News

A New Navy Commander was appointed yesterday by President Maithripala Sirisena following the retirement of Vice Admiral Sirimevan Ranasinghe. According to sources Ranasinghe had not requested a service extension in a bid to make way for other top-ranking officers. 

Accordingly, President Sirisena appointed Vice-Admiral Priyal De Silva as the new Navy Commander yesterday. The new navy commander will commence his duties from 1 January 2019.
 
Rear Admiral Priyal de Silva, served as Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Navy prior to his appointment will be the 23rd Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy. Meanwhile, Ranasinghe received a promotion to the rank of admiral following his retirement in honour for his service.

The government has urged transport regulatory institutions to take necessary action immediately in order to pass the benefits of the recent oil price reduction to the people. 

This request was made by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera when he addressed parliament last week.

As a result of the price formula introduced by the Government, the price of petrol and diesel has been reduced by Rs.30 and Rs.20 per litre respectively when compared with the last price increase on 10th of October 2018.

Therefore, the Government noted that the bus fares and the charges in the transport sectors such as, three wheelers and school vehicles should be reduced proportionately in order to pass the benefits of the global fuel price reduction to the people. 

The Private Bus Owners Association had agreed to reduce bus fair by 4.2 percent but many observers noted that this was not a fair reduction as the government had decreased the fuel prices substantially over the last month and a half.

Accordingly, the Government expects the regulatory institutions which are responsible for the transport sector would take necessary action to ensure that the benefits of the fuel price reduction are passed on to the passengers.
 
At the same time, fisheries and other transport sectors should also pass on the benefit of fuel price reduction to the people as the production and transport costs of such sectors have declined following the decrease of diesel price. This would create a tendency of reducing the prices of goods and services thereby helping to cut the cost of living effectively.

The global prices of crude oil were continuously on the rise in the recent past and consequently the fuel prices in Sri Lanka too increased until October 10th. The fuel price in Sri Lanka was increased for the last time on October 10th and at the that time the global price of a barrel of crude oil was reported as US$85.

However, global price of crude oil was continuously reduced from the month of November 2018 and the average global price of crude oil is currently reported as US$58 per barrel.

The Commonwealth congratulating Sri Lanka's reinstated Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe commended the Premier and other political stakeholders for defending the democratic process and upholding the rule of law and the constitutional framework.
 
"I commend you and other political stakeholders for your steadfastness in defence and support of the rule of law and the constitutional framework," the Secretary-General of Commonwealth Patricia Scotland, QC said in a congratulatory message to Prime Minister Wickremesinghe.
 
The Secretary-General welcomed the peaceful resolution of the political crisis in Sri Lanka and offered the Commonwealth's steadfast support to Sri Lanka to improve political reconciliation, progress constitutional reforms and entrench the rule of law.

The National Peace Council noted that as president Maithripala Sirisena has taken over 3 ministries and has actively participated in governance by vetoing ministerial appointments, appointing commissions of inquiry, and directing the Grama Shakthi development programme, among others,  and therefore in this context, he should not appoint former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, who belongs to his party, as opposition leader.

Full Text of Statement:

"Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has made an initial announcement in parliament that the new Leader of the Opposition would be former president Mahinda Rajapaksa of the SLFP/UPFA.  However, this has been challenged by the TNA whose leader R Sampanthan previously held the position and who has not been removed from this position.  This has led to a situation where there are currently two Leaders of the Opposition similar to the situation of Sri Lanka having two Prime Ministers in the recent past!  

The National Peace Council believes that the position of opposition leader cannot be ignored by those who are concerned with political morality and adherence to traditions, conventions and the rule of law.
 
We note that President Sirisena holds three important cabinet ministries for himself, these being Defence, Mahaweli Development and Environment.  In addition, he has taken a fourth to himself, which is the former Ministry of Law and Order dealing with police and amalgamated it with the Defence Ministry.  By taking these ministries to himself President Sirisena has entrenched himself and SLFP/UPFA policies within the government. 
 
