana close to Galigamuwa on the Colombo-Kandy highway whose livehood is turning out clay products.

They told Tourism Minister Milinda Moragoda they were facing several obstacles. The clay industrialists of Ballapana said since they had no permits to transport clay, they had to use middlemen and pay around Rs.12,000 to hire a lorry. Industrialists also told the Minister another drawback was that they had no suitable place along the Colombo-Kandy Road to sell their products, and if the government or any agency could intervene to resolve these problems they contended that the industry could improve.

Moragoda said steps could be taken to help to get the equipment and offer technical know-how and also to open up sales outlets.

Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning was also present.