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In another unorthodox move, President Maithripala Sirisena is getting ready to issue a gazette extraordinary very soon resorting to his favourite political gamble of betraying the vast majority of people who voted for him to climb the ladder.

President Sirisena held a special discussion with the Chairman of National Election Commission and the Attorney General on the possibility of conducting provincial polls before the presidential election with a view of sticking into presidency till early next year by hook or by crook, informed sources said.

Political analysts predicted that this gazette extraordinary on provincial council polls will meet the same fate of the previous gazette extraordinary issued by him to dissolve parliament and held snap polls inducting a new Prime Minister and a new Cabinet of Ministers.

The National Election Commission informed that it is prepared to call for Provincial Council Elections disregarding the delimitation process.

The President’s intension is to conduct the provincial polls and thereafter a general election early next year after seeking the Supreme Court's opinion on his term in high office.

According to Article 31(3) of the Constitution, the President election has to be held not less than one month, and not more than two months before the expiration of the term of office of the President in office.

According to this constitutional requirement, the last day by which the presidential poll will have to be held, is the 9th December 2019 because President Maithripala Sirisena’s term in office ends on 9 January 2020.

Be that as it may, the current likelihood is that the PC elections will be even more disadvantageous to the SLFP and (to a lesser extent) to the UNP as well.

This will compel the President to seek refuge in the Rajapaksa camp (SLPP) with his SLFP leftovers compromising his high office for an alliance between the SLFP and SLPP otherwise his dream of sticking into power will vanish in thin air.

President now has only five full months in office before the last date by which a presidential election should be held and a new president declared elected.

Investigations into the importation of 130 containers of used mattresses takes a new twist with the owner of Ceylon Metal Processing Corporation (Pvt) Ltd,. Sasikumaran Muthurama taking over the responsibility of garbage imports from UK.

He stepped into absolve Hayleys Free Zone Ltd from their involvement of the deal claiming that this company had been accused over this incident unfairly.

In another development relating to garbage saga, ETL Colombo (Pvt) Ltd categorically denied allegations against them as the importer of the 130 containers of “Used Mattresses” brought to Hayleys Free Zone, Katunayake for reprocessing and re-export as legally permitted by the entrepot regulations.

The actual owner and the key stakeholder of the said cargo is Ceylon Metal Processing Corporation (Pvt) Ltd (hitherto referred to as CMPC).

ETL Colombo was the third party that facilitated the shipment process as a Freight Forwarding Company, in full compliance of the applicable entrepot laws and rules, company stated.

ETL Colombo is a Class A registered freight forwarding company under the directives of the Merchant Shipping Act in Sri Lanka and has always conducted its business in an ethical and legal manner.

The documentation clarifies that ETL Colombo was appointed by CMPC, As the Freight Forwarder for CMPC’s cargo.

ETL Colombo on behalf of CMPC entered into an agreement with Hayleys Free Zone, who would provide the services of Customs clearance, appropriate storage, reprocessing of the cargo as agreed with CMPC and re-export of the cargo, the company said.

The British government has also launched an investigation as Sri Lankan authorities have claimed that they would return over 100 shipping containers since they appeared to contain human remains disguised as recyclable metals.

The Telegraph in the UK reports that officials at the Colombo Port made the horrifying discovery while investigating a strong smell emanating from 111 containers which had been imported to the docks over the past two years.

The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) wrote to the BASEL Convention Secretariat regarding the importation of 111 containers of hazardous waste from United Kingdom, while requesting the Government Analyst for an expert analysis of the contents.

The waste containers, which have been imported to the country on several occasions since March 2018 from the UK via UK company Vengaads limited, have remained in Colombo Port after the Ceylon Metal Processing Corporation Limited failed to clear the containers, Customs Spokesperson Sunil Jayaratne confirmed.

The Board of Investment (BOI) yesterday said it has directed Hayleys Free Zone Limited to re-export the cargo remaining in the Katunayake Export Processing Zone on or before August 12, and also prohibited all hub operators from importing post-consumer materials for re-export or any other process.

