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Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has condemned the government’s decision to restrict new rooftop solar agreements to the Net+ scheme as erroneous and unfair, saying that it endangers electricity costs, system stability and the power supply for 2027.

He raised the matter in Parliament on Wednesday through a question under Standing Order 27(2).

The Opposition Leader said solar capacity in Sri Lanka had grown from 3 MW in 2013 to 2,502 MW, and that more than 150,000 rooftop systems were in place by July, against a target of one million.

He described solar as a renewable source that can be deployed quickly.

Premadasa said a unit of solar electricity costs Rs. 28, while a unit from fuel-based plants costs between Rs. 51 and Rs. 129.

He also said that oil supplies 16.5 percent of the country’s energy but accounts for 43 percent of total generation expenditure.

Suspension of net metering and net accounting

The Opposition Leader said the Energy Ministry, through letter PE/DEV/03/01-RT dated 11 September 2026, limited new rooftop solar agreements to the Net+ scheme.

This suspended the Net Metering and Net Accounting methods, which he said had favoured solar consumers and entrepreneurs.

He noted that if additional rooftop solar and battery systems were to be used to meet the supply challenge, the government must disclose the solar capacity and battery storage involved.

He also asked the government to present the balanced tariff it proposes for the new arrangement.

Premadasa further demanded to know why the Sahasdanavi power plant was being given greater opportunities to generate electricity when rooftop generation and battery systems could lower costs.

He asked why the government favoured high-cost generation and said it must determine how much additional electricity the Yugadanavi and Sobadanavi plants had produced, since their operations bypassed Public Utilities Commission regulations.

He expressed regret over what he called the resurgence of the fuel-based and thermal power plant mafias.

He also questioned how the government intended to reach the target of one million rooftop systems, including whether it would provide tax relief for such installations.

Around 6,000 new breast cancer cases are reported annually in Sri Lanka, the president of the college of oncologists Dr. Sanjeewa Gunasekara said.

He stressed the importance of early detection and timely treatment of breast cancer.

He urged women to familiarise themselves with the normal appearance and feel of their breasts and seek prompt medical advice if they notice lumps, nipple changes, unusual discharge or changes in the skin.

Early detection, appropriate treatment and proper follow up care were the three key factors in managing breast cancer and improving recovery outcomes.

With early detection and appropriate treatment, patients have the opportunity to recover and return to normal life, he said.

He made the remarks at an event marking the first anniversary of the 'Pink Wednesday' programme, organised by the Pink Day Allies of Musaeus College in Colombo to raise public awareness about breast cancer.

Dr. Gunasekara also noted that breast cancer diagnostic facilities were available at major government hospitals across Sri Lanka.

The anniversary event was held on Wednesday (October 7) at the college’s Peter de Abrew Auditorium.

Under the initiative, Musaeus College students have worn pink ties every Wednesday over the past year to promote awareness of breast cancer and the importance of early detection.

Addressing the event, Musaeus College Principal Sanjeevani Bandara said the programme was launched to educate the public about breast cancer through student-led awareness activities.

She thanked the Indira Cancer Trust for supporting the initiative.

Dr. Lanka Jayasuriya Dissanayake of the Indira Cancer Trust praised the students’ contribution, describing it as an example that could inspire other schools to take similar steps to promote public health awareness.

Importing substandard coal for Sri Lanka's Norochcholai Lakvijaya Power Plant has resulted in a loss exceeding Rs. 17.9 billionto the state, opposition lawmaker S M Marikkar said.

Speaking at a press briefing, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP cited an expert panel report commissioned by a parliamentary oversight committee and called on the government to clarify whether legal action will be taken against former Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody.

The report, compiled by officials from the Ministry of Power and the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), will be formally submitted to Parliament next week.

According to the findings, the majority of the financial damage stemmed from emergency measures required to keep the national grid operational.

State energy suppliers spent Rs. 8.57bn purchasing emergency power from private providers following breakdowns linked to the poor-quality coal.

