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The "tongue-lashing" senior officials of the Central Bank including the Governor received from president Gotabaya Rajapaksa a few days ago was an act of bullying, former finance minister Mangala Samaraweera said. In an open letter to Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Samaraweera noted that never in the seven- decade long history of our Republic have either the government or opposition ever spoken to the Central Bank in such a manner.

"Under the full glare of cameras, the President’s outburst publicly humiliated the institution and its officers in a most disgraceful manner. To publicly castigate public officials in such a crabby and aggressive manner is nothing less than an act of bullying. It reflects an inner callousness and meanness of spirit that sets an unfortunate example to our nation’s children," Samaraweera said.

As Mahinda Rajapaksa's predecessor who was in charge of the subject of finance until November last year, Samaraweera said that it was his duty to defend the Central Bank against the petulant charges that have been unfairly and ungraciously been hurled at them, especially due to the incumbent's deafening silence.

"Sri Lanka’s current economic woes are fundamentally fiscal, not monetary. Therefore, there is only a limited role for monetary policy in this crisis. Even so the Central Bank has undertaken a number of major stimulus activities. Some of them are well beyond the call of duty – so much so that members of the Monetary Board and Public Debt Department have left themselves open to facing a court of law," he added.

Samaraweera observed that the Rajapaksa government took the unprecedented and irascible step of asking two of five members of the Monetary Board to resign even though their six-year terms were not completed.

"As a result, the three members of the Monetary Board are all appointed by the President. In fact, the majority (the Governor and Treasury Secretary) effectively serve at the President’s and Finance Minister’s pleasure. However, it is now an open secret that the Central Bank’s politicization is initiated not by you, but by the true economic czar of the regime. A person once called an ‘economic assassin’ by a senior government minister," he warned.

A Central Bank’s role is to manage the supply and cost of money in order to achieve price stability, Samaraweera said adding that the cost of money has come down dramatically, the supply of money has increased to a more than satisfactory level, and inflation remains under control.

"In other words – the Central Bank has done its job. To shout and scream at the CBSL in this context simply reflects no understanding of the Central Bank’s role in the economy. The responsibility of driving economic growth and articulating the strategy for economic revival is the role of the Treasury and other arms of the government. The President’s accusations have no basis. In fact, they suggest that he is unable to cope with the demands and strain of his great office. This comes as no great surprise considering that he has very little economic, political and policy-making experience," Samaraweera said. 

An open letter to PM from Mangala 21.06.2020.

Several task forces were appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa citing powers vested in him by Article 33 of the Constitution.

All government institutions have been directed to follow the orders of the all-powerful task forces appointed with serving and retired military personnel who report directly to the president.

Fifty-nine individuals and sixteen organisations have expressed their grave concern regarding the establishment of a spate of Presidential Task Forces when the country was under a lock down due to the COVID-19 pandemic and citizens were unable to make inputs to express their concerns regarding their establishment.

“All the Presidential Task Forces have a complement of military personnel while the Presidential Task Force to build a Secure Country, Disciplined, Virtuous and Lawful Society is composed entirely of persons from the armed forces and police,” says the statement issued by the activists.

“This further demonstrates the steady drift towards militarizing civil functions within Sri Lanka’s health and educational sectors, development, public administration and even judicial processes following the Presidential election of November 2019. This does not bode well for Sri Lanka’s long-established parliamentary democracy.”

The activists have highlighted that the Presidential Task Force for Archaeological Heritage Management in the Eastern Province led by Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne has ignored the country’s minorities who are a significant population in the region.

“The members of the Task Forces are drawn almost entirely from the Sinhala community. Buddhist monks make up a significant portion of the Task Force for the Eastern Province, ignoring the fact that the Province is also equally populated by Tamils and Muslims. It is likely that the interests of these communities will be neglected by the Task Forces and will reflect the majoritarianism espoused by this government,” the activists noted.

They further questioned the ‘policing’ of the civil service by security service personnel in these task forces and the funding of these new bodies.

“These new Task Forces are structures that are solely accountable to the President and are staffed, not by professional civil service personnel, with the required experience, but by security personnel with no experience in civil functions. They are expected to ‘police’ the civil service and are usurping the powers and functions of the Cabinet and Ministries, which are vital in a parliamentary democracy. Rather than these Task Forces, the Sectoral Oversight Committee system in Parliament established under the 19th Amendment and populated by Members of Parliament from all political parties is a much more independent and efficient oversight mechanism that can respond to the exigencies faced by the country at this time. It is also unclear how the work of these task forces will be financed, to what extent they will duplicate functions of ministries, and the extra costs and expenditures that this will entail at a time when the need for cost cutting should be a primary concern of the government.”

Karuna Amman on Friday (19) has said that he was more dangerous than the Covid 19 virus as he had killed nearly 2,000-3,000 military personnel during the war.

Karuna’s statement has drawn criticism from many parties claiming that he was trying to glorify the killing of Sri Lankan soldiers during his time as an LTTE militant.

The President's Media Division said that 95% of the Uma Oya project has already been completed and the remaining work is to be completed before December this year.

The project will add 120 MW of electricity to the national grid.

After undergoing the mandatory PCR test at the airport, they were directed to the quarantine centres run by the Army, President's Media Division said adding that at the end of the quarantine period, the group will have to undergo a second round of PCR tests and will be taken to the project site thereafter.

Presently, there are only three members serving in the Monetary Board, instead of the statutory number of five members. As the governing body, the Monetary Board is responsible for making all policy decisions related to the management, operation and administration of the CBSL, he pointed out.

Tennakoon asserted that it is not the CBSL but the Monetary Board that has the responsibility to proffer advice to the Government concerning the economy and related financial issues.

The former Southern Province Governor also said that the CBSL officials who had attended the meeting convened by the President at the Presidential Secretariat on Tuesday (16), were those who are known to carry out the instructions that are given to them by the Monetary Board.

He noted that had the President convened a meeting with officers of the Monetary Board there could have been far more tangible and constructive results rather than merely admonishing the CBSL officers who are only there to implement the decisions made by the Monetary Board. Tennakoon reiterated that legal power on taking decisions concerning financial issues lies firmly with officers of the Monetary Board.

Hence, he questioned whether the Monetary Board officers would be able to proffer advice to the Government in the future, when they had been publicly humiliated by the head of the Government, the President himself.

He explained that the three existing members of the Monetary Board were Governor of the CBSL Prof. W.D. Lakshman, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance S.R. Atigalla (officially appointed) and appointed member Sanjeewa Jayawardena (PC).

Those two vacancies would have to be filled after the names recommended by the Finance Minister (Mahinda Rajapaksa) to the President, being approved by the Constitutional Council, through an appointment letter issued by the President.

He observed that it would not be difficult even to sack Sanjeewa Jayawardena (PC), who is said to be closely connected to the present regime.

He has lastly asserted that merely lambasting the officers of the CBSL, instead of finding fault for the country’s present economic mayhem with those serving at the Monetary Board, would not serve the purpose of this Government.

Archaeological excavations deep within the rainforests of Sri Lanka have unearthed the earliest evidence for hunting with bows and arrows outside Africa.

At Fa-Hien Lena, a cave in the heart of Sri Lanka’s wet zone forests, we discovered numerous tools made of stone, bone, and tooth – including a number of small arrow points carved from bone which are about 48,000 years old.

When was the bow and arrow invented?

The invention of the bow and arrow allowed people to hunt prey at a much greater distance. People no longer had to get within “a stone’s throw” of prey which could suddenly bolt and escape. This innovation greatly increased the chances of a successful hunt.

Bows and arrows also made it much safer to hunt dangerous prey. If you don’t have to get too close, you’re less likely to be trampled or mauled by a hurt and angry animal.

The origin of the bow and arrow is one of the great mysteries of human technological innovation. How did it come about? When? Where? And why?

Currently, the oldest evidence for the use of the bow and arrow are small stone points found in Sibudu cave in South Africa, which are some 64,000 years old.

Outside Africa, the oldest finds were previously pieces of bows found in Germany dating back no more than 18,000 years.

Because bows and arrows are mainly made from highly perishable stuff like wood, sinew, and fibres, they don’t leave a lot of evidence behind for archaeologists to find. So the small bone points recovered from Fa-Hien Lena are an important discovery.

The bone points show evidence for having been fixed to a small shaft and shot at high speed into prey – which were apparently mostly small monkeys and giant squirrels, judging by the butchered bones thrown away at the site after meals.

Complex tools, complex minds

One of the small bone points discovered at Fa-Hien Lena. M. C. Langley

The discovery of such ancient bone arrow points is startling in itself. However, we also found other tools which give equally rare insights into the lives of the earliest members of our species currently documented in Sri Lanka.

Particularly interesting are well-preserved knives, scrapers, and awls made from the bones and teeth of monkeys and deer, which were used to work skins or plant materials.

These tools are our only way to learn about the other, more fragile items that may originally have been at the site, because anything made from leather or plant fibre (such as clothing, bags, baskets, mats, or nets) stood no chance of surviving 48,000 years in the humid tropical environment.

One of these artifacts is an unusual implement with carefully spaced notches down each side. It appears to be a shuttle for creating nets of woven fibres. No doubt nets would have been incredibly useful for catching the tree-dwelling prey the people of Fa-Hien Lena hunted, as well as bringing the fish up from the rivers.


These rainforest pioneers also left behind evidence about their social lives in the form of white shell beads and small blocks of mineral pigments in bright colours: red, yellow, and silver.

Each of the pigment nodules show signs they were used to create paints for the body, and three of the bright red nodules were drilled to be strung as beads – something we have not found anywhere else in the world.

The white shell beads, on the other hand, are similar to those found in Africa and Eurasia, but were collected or traded from the coast some 20–30 kilometres away. Apparently, small, shiny, white shell beads never get old.

With these finds, it is becoming more and more clear that we have only just begun to scratch the surface when it comes to understanding the earliest modern human communities.

LRL has firmly in place a 99 year leasehold right to a 7 acre property in the Palatupana development area in Yala. The project development work was delayed due to a prior court order and the terror attacks that took place in April 2019.

LRL was and is in place with all resources required to develop the site on a tight timeline, it was reported.  

However, it is widely known that the SLTDA Chairperson, Kimarli Fernando has tried stalling the development process. It is also reported that government funds may have been used by filing a declaration of cancellation on the aforesaid lease.

Furthermore, it is reported that Kimarli Fernando is protecting her husband’s (Malik Fernando and family – Dilmah Tea) business operation, Wild Coast Tented Lodge (owned by Wild Coast Lodge (Pvt) Ltd) which coincidentally is on the immediate neighboring site, right next to LRL’s property.

Malik Fernando (Kimarli Fernando’s husband) is a director and shareholder of Wild Coast Lodge (Pvt) Ltd which in turn owns the Wild Coast Tented Lodge. There is a clear and apparent conflict of interest between the Chairperson of the SLTDA Ms. Kimarli Fernando, and this development project by LRL, due to the above.

When development is required in Sri Lanka at a time when our borders remain closed, it is sad to note the behaviour that state officials are engaging in by proactively seeking to stall development projects merely to protect their family business interests.

He pointed out that his government will have to take the blame for the economic slowdown due to this serious negligence on the part of the Central bank. He exhorted central bank officials not to shirk responsibility and let him know the correct strategy.

Pointing out the massive mandate he received from the people, the president lamented that the Central bank has obstructed the implementation of the proposals made by him.

Retired Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police S. M. Wickremasinghe has been appointed to the post.

The objective of setting up an Ombudsman Office is to provide solutions to any inconvenience or distress caused to the public as a result of negligence of public officers or acting beyond their limit while exercising their administrative powers.

The office is located on 3rd Floor, Old Standard Chartered Bank Building, Janadhipathi Mawatha, Colombo 1.

The public has the opportunity to submit their complaints or grievances in person by visiting the office or they can forward their issues by post addressed to “Ombudsman, Presidential Secretariat, Colombo 1”.

The public can reach the office through the telephone/ fax no. 011 2338073 or sending an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Ombudsman S. M. Wickremasinghe says people also can complain about large scale drug trafficking which causes disruption to the civilian life, damages to the environment and any other illegal activity to him.

The Commission issued summons to former ministers Rajitha Senaratne, Patali Champika Ranawaka, Arjuna Ranatunge and JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday (15).

Chairman of Avant-Garde Nissanka Senadhipathi had lodged a complaint with the Presidential Commission alleging that Avant-Garde incurred massive losses due to the arbitrary takeover of his company and due to many other instances of alleged political victimisation by the previous government.

The isolation units were set up at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, Castle Street Hospital for Women and the Base Hospital Minuwangoda. The hospitals were identified by the Ministry of Health as part of a rapid assessment for COVID-19 patient isolation and treatment purposes.

UNICEF contributed with technical expertise and funding of nearly LKR 5 million from the Japanese government while the construction expertise and labour for the refurbishment was provided by the Sri Lanka Navy.

“It is vital that we continue to support the Government of Sri Lanka in responding to the coronavirus pandemic. The setting up of the special isolation and treatment units at these hospitals is a truly a collaborative effort involving much needed assistance from the Government of Japan and the Sri Lanka Navy,” Emma Brigham, Deputy Representative of UNICEF Sri Lanka said.

This work involved the refurbishing of existing hospital spaces and the installation of ventilation and sound systems, adequate facilities for infection prevention and water and sanitation for health and establishing of a layout in line with social distancing requirements.