News

Development of several roads in the Anuradhapura District under the North Central Province Joint Road Investment Programme commenced today (04) under the patronage of the Minister of Highways and Chief Government Whip Johnston Fernando and the State Minister of Rural Roads and Other Infrastructure Nimal Lansa.

The Inland Revenue Department has been summoned again before the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) on March 10 to review the progress of tax and penalty collection.

The Committee on Public Accounts came to a decision during its meeting held on 6th January to publicize all the institutions which have failed to pay the due levy by submitting a list of such institutions to the Media and Chairman of the Committee Prof.

Tissa Vitharana further instructed the Inland Revenue Department to submit to the Committee a list of institutions who have failed to pay the due levy within two months.

The members of the COPA will inquire the measures taken by the Inland Revenue Department to collect the tax due.  

In addition, the Sri Lanka Customs has been summoned before the COPA on March 09 and ‘’Propensity to tend Education under the Arts Stream and the Unemployment of Arts Graduates’’ will be discussed on March 23.

Also, the Inland Revenue Department is scheduled to be reconvened on March 24 and the Wildlife Conservation Department has been summoned before the COPA Committee on March 25.

The Sub-Inspector attached to Buttala Police who was identified as the perpetrator who murdered a woman and left her headless body inside a travelling bag in Dam Street has committed suicide, Sri Lanka Police said today (03).

According to Police spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana, police teams that were deployed to arrest the suspect had visited his residential area around the 5th Mile Post in Badalkumbura but were unable to locate him as he had already fled the area.

However, police teams had discovered the body of the suspect this morning (03), hanging on a tree with a bottle of poison in the vicinity.  

DIG Ajith Rohana said that investigations conducted by Dam Street Police had uncovered the victim was identified as a 30-year-old resident from Theppanwa of the Kuruvita Police area.

He further said DNA tests need to be carried out to confirm the victim's identity.

A popular pro-government news website has reported that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will not contest the next presidential election. 

According to 'Lanka C News', the President has stated this at a meeting of party leaders held recently.  

A parliamentarian who took part in the meeting had told 'Lanka C News' that the President had assured that he was ready to field a candidate who could garner minority votes in the next presidential election.

He had also intimated his desire to contribute to efforts that would help that candidate to get enough votes from the Sinhala vote base.  

A senior Minister in the government said that pro-government nationalist forces including Minister Wimal Weerawansa are making a concerted effort to field Gotabaya Rajapaksa for the next presidential election as well.  

However, he said that the Rajapaksa family has already decided to field Basil Rajapaksa as the presidential candidate and to nominate Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa as the Prime Ministerial candidate.  

Meanwhile, a Minister with close links to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that the President is yet to make a final decision on the next presidential election.

"Let these rumors float around. There's still time left," he added.

"He was brought in as the candidate at the last minute. It will be the same next time as well," he added.

Cabinet approval has been granted to obtain administratives services from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) at temporary centres that have been setup to protect harassed women.

The Government has set up temporary centres for women in the Northern, Eastern, Western and Sabaragamuwa Provinces for harassed women and their children.

The Department of Government Information (DGI) said that agreements have been signed with the Women In Need (WIN) and the Jaffna Social Action Centre (JSAC) from 2018 to administer these centres in Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Batticaloa, Colombo and Matara.

Savitri Wijesekera, a member of the National Police Commission, is the Executive Director of Women IN Need while Nadarajah Sukirtharaj is the Head of the Organisation at Jaffna Social Action Center.

Accordingly, Cabinet approved the proposal by the Education Minister for obtaining the service of the non-government organisations in 2021.

The CEO of the Brandix Group, Ashroff Omar, has resigned from the Board of Directors ofSri Lankan Airlines citing personal reasons.Ashraffhad tendered his resignation on March 01, a senior official of Sri LankanAirlines confirmed, adding that he is fully occupied with his personnel matters.  

The FinanceMinistry appointed top professionals and business leaders including AshroffOmar to the new Director Board of Sri LankanAirlines in January last year.

He is a highly respected industrialist and renowned as a globalbusinessman with a penchant for out-of-the-box thinking.

Ashroff Omar serves as a Director of Phoenix Ventures and manygroup subsidiaries.

He was a founder member of the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF).He is also the Honorary Consul General of Finland and sits on the board of theUS-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission.

He is alsoa core member and Southeast Asia node for the Corporate Development andPrincipal Investors and Private Equity practices.