The BOI in an extensive statement also said it had on 26 January 2018 warned the Hayleys Free Zone Limited to suspend future shipments of used material, re-ship all such cargo in one month, and suspend all such imports without prior approval from the BOI and the Central Environmental Agency (CEA).

Loans under the 'Enterprise Sri Lanka' subsidised credit schemes, introduced by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera with the intention of creating a new entrepreneur class in the country, has totaled LKR 88 billion to 55,000 recipients since the programme was initiated in June 21 last year.

The Finance Ministry will be going rural to tap the potential of youth with hidden business innovation talents creating awareness on export markets and business skills, State Minister for Finance Eran Wickramaratne told a media conference in Colombo on Monday.

A series of entrepreneurial exhibitions along with workshops is to be conducted countrywide to promote entrepreneurship where the island nation is lagging behind other countries in the region, he said.

The number of Sri Lankan entrepreneurs as a share of the working population is around 3 per cent compared to 11 per cent in Bangladesh and over 20 per cent in Vietnam, he added.

The first of the series of exhibitions was held in Moneragala showcasing 5,175 new businesses. There were 640 stalls and over 500,000 persons visited the exhibition in August 29 last year.

Over 2000 prospective entrepreneurs register in Anurudhapura!

The second exhibition focusing on the development of enterprises and the creation of 100,000 new entrepreneurs by 2020 concluded in Anuradhapura yesterday with over 2000 potential entrepreneurs and new businesses regustering with the Enterprise Sri Lanka credit schemes.

The Ministry has also focused on empowering female entrepreneurs by providing additional incentives with a view of a paradigm shift in the economy in the coming years.

These exhibitions will be a platform for intended entrepreneurs to gain the knowhow and share knowledge on the enterprise development, Deputy Treasury Secretary A.R. Deshapriya disclosed.

State and private banks and other relevant agencies have been directed to provide required assistance, advise and training for budding youth to become entrepreneurs, he added.

Indian automotive major Mahindra and Mahindra Limited will open a vehicle assembly plant in Sri Lanka with an investment of $ 50 million on August 17 this year with an eye on the export market.

The trial run is set to kick off on the 29 July, and they are hoping to complete it before 15 August, right before the launch of the plant. The plant will be inaugurated in the presence of CEO of Mahindra and Mahindra, Dr Pawan Goenka

The plant located in Welipanna in the Kalutara District, will be a joint venture between Sri Lanka’s Ideal Motors Limited, and Mahindra and Mahindra group to set up a to assemble vehicles with an investment of over US$ 50 million.

Mahindra Automobiles Chief of International Operations Arvind Mathew said that this would be the first Mahindra assembly plant built outside India.

Ideal Group Founder and Executive Chairman, Nalin Welgama said that production at the vehicle assembly plant at the factory complex in Welipenna, Kalutara will commence within the next few months carefully considering the 2019 budget impact on the industry.

One of the newest SUV models of Italian-based Pininfarina’s automotive design prowess will also be considered for assembling here in Sri Lanka under this joint venture with Mahindra and Mahindra, a part of the US$19 billion Mahindra Group based in India, he disclosed.

Mahindra will hold a 35 per cent stake in the JV while Ideal Motors will have 65 per cent, he pointed out adding that it has over 30 per cent of value addition in Sri Lanka.
It has been planned to produce several vehicle components including tyres, batteries, seats, seat covers, rubber parts, etc locally.

With the aim of manufacturing import substitutes for vehicle industry, Ideal Motors will provide facilities for local automotive components manufacturers to produce items of international standards under the global expertise of Mahindra.

An Automotive Vendor Park will be established at the Welipenna factory complex with the aim of exporting vehicle components for the international market specially the vast Indian market, he disclosed.

The company will assemble around 2,000 vehicles per year for the South Asian export market, Mr. Welgama opined.

He said that the total investment for the project would be close to Rs. 3 billion and it would have the ‘Made in Sri Lanka’ tag in it. “We hope to market the KUV100 vehicle at around Rs. 3 million.”

It has been initially planned to market KUV100 vehicle assembled in the island with the ‘Made in Sri Lanka’.

