News

The Elections Commission said nearly 659,030 were eligible to cast their postal votes from today (31) till November 5 with November 7 as an additional day for postal voting.

Elections Commission Director Channa P. De Silva has told the media that the Elections Commission had initially set aside October 31 and November 1 for public servants and November 4 and 5 for police and armed forces personnel and public servants deployed on election duty.

Postal voting will be held at government offices, divisional and district secretariats with an executive officer of the respective public institution serving as the presiding officer at each of the voting centres.

The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) probing corruption and irregularities in the government since 2015 has completed 30 cases along with its proceedings.

The Commission had received a total of 1,346 complaints and the police unit attached to the Commission had completed the initial inquiry into 166 of them.

President Maithripala Sirisena appointed the PCoI to investigate into the allegations of corruption and mismanagement taken place in state institutions from January 15, 2015, to December 31, 2018.

The Commission handed over its first volume of the report to the President on September 27th.

Retired Supreme Court Justice Upali Abeyrathne chaired the Commission while former High Court Judge Kusala Sarojini Weerawardena, former Auditor General Pasdunkorale Arachchige Premathilake, former Ministry Secretary Lalith R. de Silva and former Deputy Inspector General of Police M.K.D. Vijaya Amarasinghe were appointed as members.

The commission had recorded evidence on matters related to storing paddy at Mattala International Airport, misuse of government funds on renting out the DPJ building to the Agriculture Ministry, malpractices during the distribution of textbooks, tabs and school uniform vouchers for students and financial fraud related to Mahapola and Suraksha insurance policies.   

President Maithripala Sirisena has reportedly informedthe Cabinet of Ministers yesterday (29) that he would not accept the reportcompiled by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) that probed the EasterSunday attacks.

The PSC presented its report to parliament last Wednesday(23) and Committee In its findings had blamed the incident mainly on the lapseson the part of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) and government leaders forfailing to take action to prevent the attack that killed more than 250 people.

The PSC report was presented to the Cabinet chaired byPresident Sirisena yesterday.

Accordingto sources, the President has said he would not accept the report and asked theCabinet not to record it as approved by the Cabinet. The President has insteadasked the government to look into areas where security lapses had beenhighlighted by the Committee.    

A six-member high-level delegation of the Nigerian Army, anxious to learn more about comprehensive training modules of the Special Forces (SF) of the Sri Lanka Army is currently in Sri Lanka on a five-day long visit.

The delegation, led by Major General G Oyefesobi, Director Administration, Nigerian Army includes Brigadier General G.K Nwosu, Brigadier General C.A.A Apere, Colonel T.P Opurum, Lieutenant Colonel S.S Muhammed and Commodore E.O Ferreira, Defence Adviser to the Nigerian High Commission.

Prior to their visit to the Special Forces Training School (SFTS) at Maduru Oya, the delegation on Monday (28) morning called on the Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva at the Army Headquarters and shared views on their objectives and motives behind planning an expedition to Sri Lanka particularly, impressed with the skills of Special Forces.

The delegation during the cordial meet with the Commander of the Army expressed their happiness over SF skills, jungle warfare expertise, their exceptional achievements and contribution to the fight against LTTE terrorism several years ago in a convincing manner.

Lieutenant General Silva explained them the Sri Lanka Army’s possibilities for further enhancement of training openings for Nigerian Army personnel, so that Nigerian soldiers could also share experiences with their Sri Lankan counterparts who had gained recognition after humanitarian operations, in which SF soldiers too fought against the world’s most ruthless terrorists.

The visiting Nigerian delegation, curious to know more about the exceptional jungle warfare techniques and skills of the SF further told the Commander of the Army that they are seriously considering to send more troops to Sri Lanka for SF training in future. It was also noted that two more Nigerian Officers are already under training in Sri Lanka following, the Junior Command Course and the SF training in Maduru Oya.

Towards the culmination of the brief meet, both Lieutenant General Silva and Major General G Oyefesobi exchanged mementos of goodwill and understanding. Major General T.S Bansajaya, Director General Training was also associated with day’s interactive meeting.

During their stay in Sri Lanka, the delegation at Maduru Oya SFTS will watch mock urban terrain operations, combat rider firing skills, close quarter combat training sessions, drill and combat shooting demonstrations, ongoing squadron training modules, camouflage and concealment demonstrations, and presentations, submitted by the Officers at the SFTS before they move out for sight-seeing.