Apart fromChairman Ashok Pathirage (Chairman - Softlogic Holdings PLC) who was appointedearlier on, the other members of the Sri Lankan Airlines Board of Directors areDilmah Group Director Malik Fernando, top lawyers Manohara De Silva PC andSamantha Ratwatte PC and the Asia-Pacific node for Boston Consulting Group’sshipping, transportation, and logistics sectors Sanjaya Mohottala, who is alsothe Chairman of the Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka.

Colombo port terminal deal has swung towards India way , following the Sri Lanka government’s decision to offer the West Container Terminal (WCT) instead of the East Terminal amidst massive countrywide protests.

In a bizarre turn of events, the West Container Terminal (WCT) of the Colombo Port is approved to be developed as a Public-Private Limited Company.

The new deal of the project has been made in partnership with India’s Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ Consortium) along with its local representative John Keells Holding PLC (APSEZ Consortium), and Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).

This has turned the entire episode upside down as earlier India was keen to get the project with three partners in the ratio of 51% for the Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) and India & Japan sharing the remaining 49%.

Japan has pledged a soft loan of USD 500 million for 40 years at an interest rate of 0.1% and India was expected to implement the project.

The reason for breaking the pledge on this deal was that the trade unions in Sri Lanka were vehemently opposed to allowing the ECT to be developed by foreigners.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, has been eager to keep relying on Colombo for transshipment but not allowing developing its own hub port.

The Government has resorted to the best way to achieve this aim by offering attractive terms for India to invest in the WCT so that the preeminence of the port of Colombo in the area remains unchallenged, official sources said.

On February 01, the Cabinet decided to develop the WCT as a Public-Private Limited Company in collaboration with the SLPA and parties nominated by Indian and Japanese governments.

Accordingly, the Build, Operate, and Transfer Plan approved by a Cabinet Appointed Negotiation Committee had been forwarded to the High Commission of India and Embassy of Japan to nominate investors.

Subsequently, proposals by the Adani Group and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ Consortium) were approved by the Indian High Commission. However, no investor has been named by the Japanese government.

The Cabinet Appointed Negotiation Committee presented their recommendations based on the discussions held with the two parties and the Cabinet approved the proposal put forward by the Ports Minister.

The terminal will be developed on a 35-year Build, Operate, and Transfer basis with the aforementioned stakeholders.

According to media reports, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) is going to approve emergency power purchases. It is unfortunate that the Ceylon Electricity Board is still continuing with the ad hoc emergency power purchases although the country has not experienced any emergency situation recently.

It is understood that the PUCSL is going to approve the purchase of emergency power from an entity known as Vee Power at a tariff of Rs 28 — 30 per kWh whereas three established long term power plants, whose tariffs are in the region of Rs 23- 24 per kWh, are going to have their Power Purchase Agreements expiring soon.

The emergency power producers are going to use auto diesel as fuel which is the most expensive form of fuel used for power generation. However, three IPPs, whose operations will come to end soon, are using Heavy Furnace Oil as fuel.

If the CEB allows the three IPPs to stop generation, even the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), which sells Heavy Furnace Oil to these power plants at Rs 70 per liter will stand to lose some revenue, informed sources pointed out.

The CPC is selling Heavy Furnace Oil to IPPs at a profit and therefore, the CPC will be compelled to export High Furnace Oil at a much lesser price than the price CPC is charging now from these IPPs.

The CEB is aware of the fact that no additional generating capacities have been added to the power generating system. The CEB is also aware that three IPPs are going to have their PPAs expire soon.

A prudent practice could have been for the CEB to negotiate with the three IPPs to extend the tenure of the existing PPAs rather than resorting to purchase of "emergency power" at a higher tariff.

Sources at the CEB said that the deterioration of the CEB's financial position started with the purchase of these so called "emergency power" two decades ago and it is a shame that the CEB is still continuing with this practice.

Meanwhile, PUCSL Chairman Janaka Ratnayake told Daily FT that the public should not be concerned about any moves to institute power cuts by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), even though the regulator was moving ahead with plans to approve emergency power purchases.

Pakistan has pledged to share the best practices of and technical know-how on Pharmaceutical Manufacturing with Sri Lanka.

This assurance was given by Pakistan State Minister, Kashif Sajjad Sheikh, Head of the Pakistani Pharmaceutical Delegation at a bilateral meeting in Colombo recently.