The government is mulling to cancel the lease agreements of valuable state-owned estates, land and property leased out to plantation companies and private firms over its failure to pay accumulated lease rent running up to millions of rupees.

Some 571 estates belonging to the Janatha Estate Development Board (JEDB) and State Plantation Corporation of Sri Lanka had been given on lease to 23 divisional plantation companies in 1995.

As for three of those plantation companies, the value of net assets had not exceeded Rs. 200 million as at 31 December 1994, and hence, lease rents could not be recovered since 1995 from those companies in terms of the lease rent agreement, a recent government audit inspection revealed.

However, by 2011, it had been identified that the value of net assets of those companies had been over Rs. 200 million.

According to findings of the Auditor General’s Department, no lease rent whatsoever had been recovered by the Government from 45 estates managed by those three companies due to failure in taking action to revise the lease rents indicated in the agreements.

Of the lease rent amounting to Rs. 175.48 million recoverable from Kurunegala Plantation Company as at 31 December 2017, a sum of Rs. 129.76 million had remained due from 2009.

The state audit observed that no action has been taken to recover the money due to inefficiency of the state authorities.

The government is now compelled to cancel or extend the lease agreements on lands given to Regional Plantation Companies in a bid to recover millions of rupees as accumulated dues.

Three committees appointed by the Plantation Industries Ministry have recommended that those lease agreements should be cancelled or extended considering the performance of the leaseholders of state land to make the plantations viable.

The Ministry is considering the option of extending the leasing period from the present 53 years to 99 years, as requested by the companies in accordance with the recommendations of the committees provided private management companies make the necessary investments needed for their long term sustenance.

The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) inquiry revealed that land and properties owned by the JEDB have been undervalued at very low rates and given on long-term lease during the previous regime.

The 6,250 sq. ft. building bearing no. 175 at Vauxhall Street has been given to Asoka Glass Company on a 35 year lease at the rate of Rs. 10.42 per sq. ft, or Rs. 65,137.50 per annum.

Also, 4,586 sq. ft. of the same building has been given to Thilona Lanka on a 30 year lease at an annual Rs. 105,000 lease.

Kandy Tyre House has received 5,322 sq. ft. of the building for 30 years for Rs. 159,660, or at Rs. 30 per sq. ft. per year.

Meanwhile, 14,500 sq. ft. of no. 32 at Darley Road has been given to Man Care Centre for Rs. 19.25 per sq. ft. per annum.

In the same building, New Zealand College received 28,921 sq. ft. for Rs. 13.49 per annum, while Higher Technical Institute was given 11,500 sq. ft. for two years at the rate of Rs. 60 per sq. ft.

For Lakeside Property Development, a little over one acre from the same property has been leased out for 53 years at Rs. 93,497 per perch.
The payment due is Rs. 921,693,426, but the JEDB has accepted Rs. 15,520,512 only.

COPE has instructed the immediate suspension of the leasing of the Vauxhall Street property, valuate it anew in accordance with the prevailing market prices to lease it at a suitable rate.

The Online Job Bank established by Marketing Division of Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB) to assist foreign job seekers in Sri Lanka fails to fast track the procedures in finding overseas job vacancies for local applicants.

The aim of establishing Online Job Bank was to facilitate the registration of Sri Lankan job seekers for foreign employment.

They have been given an opportunity to register themselves directly through the SLBFE website or through Head office or any branch office through the Job Bank facility.

An application is valid for a maximum of 02 years from the date of submission to SLBFE Job Bank.

Although this programme is aimed at facilitating prospective employers /Agents to find job seekers through SLBFE Job Bank, it has failed to live up to expectations, a government audit inspection claimed.

17,663 persons had been registered there in the year 2016 and 2017; and the information of persons registered in it had been reviewed in 120,462 instances by job agencies.

However 1,368 from registered persons had only been received opportunities for foreign employment.

The amount registered in job bank had been increased by 8405 (182 per cent) in the year 2017 as compared with the year 2016.