A further Rs. 2.28bn was lost when missing delivery schedules forced the state to buy five replacement shipments at inflated spot-market rates.

The lower-grade coal also reduced generation efficiency, requiring the plant to burn an extra Rs 709m worth of fuel to maintain its standard 300-megawatt output, while high ash content caused nearly Rs 93m in machinery repairs and waste disposal costs.

Marikkar said the financial fallout had ultimately been passed on to the public through higher electricity tariffs and increased taxes.

A separate Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry investigating the procurement process has issued formal notices to several individuals, including Jayakody, with its final report due shortly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P34enjyC8b8

Opposition Members of Parliament signed a motion of no-confidence against Speaker Dr Jagath Wickramaratne on Thursday at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition.

The signing was led by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and attended by several opposition MPs, including representatives from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

Chief Opposition Whip Gayantha Karunathilaka told Lanka Leader that the motion sets out 49 allegations against the Speaker.

Sri Lanka is facing shortages of 133 types of essential medicines, or 21.5 percent of the total, according to data from the Medical Supplies Division cited by former Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne.

Senaratne said that country had 618 types of essential medicines, of which 133 were in short supply, raising concerns about the availability of treatment for patients.

He also cited shortages of medical supplies and equipment, saying 2,132 of the 3,200 essential items required for surgeries and 3,625 of the 4,100 types of surgical instruments were in short supply.

Senaratne said that shortages had affected basic medical procedures, claiming that patients seeking wound dressings were sometimes required to bring their own bandages and plasters.

Notices about shortages of essential items, including surgical supplies, had been displayed at the National Hospital in Colombo.

He also referred to information previously published on the website of Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, listing shortages of 42 types of medicines and 61 types of surgical instruments.

Senaratne alleged that government policies had contributed to the declining availability of quality medicines and said shortages were affecting both public and private hospitals.

He urged the government to address the shortages and take immediate steps to ensure the availability of essential medicines and medical supplies.

(Sachithra Perera)

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has called on the government to respect religious traditions and the dignity of the Buddhist robe following the court appearance of a jailed monk in lay clothing.

The statement follows media reports showing Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera being brought before the Colombo High Court on Tuesday (06) dressed in civilian attire.

The Opposition Leader stated that while judicial authorities operate strictly within a legal framework, the executive branch must demonstrate sensitivity towards social conventions, cultural identities, and religious customs.

He noted that defendants are ordinarily permitted to wear suitable civilian clothes to preserve the dignity of the court.

However, he argued that forcing a Buddhist monk or any spiritual leader to appear in lay clothing without their explicit consent or the knowledge of their governing institution remains entirely inappropriate.

According to the Opposition Leader, determinations regarding the monastic status or official standing of any religious practitioner must remain under the exclusive authority of the relevant religious hierarchy.

He stressed that the government must ensure all such sensitive issues are managed strictly with the prior knowledge and endorsement of the Mahanayake Theras of the three main chapters or corresponding leaders of other faiths.

He added that state authorities must immediately cease actions that undermine established cultural boundaries and religious protocol.

Sri Lanka has removed all military checkpoints in the northern province, allowing residents to travel freely, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Vijitha Herath told parliament.

Minister said that the government was willing to seek international assistance for investigations into mass graves.

Herath said security barriers that had previously restricted traffic on several roads in the north, including the 'Palaly' route had been removed and public transport services had returned to normal.

A large number of military road barriers in the Northern and Eastern provinces had also been dismantled, he said.

The government was accelerating the release of land in the north and establishing special land tribunals to resolve ownership disputes involving owners living abroad, deceased owners and competing claims, Herath added.

Turning to investigations into mass graves, the minister said excavations across the country, including at Chemmani in the north, were being conducted under judicial supervision.

The government had expressed its willingness to obtain scientific expertise from the United Nations or other relevant international agencies to support the investigations, he said.