It can also be seen that President Sirisena is actively participating in governance by vetoing ministerial appointments, appointing commissions of inquiry, and directing the Grama Shakthi development programme, among others.  The appointment of former president Rajapaksa who belongs to his party as opposition leader in this context is a contradiction in terms.  In these circumstances a legal question arises whether the SLFP/UPFA can, or ought to, be given the Leader of the Opposition’s position.
 
It appears that the idea of governance of many in the polity is to find loopholes in the law and use political power to get their way. This can be seen in the denial of Mr Rajapaksa and other SLFP/UPFA parliamentarians that they obtained membership of the SLPP.  They were publicly televised accepting such membership shortly after President Sirisena’s abortive dissolution of parliament on November 9 which was ruled as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.  In legal terms, verbal statements are taken as evidence of contract between parties and thus leaders ought to be bound by their statements for which they can be legally sued or made responsible.
 
The National Peace Council believes that the judiciary needs to be called on to look into the legal aspects of the conflict and ways of ending it. It is essential that politicians in general and leaders in politics in particular should be held accountable for the actions and assertions they make if the people are to have confidence in governance.  The judiciary seems to be the only institutional vehicle in the polity at the present time that can ensure this level of democratic accountability. Failure to do so will be tantamount to a denial of the aspirations of all Sri Lankans who wish to have a stable government at the dawn of another New Year."

The Ceylon Electricity Board will be made a profitable institution and measures will be taken to provide subsidies to the customers, says Minister of Power, Energy and Business Development Ravi Karunanayake.
 
He stated this during a meeting held with the representatives of 58 trade unions of Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) yesterday. Majority of the representatives pointed out that many institutions including the CEB are engaged in undisciplined financial activities.
 
They also pointed out that rendering the supply of electricity services to a private company despite the redundancy of employees causes a huge loss to the government. Accordingly, the Minister had promised to make the CEB a profitable institution and provide subsidies to its customers by making reductions in electricity bills.
 
Minister Karunanayake had also stated that he intends to remove financial and employee anomalies prevailing in the CEB.
 
The meeting, held at the Power and Energy and Business Development Ministry, was joined by the State Minister of Power & Renewable Energy Champika Premadasa, Secretary to the Ministry B.M.S. Batagoda, General Secretary of CEB Employees’ Union Ranjan Jayalal, Secretary of CEB National Workers’ Association Ajith Devapriya and several others. (Derana)

The subjects and government agencies of the new Ministries have not been gazetted yet causing difficulties for the Ministries to function it is reported. The delay has been caused as President Maithripala Sirisena left the country on a private holiday with his family without signing the Gazette. 

Government sources say the President appears to be hampering the functioning of Ministries by allowing them to be stalled as it was following the October 26 political coup. Political insiders say the President’s intention is to embarrass the new UNF government by purposely failing to carry out his duties.

A group has complained to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Police regarding the October 26 unconstitutional political plot requesting that the conspirators be brought before the law following a proper investigation. 

The complaint has been made by the Purawesi Balaya organization which also submitted a comprehensive document detailing the incident. 

Political critic Gamini Viyangoda, Prof. Sarath Wijesooriya visited the CID representing the organization.

The United States Government has charged Jaliya Chitran Wickramasuriya with two counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering and one count of immigration fraud.

This is in connection with the embezzlement of US$ 320,000 funds of the Sri Lankan government intended for the purchase of a new embassy building there.

Wickramasuriya was appointed as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the United States and Mexico in August 2008 by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is his first cousin.

“From around late 2012 to November 2014, the defendant Jaliya Wickramasuriya devised and intended to devise a scheme to defraud the government of Sri Lanka during the purchase of the embassy, and to obtain money by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises,” according to the indictment unsealed last week by the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

The embezzlement of state funds was reported by the US government to Sri Lankan authorities in 2014, which led to a request by the US that Wickramasuriya be recalled from diplomatic service in that country. While President Rajapaksa did recall Wickramasuriya, no criminal charges were filed against him by Sri Lankan authorities, nor did the Rajapaksa regime waive the diplomatic immunity that complicated efforts to charge the former ambassador in the United States.