However 9 per cent had only been in abroad from the amount registered in the year 2016. That percentage had further been increased up to 07 per cent as at the end of the year 2017, audit report observed.

Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment is currently constrained in terms of promotion – it lacks sufficient personnel, time and resources to carry out promotional activities.

Job Bank management has little or no contacts outside the Middle East and officials have difficulty in ensuring that the job orders and employers are genuine/legitimate.

There is a lack of capacity to supply skilled and professional categories. The skills on offer by Sri Lankan migrants do not match up to the skills demanded by destination countries.

There is a lack of cooperation among licensed agencies because of the intense competition in the market pushing SLFEB’S Job Bank into non entity and making it ineffective, official sources said.

Religious leaders from Buddhist, Hindu, Islam and Christian faiths, VVIPS, antiwar and social justice activists from across the country will be gathering in Colombo to consider what they can do together to restore lasting peace in the island nation.

A unique National Conference on Peace, Harmony and Coexistence will be held on 30 July from 4 p.m. at the Nelum Pokuna Theatre, Colombo 7 will see a plethora of political VVIPs given its significance.

President Maithripala Sirisena will be the Chief Guest at the event. It will be attended by leaders of all four major religions in Sri Lanka, intellectuals and scholars who have been involved in promoting peace and coexistence.

The event is to be attended by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Leader of Opposition and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, former President Madam Chandrika Kumaratunga, Speaker of the Parliament Karu Jayasuriya, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Leader R. Sampanthan, several other ministers, political party leaders, legislators and diplomats.

Organiser of the conference Western Province Governor A.J. Muzzamil said the purpose of this conference was to promote the values of interfaith, peace, harmony, coexistence and tolerance among the people of Sri Lanka.

He expressed the hope to convey a message to the world that the people of Sri Lanka live in harmony and that the people of Sri Lanka reject all forms of religious extremism in the country

He added that the conference was also aimed at encouraging the people of all communities in Sri Lanka to adopt and live according to the Sri Lankan culture, traditions and make sure that Sri Lanka is the most peaceful country for all communities to live in harmony.

“The conference will project an image to the world that Sri Lanka is a country with a majority of Buddhists and people of other religions live in harmony and respect one another’s cultures, traditions and social values,” Muzzamil added.

Muslim World League Secretary General Dr. Mohammad Ibn Abdulkarim Alissa will be attending the conference at the Governor’s invitation as a special guest.

Alissa has been actively involved in promoting world peace and coexistence among people of all faiths for the good of the global community. He is also an ardent campaigner against religious extremism and terrorism in all forms and believes in resolving problems peacefully through mutual understanding and dialogues.

He is also a recipient of several awards for his outstanding services towards world peace in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and several African countries.

He has also won the Galileo International Award for his efforts in promoting peace and harmony and he is also a recipient of the Moderation Prize in 2018.

Commandant of the Special Task Force (STF), Senior DIG M. R. Latheef says the STF received only part of the intelligence prepared by the state intelligence units and that the STF is not included in the country’s intelligence coordinating meetings although the force provides security to the President, Prime Minister and other VIPs.

Senior DIG Latheef has made this statement before the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday attacks yesterday (25).

The Senior DIG has told the PSC that while he was excluded from all intelligence discussions, he was invited for the National Security Council meeting only after the Easter Sunday attacks.

He has noted that he had received the state intelligence chief’s letter on April 9 warning of impending attacks along with a single annexure which had identified the Indian High Commission and main churches in Colombo as possible targets.

However, Latheef had subsequently learnt that there had been other annexures that had been shared with other agencies with more details and that those annexures had contained more specific details about the organisation, what they are up to, specifics about their group and addresses.

The Senior DIG has noted that he had then realised that there was information on the terrorist organisation and individuals with the security organisations which could have been used to take preventative action.

The STF Chief has said that after receiving the letter from the intelligence chief, he had taken the initiative of checking with the Indian High Commission, but nothing was done about the churches since there were no specifics and request for the STF’s assistance.

Latheef has noted that when there is a requirement the IGP or Senior DIGs request for assistance from the STF after which they attend to it.