The SFTS in coordination with the Army Training School at Maduru Oya has facilitated their stay in Maduru Oya.

The United States appreciated Sri Lanka’sdecision to approve the much delayed Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)grant of USD 480 million.

The US Embassy in Colombo announced that underthe agreement, Sri Lanka will retain oversight and control of all aspects of theproposed projects.

The Embassy said the grant includes investmentsto reduce traffic congestion in Colombo, modernize the bus service, and upgrade inter-provincial roads in the center of the country.

It also includes support for the government'sinitiatives to improve land administration.The Cabinet of Ministers yesterday approved the MCC grant of US$ 480 million, the largest grant ever received.

Earlier, President Maithripala Sirisena had blockedthe MCC grant passage in cabinet saying that he will not approve the deal assome of the main opposition had raised concerns over the agreement.

Related News:

Cabinet approves US$ 480 million MCC grant

New Democratic Front (NDF) Presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa will not be holding special talks with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) based on the 13-point demands of a group of five Tamil political parties since he has a clear policy.

These observations were made by attorney-at-law Shiral Lakthilaka, who is a member of Premadasa’s campaign team.

Lakthilaka has noted that Premadasa has clearly stated that he supports devolution of powers within a united Sri Lanka.

“There is nothing to discuss beyond that,” he has said.

A group of Tamil political parties recently signed a memorandum highlighting 13 key demands of the Tamils.

Illangai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), Tamil People’s Council (TPC) and Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) signed the memorandum.

The United National Party (UNP) has decided to expel State Minister Wasantha Senanayake from the party, UNP General Secretary, MInister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam has said.

Kariyawasam has told the media that action will be taken to remove his State Ministerial portfolio shortly.

State Minister Senanayake had earlier announced that he will not support the party’s presidential candidate, Sajith Premadasa.

During last year’s 52 day illegal coup, Senanayake crossed over between the UNP and the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) on several occasions.

Protests were staged in Jaffna by families of the missing to coincide with former Defence Secretary and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) presidential candidate, Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s visit to the Northern Province yesterday (28).

Families of the missing since the period of the war have continuously been demanding justice, which have fallen on deaf years.

Also, SLPP candidate Gotabaya’s visit to the North came as a surprise to many since a few months ago he refused to travel to the North when summoned by courts to appear for a case on the disappearance of two youths. At the time, Gotabaya cited security concerns as the reason for not traveling to the North since he played a vital role in defeating the separatist terrorists in the North.

However, Gotabaya yesterday made his way to the North to attend several rallies as part of his election campaign.

During his rallies, Gotabaya has appealed to the Tamils to place their faith in him.

Speaking at an election rally in Jaffna he has said that he has always kept his promises and will do so with regards to the promises he makes to the people of the North.

He has also urged the Tamil people to put aside the past and look to the future.

“My policy statement for this election looks at ensuring a prosperous future for the country. The proposals we have made are practical proposals,” Gotabaya has noted.

He has said that if elected President he will rehabilitate and free LTTE cadres currently in custody.

According to Gotabaya, his plan was to release most of the lands occupied by the military but that plan was cut short as there was a change of government in 2015.

The former Defence Secretary has added that steps will be taken to give employment to the youth in the North and also address their outstanding issues under a SLPP government.

The Elections Commission has taken the necessary steps toincrease the time allocated for voting at the presidential election on November16th after political parties agreed to the proposal presented by theCommission to extend the voting time period by one hour.

The proposalwas agreed upon during a meeting held at the Election Commission between theCommission members and political party representatives yesterday (29).
Accordingly,a gazette notification was issued extending the presidential polls voting hoursfrom 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) leader Suresh Premachandran has said the Tamil parties will announce their stand on the upcoming presidential election on Wednesday (30).

Tamil political parties held a final discussion on the issue on Monday (28).

The final decision of the Tamil political parties will decide how the Tamil in the Northern Province would cast their votes at the election.

Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa led Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has already rejected the 13 demands that have been jointly agreed by five Tamil political parties and have also refused to hold talks with the Tamil parties based on the demands.

Premachandran meanwhile has noted that even the New Democratic Front (NDF) presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa had also not invited the five Tamil parties for discussions.

On a proposal made by the Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera, the Cabinet of Ministers today (29) approved the implementation of the Millenium Challenge Corporation's (MCC) US$ 480 Million grant.