Once the ongoing excavations at Chemmani are completed the government would take steps to secure international assistance for DNA analysis and carbon dating tests to help establish the identities of the remains and determine their age, Herath said.

(Sachithra Perera)

Sri Lanka’s green energy revolution is being quietly stripped from ordinary citizens and handed over to a handful of powerful corporations.

A sweeping policy shift by the Ministry of Power and Energy threatens to destroy household energy independence while creating a lucrative corporate oligopoly.

On September 11, the Ministry terminated the popular Net Metering and Net Accounting schemes.

Critics warn that the replacement framework fundamentally dismantles the economic case for families to invest in rooftop solar.

Under the previous system, rooftop solar gave consumers a direct shield against surging electricity tariffs.

Households could generate power during peak daylight hours and offset their total electricity consumption, including expensive evening usage.

That model allowed families to recover their solar investment in less than five years.

The new policy flips that equation entirely to the detriment of the consumer.

Households must now sell all their solar generation to the Ceylon Electricity Board at a low rate of around Rs. 23 per unit.

At the same time, those same families are forced to buy electricity back from the grid at residential rates surging past Rs. 42 per unit.

This massive price gap creates a crippling financial penalty for ordinary citizens.

A standard five-kilowatt home system that once wiped out monthly power bills now earns minimal fixed revenue while leaving families exposed to soaring grid tariffs.

Payback periods for home solar systems will now stretch past a decade.

For middle-class families already hit hard by high living costs, financing rooftop solar has become virtually unviable.

Attractiveness drops even further under the Net Plus scheme, which reportedly caps contracts at just 12 years.

State officials argue that rapid rooftop expansion has overloaded substations and threatened overall grid stability during peak daylight hours.

Authorities also contend that seven million non-solar consumers should not bear the fixed costs of maintaining the national grid alone.

While grid stability is a legitimate engineering challenge, the government's response systematically penalises household generators.

There is no sound economic reason why fixing grid stability must require crushing citizen-led renewable investment.

The most damning aspect of this reform is taking shape in the utility-scale battery storage sector.

Recent disclosures and opposition probes reveal that major developers, including WindForce PLC and Vidullanka PLC, swept 13 out of 16 units in one procurement round and 23 out of 25 in another.

Such heavy corporate concentration in state-awarded energy contracts demands immediate and aggressive public scrutiny.

While utility battery storage is vital to capture surplus renewable power, placing that infrastructure in so few hands builds a dangerous cartel.

An industry meant to empower millions of decentralised citizen generators is being converted into a private corporate fiefdom.

The crucial issue facing the nation is not whether battery storage is necessary for the grid.

The real question is whether Sri Lanka’s clean energy transition will benefit millions of citizens or enrich a small corporate elite.

Without strict procurement transparency and protected incentives for home storage, the country risks trading one broken fossil fuel system for a corporate monopoly.

Sri Lanka is entering an era where the sun shines on everyone, but the profits belong strictly to a powerful few.

Around 1,500 cancer patients requiring radiation treatment are facing severe delays following the breakdown of critical diagnostic equipment at Maharagama Apeksha Hospital.

The Society of Government Radiological Technologists of Sri Lanka revealed that the facility's CT Simulator machine is non-functional, creating a massive backlog in patient care.

Technicians installed a new unit last month to replace the hospital's aging apparatus and formally handed it over for clinical operation.

The machine remains completely unusable due to a software mismatch between its operating system and the radiation therapy planning software.

Association President Chanaka Dharmawickrama stated that the technical conflict prevents medical staff from preparing precise treatment plans for incoming patients.

He highlighted that seeking alternative treatment in private healthcare facilities remains unaffordable for most, costing between Rs 500,000 and Rs 2 million per individual.

The ongoing failure to resolve software integration issues threatens to compromise cancer care delivery across the public health sector.

The World Organisation Against Torture has warned that Sri Lanka's new counterterrorism draft law risks perpetuating severe human rights violations as Parliament prepares to receive the legislation today.