“I was under the inference that the territorial policing will attend to churches and that if they required STF assistance for additional security or searches or any other requirement, they would have made a request,” he has said.

However, neither the IGP nor the Senior DIG of Western Province had made any request from the STF for assistance.

The Senior DIG has added that he knows that every Tuesday the country’s intelligence and various organisations meet to review on many things and that if the STF was an important component the STF Commandant or a representative from the STF would definitely be invited for the review meetings.

According to Latheef, the intelligence coordinating meeting is a very important meeting, but the STF has never been a part of that meeting in spite of the fact that at previous other meetings at Police Headquarters statements had been made to the IGP that the STF would like to be in that meeting specially because they are providing security to the President, Prime Minister and other dignitaries.

“Intelligence coordinating meeting I have never been invited to date, but national security meeting on the 23rd of July after the attack I was invited and then I shared what I knew.”

Latheef has said he was never invited to Security Council meetings before the attacks.

Sri Lanka’s land mark 350 meter tall lotus tower slated to blossom in 912 days by 2015 following its ground breaking in November 2012 is still to see the light of the day owing to irregularities and embezzlements during the construction process.

A Chinese conglomerate consisting of China National Electronics Import and Export Corporation (CEIEC) and Aerospace Long-March International Trade Co. Ltd. (ALIT) were to complete the project on a Turnkey Basis before the end of this year, Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) sources said.

The value of the Project was U.S$ 104.30 million. Although the period for completing the Project had been extended up to October 2017, it was not completed even by 31 May 2018, a recent government audit query revealed.

Thus, there had been a delay exceeding 200 days from November 2017 up to May 2018 Auditor General’s report observed pointing out that in terms of agreements, the demurrage of US$ 10.43 million for the said delay had not been recovered.

The land on which the Lotus Tower was erected had not been vested in the TRC by the Urban Development Authority (UDA) even by May 2018.

The EXIM Bank of China had disbursed the first installment of the loan on 19 August 2013.

However, in terms of the loan agreement, the period for the disbursement of the loan was due to be ended by 18 August 2016. By that date, a sum of $43,746,097 of the entire loan or 49 per cent had been released, audit inspection highlighted.

It has been revealed that as a result of the construction work not being done on the due date, the agreed charge that had to be paid for not utilising the loan for the period from 19 August to 27 October 2017 alone had been $ 322,984.

The EXIM Bank has taken action to restrict the total loan to $67,259,754 although the total amount of loan being $ 88,655,000 due to the exceeding of the period of the loan agreement and ,the agreed charges of U.S. Dollars 636,508 had been over paid, audit report disclosed.

The Cabinet of Ministers, in its decision dated 27 October 2010 had decided to vest the proposed television tower and the Entertainment Centre in a Management Consultancy Company.

The company has been entrusted with the task of establishing the television tower, and the Entertainment Centre as a Public Company under the ownership of the TRC.

This company has been directed to enlist it in the Colombo Stock Exchange and to issue a share capital of 30 per cent through an initial public issue.

However, in terms of the Sri Lanka Telecommunication Act, No.25 of 1991 and the Sri Lanka Telecommunication (Amendment) Act, No.27 of 1996, the TRC had no powers to implement this process, the AG’s audit report revealed.

By reason of impossibility of establishing a company in terms of the Telecommunication Act, Action had been taken to lease the Lotus Tower to a property Management Company as TRC has no powers to set up a Public Company.

However, even by July2018, no Cabinet approval had been obtained for same, audit report pointed out disclosing that Cabinet approval had not been obtained even by 30 July 2018 for the vehicle park with an investment of Rs.4 billion as proposed by the TRC.

The Kurunegala Magistrate’s Court this evening (25) granted bail to Dr. Mohomad Shafi Sihabdeen, who served at the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital, when the controversial case was taken up for hearing today.

Dr. Shafi was arrested by the Kurunegala Police in May this year for allegedly accumulating wealth in a questionable manner. However, the doctor was later accused of maintaining links with terrorist groups and conducting illegal sterilization of women during childbirth.