According to Samaraweera, the funding is granted for three main projects to be completed within a period of five years.

“A special transport development program covering the Colombo metropolitan area to reduce the traffic congestion by reduced travel time, traffic emissions, and accidents combined with the bus transportation service modernisation programme including private and public sector transportation service,” he said.
Samaraweera also said under transport development, a 131 kilometre road network on Central wing road connecting Sabaragamuwa, East, North Central, Central and Wayaba provinces to Colombo markets and export hub will be developed.  

Further, he said improvement on land administration process also will be done in eight districts.

“This will include the land valuation system, upgrading 10 land registries and preparations of parcel fabric map of all State and private land to facilitate the activities of Survey Department,” he noted.

These compact programmes to be funded by this project have been developed by the Sri Lankan officials of the relevant line ministries and departments based on the needs of the country. The Sri Lankan government has the option of amending the identified projects even after the signing of the agreement, spokesperson of the Ministry of Finance said.     

Sri Lanka is the 37th recipient of such grant funds from the people of the United States of America. The Minister of Finance will sign the agreement in the near future as it was confirmed by the Cabinet today and the  implementation will begin in early 2020, the spokesperson added.

This is a great victory for the government and augurs well for the future. Sri Lanka began negotiations with the MCC in 2001 at the direction of Ranil Wickremesinghe, the then Prime Minister. MCC negotiations were led by the Ministry of Finance and the MCC compact was developed and finalized by the Compact Development Team of the Prime Minister’s Office.

The Vote on Account presented by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera in parliament on October 23 for the first 4 months of 2020 was passed unanimously yesterday.

Several relief measures including a comprehensive increment of public servants’ salaries, allowances of disabled war heroes and a decision to pay the full salary to disabled war heroes for lifetime was presented by the Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera in the Vote of Account which was passed unanimously when it was tabled in Parliament last week.

Recurrent and Capital expenditure of Rs.1, 470 billion is expected to be spent during that period and another Rs. 05 billion is expected to be spent for the Advance Account.

While presenting the Vote of Account, Samaraweera highlighted the breakdown of the salary increments for public servants.

These salary increases have been calculated based on the P.A.Circular 6/2016 and on the the recommendation of the Ranugge Salaries Commission.

Accordingly public servants will be paid half of the new increase from January 01 2020 and the rest will be paid from January 01, 2021

Furthermore, the Finance Minister highlighted the relief measures granted to the people in this manner:

• To increase the Public Servants’ Disaster Loan limit to Rs.350, 000 from Rs.250, 000. To reduce its loan interest to 3% from 4%.
• To increase the current sum of Rs.6000 granted for public service staff to buy bicycles up to Rs.10, 000 and to reduce its interest to 3% from 4.2%.
• To increase the current annual Uniform fee for Office Assistants’ Service to Rs.5000/- from Rs.4, 000/-.
• To increase the Spectacle allowance of Rs.5, 000/- to Rs.8, 000/-. Public servants who have obtained the membership of the National Insurance Trust Fund are entitled to this allowance per a period of three years.
• To implement a program to provide an annual mandatory training for a minimum of five days for the officers attached to the Public Servant Office Assistant Service, the Drivers Service and the Management Assistants Service.
• For Grama Seva Officers, the following measures were announced.
o To increase the Office Allowance to Rs.1, 500/- within the Municipal Council areas and the Urban Council areas.
o To double this allowance in Pradeshiya Sabah limits to Rs.1, 000/-.
o To increase the transport allowance within the local government limit to Rs.600/- from Rs.200/- and, outside the local government limit to Rs.1,000/- from Rs.500/-
o To increase the annual Stationery allowance to Rs.1, 500/- from Rs.1, 000/- and to increase the Uniform allowance to Rs.4, 300/-.
o To amalgamate the Communication and Transport allowance and pay a Common allowance of Rs.5, 000/- instead.
• To increase the War Heroes’ allowance after 20 years.
• The decision to pay the full salary to disabled War Heroes for lifetime and, thereafter to its benefits to their dependents.
• To replace the 14-day Composite allowance with a 20-day allowance thereby increasing the salary of Police Officers by 238%.
Minister Samaraweera also announced the following amendments.

1) Excise (Amendment)

Presently there is no provision in the Excise Ordinance for the police officers to initiate proceedings before a magistrate against the offender on matters pertaining to illicit liquor. Therefore, it has resulted in the rapid increase in the trade and consumption of illicit liquor in most part of the country.