He promised to share the best practices and technical know-how with theSri Lanka Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Association (SLPMA).

He also invited the State Minister and SLPMA to visit Pakistan to make a Road Show on the Opportunities for Pharmaceutical manufacturing in Sri Lanka and enter into MOUs with prospective Pakistan companies, which will be facilitated by PPMA.

Elaborating further, Mr. Kashif stated that it is a good sign that Sri Lankan government policies and the National Medicinal Regulatory Authority are supporting local manufacturing.

He also emphasized the importance of extending the present buyback policy of government for new products to be developed in the future, which will be a definite boost for local manufacturers

The Sri Lanka Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association (SLPMA) facilitated a bilateral meeting on the 24th of February with visiting representatives of the Pakistani Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association (PPMA).

The first ever bilateral meeting between pharmaceutical manufacturers of the two countries focused on mutually beneficial proposals for both nations to leverage on opportunities provided by each for the other.

State Minister Jayasumana requested the Pakistani pharmaceutical manufacturers to share their experience in developing Pakistan’s local pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. He also invited the PPMA to set up joint ventures with local pharmaceutical companies to manufacture complex molecules in Sri Lanka, in order to benefit from the government’s drive to increase local pharmaceutical manufacturing to 50% of the country's requirement by 2025.

Sri Lankan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers will have to manufacture at least 350+ pharmaceuticals locally, he said.

The SLPMA emphasized on the importance of the Pakistani pharma story for local policy makers, especially in learning how the Pakistani government moved towards formulating a long term policy and incentivised the private sector towards local manufacturing.

The SLPMA is hoping to achieve 50% production of local pharmaceutical requirements by 2025, and a target of US$ 1 Billion per year in exports by 2030.

State Ministry of Primary Health Services, Pandemics and COVID-19 Prevention Secretary, Dr. Amal Harsha de Silva has been removed from the post with immediate effect. He has been appointed as Secretary to the State Ministry of Backward Rural Areas Development and Promotion of Domestic Animal Husbandry.   At a press briefing at the Abayaramaya Temple, Ven. Murutthettuwe Ananda Thero noted that Dr. Amal de Silva removed from the post of Secretary for giving the Covid-19 vaccine to former Sri Lanka skipper Sanath Jayasuriya who was not included in the vaccine priority list with regard to the national COVID-19 inoculation drive in the country.

He further observed that the Ministry of Health is in utter chaos.   When journalists inquired how a former national cricket team captain was able to receive the vaccine during a Cabinet press briefing recently, Co-Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Ramesh Pathirana said that celebrities are getting the COVID-19 vaccine to allay any doubts or fears the people may have about the vaccine.   Meanwhile, it is reported that Sunethra Gunawardena has been appointed as Secretary to the State Ministry of Primary Health Care, Pandemics and COVID-19 Prevention.

Furthermore, it is reported that Dr. Sudarshani Fernandopulle, State Minister of Primary Health Care, Pandemics and COVID-19 Prevention is deeply concerned about the removal of Dr. Amal Harsha de Silva, who is considered to be one of the most senior administrative officials in the Ministry of Health, internal government sources said.

M.B.R. Pushpakumara has been appointed as the new Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said. Pushpakumara has been appointed as the new Secretary of Agriculture after the former Secretary Major Gen. (Retd) Sumedha Perera decided to step down from the post.

Meanwhile, B.L.A.J. Dharmakeerthi has been appointed as the Secretary to the State Ministry of Batik, Handloom and Local Apparel Products.

The PMD said that the two secretaries received their letters of appointment from the Secretary to the President, Dr. P.B. Jayasundara, at the Presidential Secretariat today (01).

Following media reports of Major Gen. (Retd) Sumedha Perera stepping down from his post, Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said that the Secretary failed to keep pace with the activities of the Ministry.

However, responding to the Minister's remarks, Sumedha Perera said that he had decided to step down due to some other reasons and that he had requested the President to relieve him from his duties at the Ministry.

While it's not clear as to who is stating the truth, it is difficult to surmise that Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage would have made such a statement against Sumedha Perera who is considered to be a confidant of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

While it's not clear as to who is stating the truth, it is unlikely that Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage would have made such a statement against Sumedha Perera without valid reasons as the latter is considered to be a close confidant of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Prior to his appointment as the Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Sumedha Perera was also appointed to several task forces by the President.