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) took over the investigation on Dr. Shafi from the Kurunegala Police and conducted an extensive probe into the allegations. When the case was taken up previously on July 11th, the Kurunegala Magistrate ordered to further remand Dr. Shafi to date despite claims there was no evidence to support allegations against Dr. Shafi.

Appearing on behalf of the Attorney General, Deputy Solicitor General Thusith Mudalige had said on July 11th that the three-month detention order against Dr. Shafi was withdrawn on July 10th after the Ministry of Defence was informed that the evidence against Dr. Shafi was inadequate to prove that he had received funds from a terrorist organization to promote their activities.

The CID that conducted the investigation has informed court that there was no evidence to support any of the allegations leveled against Dr. Shafi.

The CID also informed the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday attacks that there was no evidence against the accusations faced by Dr. Shafi despite claims by some media institutions, lawyers, politicians and Buddhist monks.

The relief package with a moratorium on repayment of loans and more financial assistance for the revival of the tourism industry badly hit by the Easter terror attacks is now on full swing covering all tourism sector institutions and service providers on case-by-case basis.

Deputy Treasury Secretary A.M.P.M.B. Atapattu divulged that the moratorium period will be on until 31st March 2020 for both capital and interest payments granted to the tourism sector as of 18th April 2019.

The tourism sector relief packages will be offering working capital loans up to LKR 250 million, based on turnover, he said.

The government would bear 75 percent of the interest component, until March 31, 2020, to offer a 3.4 percent concessionary interest rate for the grappling tourism sector subject to two-year maximum tenure.

A loan scheme for informal tourism sector including many small scale hotels, service providers and inns are eligible for an interest free loan of up to LKR 500,000 taking into consideration effect of the Easter Sunday attacks.

The interest-free loan is expected to be repaid in three years with a grace period of 12 months.

Releasing an explanatory note on concessions granted to tourism industry, Central Bank announced wide range of concessions granted to all tourism industry service providers.

Persons and entities providing tourism sector services which have not been registered with relevant authorities are required to register with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) to prove their eligibility for the relief package.

State Minister for Tourism Eran Wickramaratne said that VAT will be reduced from 15 to 5 percent on hotels and tour operators registered with SLTDA from 1st April 2019 to 31st March 2020.

Tourism loans registered on or before 18th April 2019 but will be granted before 31st March 2020 under "Enterprise Sri Lanka" credit schemes introduced by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, with the interest subsidy being borne by the government to continue from the granted date, he disclosed.

Under the Enterprise Sri Lanka loan schemes, an allocation of LKR 1.514 billion has been made for providing relief for the tourism sector loans.

1,055 applications for loan facilities have been received by banks as at May 31. The tourism exposure to banks is around LKR 62 billion where LKR 26 billion has been considered for moratorium, Central Bank data showed.

The tourism sector can obtain fresh working capital under the Enterprise Sri Lanka programme with a repayment period of 2 years with 75 per cent of the interest subsidy borne by the government from the effective interest rate until 31st March 2020.

It has been revealed that certain delays that had taken place at the Attorney General’s Department have been blamed by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) as the reason for the delay in arresting National Thowheed Jama'ath (NTJ) Leader Mohammad Zaharan Hashim.

Testifying before the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday attacks, TID Inspector T.R.K.R. Pathirana has blamed the failure on the delays in the Attorney General’s Department in responding to a query by the TID to arrest Zaharan.

Pathirana has said the TID had made an inquiry from the Attorney General’s Department on obtaining a warrant to arrest Zaharan.

“We were monitoring Zaharan and we found that has was engaged in promoting extremism, which is why we wanted action taken against him as well as get the NTJ banned,” IP Pathirana has informed the PSC.

He has further stated before the Committee that the Attorney General’s office had informed him that the file was not in order.

“By the time we got the files in order, the April 21st attacks had already taken place,” IP Pathirana has observed.

According to IP Pathirana, while attempts were made to get the NTJ Facebook page banned, authorities handling the social media network had said they did not understand the content posted on the page since it was in Tamil.

However, the NTJ Facebook page as blocked just 10 days before the Easter Sunday attacks.