Accordingly, Section 35 and 52 of the Excise Ordinance will be amended to authorize the police officers to take legal action on matters pertaining to illicit liquor.

2) Value Added Tax (Amendment)

The Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill provides for the following Value Added Tax Policies which are approved in the Budget - 2019 and Cabinet decision dated June 25, 2019 on the CP No.19/1781/108/162.
(i). Piece based VAT Rate
The piece based VAT rate applicable on domestic sale of certain garments by the export oriented BOI companies will be increased from Rs.75/- to Rs.100/-,

(ii). Value of Imported Goods
The Minister of Finance will be authorized to prescribe the basis for chargeability of VAT of certain goods specified by the Minister by regulations,

(iii). Payment date of VAT

VAT payment dates presently fall on 15th, 20th and last date of the month following the each month of a taxable period is inconvenient for the tax payers as well as the tax administration. Considering the requests of the taxpayers, the VAT payment date will be changed to 20th day of the month following the month relevant to such payment.

(iv). The locally produced Rice Bran Oil, manufactured out of locally produced rice will be exempted from VAT

(v). VAT on the supply of condominium housing units

VAT imposed on the supply of condominium housing units will not be charged where the:-

(a) Unit price of each Condominium housing Unit of a Condominium Housing Project does not exceed Rs. 25Mn

(b) Agreement to sell relating to such supply is executed as per Notaries Ordinance prior to the date of commencement of the VAT (Amendment) Act, or

(c) Supply of any condominium housing units, which has been completed and in respect of which, the Certificate of Conformity has been obtained from the relevant local authority prior to the date of commencement of VAT (Amendment) Act.
In addition to the above
Reduction of VAT rate applicable on the supply of condominium housing units to 6% and input tax relating to such supply will be counted at 5%.

(vi). The supply of goods by the construction contractors to their overseas projects will be treated as exports.

3) Nation Building Tax (Amendment)

The Nation Building Tax (Amendment) has been prepared to implement the below mentioned Nation Building Tax Policies which are proposed in the Budget - 2019.
(i). Exemption applicable on the importation of unprocessed gem stones will be granted on the approval of National Gem and Jewellery Authority if the payment such services is in foreign currency and remitted to Sri Lanka.

(ii). Exemption applicable on the services provided by the construction sub-contractors will be extended to the main contractors as well.

(iii). Exemption of hotel services provide for foreign currency

(iv). Exemption of importation of Lucerne (alfalfa) meal and pellets.

(v). Exemption of locally value added imported palm oil.

(vi). Exemption of importation of yachts and other vessels for pleasure or sports.

(vii). Removal of exemption of cigarette.

(viii). Exemption of projects with an investment of USD 50 Mn or above during the project implementation period or the construction period.

4) Finance Act amendment

The Finance Act amendment provides for the below mentioned Tax Policies which are proposed in the Budget - 2019.

(i). Luxury Tax on Motor Vehicles

The definition of "Specified Motor Vehicle" for the applicability of Luxury Tax on Motor Vehicle will be amended to provide for chargeability of the tax based on the price of vehicle instead of engine capacity and specifying the exempt vehicle categories. (For further clarification please refer to the Press Release issued by the Finance Ministry)

(ii). Levy on Foreign Commercial Transactions

Levy on Foreign Commercial Transactions will be charged at the rate of 3.5% on the Credit/Debit card payments made to purchase goods/services from outside Sri Lanka. The date of implementation of the Levy will be declared by the Minister by order published in the Gazette.

In addition to the above, following amendments will be moved during the Committee Stage of the Finance Bill.

(iii). Carbon Tax

The Carbon Tax was imposed under the Finance Act, No.35 of 2018. The tax is payable by the vehicle owners based on the fuel type and the age of the vehicle at the time of renewal of annual registration. This tax is applicable only for this year (2019) and will be removed from December 01, 2019.

 (iv). Cellular Tower Levy

The Cellular Tower levy was imposed under the Finance Act, No.35 of 2018. According to the existing provisions, proceedings to be initiated at the Magistrates Court, if any operator defaults the payment of Levy. Provisions for a surcharge will be introduced if an operator defaults the payment of Levy, prior to initiate Court proceedings.

The Mobile technology is constantly evolving to keep pace with growing demand. The Government’s ambition is to ensure that consumers have excellent connectivity across the Country.