The rights group expressed deep concern that the Protection of the State from Terrorism Act retains problematic provisions from the 47 year old Prevention of Terrorism Act.

The government published the replacement legislation in the official Gazette on 22 September ahead of its scheduled first reading in Parliament on 6 October.

International observers cautioned that the draft law uses overly broad definitions of terrorism that fail to align with international standards.

The legislation criminalises acts aimed at compelling government or international bodies to act, creating significant risks of arbitrary abuse against journalists, human rights defenders, political opponents, and minority communities.

Although the text contains explicit exclusions for peaceful protests, advocacy, and industrial actions, rights advocates warned that these safeguards remain fundamentally insufficient to prevent misuse.

Under Section 29, the draft framework empowers the Executive to issue two month detention orders without prior judicial approval.

Magistrates may extend these orders every two months up to a maximum of one year.Section 28 allows combined remand and detention periods of up to two years before formal indictments are served.

The organisation highlighted that Magistrates frequently rely on police and prosecution submissions without exercising meaningful judicial oversight, thereby heightening the threat of arbitrary detention, torture, and ill-treatment.

The bill also grants extensive operational powers to military personnel, including authority to conduct stops, searches, arrests, and 24 hour detentions before handing suspects over to police.

Travel time is excluded from this 24 hour limit without setting a maximum allowable duration, raising grave concerns about enforced disappearances.

Furthermore, the Attorney General is granted authority to suspend criminal proceedings for up to 20 years in exchange for suspects agreeing to rehabilitation, community service, or public expressions of remorse.

Rights advocates noted that suspects facing prolonged detention may feel coerced into accepting these punitive measures, effectively undermining the presumption of innocence.

The World Organisation Against Torture has urged Sri Lankan lawmakers to undertake a fundamental review of the proposed framework to align counterterrorism measures strictly with international human rights commitments

Government had failed to deliver promises on leaving about 80,000 unemployed graduates without jobs, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa told parliament yesterday(8).

Provide jobs for unemployed graduates, address salary anomalies affecting teachers and principals and appoint teacher development officers, the opposition leader said.

It was the government that had misled the public to gain power and subsequently failed to fulfil its commitments, Premadasa told.

Premadasa challenged the government’s commitment to the social contract it had made with the public, accusing President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s administration and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).

Responding to prime minister Harini Amarasuriya’s criticism that the opposition was spreading falsehoods and engaging in 'deal based politics' Premadasa said.

Opposition leader cited government promises to cut electricity bills by 33 percent.

The opposition leader also criticised the government over their failure to deliver on promises to reduce fuel prices and failed to provide a fixed price of 150 rupees per kilogram of paddy.

Premadasa said micro, small and medium sized enterprises were facing mounting pressure.

Businesses being auctioned under the country’s parate execution laws, despite NPP campaign pledges to support the sector.

Premadasa further accused the government of increasing the cost of living and maintaining a heavy tax burden.

Tax is affecting school supplies and information technology exports, he said.

He also criticised the administration for retaining taxes on the book and printing industries, despite earlier promises by the government to remove value added tax(VAT) on the sector.

On economic policy, Premadasa said the government had failed to revise the debt sustainability agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He accused the government of pursuing neoliberal policies that were pushing the country towards economic ruin.

Premadasa also questioned the administration’s commitment to renewable energy.

He said that the government had pledged to promote clean energy when they were in opposition.

Government now strengthening the interests surrounding thermal and fuel based power generation, Premadasa accused.

He added that parliament offered little opportunity to question the country’s sustainable energy policy.

(Sachithra Perera)

Former Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Colombo Municipal Councillor Mahinda Kahandagama and another individual have been arrested by the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD).

Police said Kahandagama was arrested near a restaurant in the Mirihana area last night (05) on charges of drug trafficking.

A stock of ‘Ice’ (crystal methamphetamine) was also seized from the suspects.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that Kahanadagama had been involved in drug trafficking for a period of time.

Further investigations into the arrested suspects have been launched by the Central Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB).