News

The Memorandum of Corporation was signed between the Sri Lankan, Indian and Japanese Governments to lease out the terminal to a Terminal Operating Company.

The Terminal Operations Company (TOC) was set up with the “exclusive and explicit purpose of providing the equipment and systems necessary for the development of the ECT and managing the ECT”.

The development and operations of the ECT was to be carried out over two phases. Phase “A” was to consist of the operation of the existing 600 meter quay length with the necessary terminal handling equipment. Funding for this phase was to be provided via a US $190 million loan from JICA.

Furthermore, the Governments of Sri Lanka and Japan were undergoing negotiations to sign Exchange of Notes under highly concessionary conditions. Accordingly the loan provided by JICA would be done so at an interest rate of 0.1% for a period of 40 years, with a grace period of 12 years. Japan has continually funded the development of the Colombo Port since 1977.

The construction of phase “B” with a loan obtained by the Sri Lankan Government would ensure that ownership of the East Container Terminal would be retained. In the case of an investment in the terminal by other parties, the Government does not have exclusive ownership.

Other details were to be negotiated in accordance with clause 3 & 5 as stipulated in Memorandum of Corporation, by a Joint Working Group comprising representatives of the three Governments. None of these matters had been finalized.

The decision of the management of the TOC had to be taken jointly by the three Governments.

At the time of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa assuming office, India had not formally informed us of the company which they would nominate. It was indicated that it would be the Adani Group.

The agreement negotiated by the UNP while in Government was one that was beneficial and safeguarded the Colombo Port as the leading container port in South Asia.

An internationally released report exposes the creeping take over of civil administration by security force commanders in Sri Lanka within just over a year of the second Rajapaksa rule.

The All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) leader wrote to the Elections Commission, condemning the “unjust” act of removing the names of 7,727 residents originally from the Northern District and demanded that necessary steps be taken to register the individuals in their native electoral lists.

Bathiudeen indicated that although many individuals displaced by the armed conflict had since been resettled in their home towns, many have been temporarily relocated to Puttalam due to inadequate infrastructure development.

The UDA says it hopes to amend the 34 year-old existing Building and Planning regulations for high-rise apartment projects countrywide.

A UDA official said that Cabinet approval would be sought to reinforce the new regulations with a new set of programmes to make the regulations well matched with the field of modern development.

These proposed regulations seen as taking land, planning and building laws into their hands by the UDA officers via the introduction of new regulations, has drawn concern from professionals and public interest activists.

In a letter addressed to some of these professional associations, experts and civil society activists, the UDA said further clarifications will be sought and discussed in due course.

The Sri Lanka Engineers Institution (SLEI), a few weeks ago, strongly objected to the attempts made by the UDA to gazette these regulations without entertaining representations from the engineering fraternity. The Institution of Engineers also raised objections.

In a letter to the UDA chairman, the SLEI has raised their objections against bringing new regulations hurriedly without giving adequate time for engineers to express their views on the final draft. .

The association welcomed the UDA’s recent action to review representations made by professionals, experts in the relevant filed, public interest activists and engineers.

The new regulations regarding land and building construction coming under the control of the UDA are confusing, a leading public interest activist in this field lamented.

He noted that those UDA regulations in regard to land division plans are impracticable and there was a hidden agenda of such plans.

It is almost the same set of regulations which was rejected by the professionals in 2019 under the previous government and it has resurfaced, he alleged.

This was an attempt to divide government and private-owned barren lands into blocks of lands countrywide in the country for real estate development and construction of high-rise and other buildings, he disclosed.

In his letter, the public interest activist, who requested anonymity, stated that there are regulative provisions to execute agreements by the UDA and the National Physical Planning Department (NPPD).

These regulative provisions are applicable countrywide, he pointed out.

The UDA has made an attempt to become the one and only regulator while ignoring the available legal enactments to institutions by introducing new regulations which will be gazetted soon, he warned.

The video depicts Dr. Senaratne misusing her official powers to coerce a senior official of the SLSI, the Director of Marketing and Promotion, to brief the media as per her instructions.

The video shows the Director of Marketing and Promotion being pressured by the DG to state how ophthalmologists and dermatologists in the country have affirmed that the detergent 'sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate' (SDBS) found in Unilever soap bars is not harmful to the body.

However, the Director of Marketing and Promotion doesn't comply with her demands citing lack of written evidence.

Lihiniyakumara noted that the NMSJ has no plans whatsoever to form a new political movement as reported by the Aruna newspaper.

"The National Movement for a Just Society is a civil society organisation that publicly advocates for social justice as well as for democractic principles of our society," he said.

"As such, our organisation has never stood for political power in this country and that policy will be pursued in the same manner. Therefore, our organisation has no need to be structured as a political movement," he added.