The thirteen-page indictment filed by US prosecutors subsequent to an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit sets out the alleged criminal scheme in detail.

“Between 2008 and 2014, defendant Jaliya Chitran Wickramasuriya served as Ambassador from the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the United States. While serving as Ambassador, the defendant also owned an operated company in Sri Lanka named Ceylon Royal Tea and Supplies, and a company in the state of Georgia named Ceylon Royal Tea and Supplies, collectively ‘Ceylon Royal Tea.”

“In 2012, the defendant was involved in selecting 3024 Whitehaven St NW, Washington D.C. as the location for the new embassy. In 2013, the defendant caused official funds from Sri Lanka to be wired to a HSBC bank account in Washington D.C., which were used to purchase the new embassy.”

“On or about January 12, 2013, the defendant prepared a memorandum in which he instructed the Title Company and Closing Attorney to disburse the unaccounted for $332,027.35 in funds to two third parties, both of which had no role in the real estate transaction. The defendant signed this memorandum.”

According to Wickramasuriya’s instructions, US$ 82,000 was to be disbursed by wire or cheque to a US based consultant company, which is not named in the indictment, but is identified in FCID B Reports as Paper Crown LLC, owned by a close Wickramasuriya associate, Vinod Basnayake. $250,000 was to be disbursed to a Sri Lankan company, described as “Sri Lankan Company C” in the indictment, which was in fact PPP International Pvt Ltd, owned by a Brendan Sosa. “On or about January 15, 2013, the defendant, using a non-embassy e-mail account, emailed this memorandum, containing the disbursement instructions for the excess funds, to the Closing Attorney.”

The disbursements to these two private companies “were not authorised by the government of Sri Lanka,” according to the indictment. On or about January 17, 2013, the Title Company successfully wired $82,027.35 from the Title Company Bank Account” to Paper Crown LLC, which was nominated by Wickramasuriya. On the same day, “the Title Company attempted to wire $250,000” to PPP International in Sri Lanka. “However, the wire was unsuccessful because an intermediary bank rejected it.”

Wickramasuriya was notified of the failed wire transfer. Thereafter, “on or about January 20, 2013, the defendant, using his personal email account, sent an email to Closing Attorney that instructed Closing Attorney to mail a cheque to Sri Lanka for $250,000” payable to PPP International.

A cheque was instead made out for $250,000 payable to Wickramasuriya directly, and mailed to the address of Ceylon Royal Tea, Wickramasuriya’s company in Sri Lanka. “Initially, the defendant’s efforts to have the cheque cashed in Sri Lanka were not successful,” the indictment reads. On or about March 19, 2013, a co-conspirator of Wickramasuriya directed the closing attorney to prepare documentation indicating that PPP International was involved in the real estate transaction so that the funds could be released to their bank account in Sri Lanka. However, this company “was not involved in the real estate transaction” according to the indictment.

Then, on or about March 19, 2013, Wickramasuriya “using his personal email account, told Closing Attorney not to send any emails regarding” PPP International to his official Sri Lankan government email account. The next day, according to the indictment, the funds were successfully received in Sri Lanka.

According to a report filed with the Colombo Fort Magistrates Court by the FCID in a connected investigation, at least Rs 18 million of the money embezzled from the embassy and laundered through PPP International was later deposited in the Sri Lankan bank account of Ceylon Royal Tea, the company owned by Wickramasuriya.

The indictment further charges that when Sri Lankan embassy officials began investigating the suspicious transfers,Wickramasuriya took steps to cover up his misdeeds. He gave embassy officials a document labeled “Addendum to the Settlement Statement,” the indictment says. “The Addendum was undated, not written on official letterhead, and unsigned by the buyer or seller of the embassy property. The Addendum detailed payments made as ‘Commission to Agents’ totaling $332,027.35. The Addendum stated that this purported commission was split evenly into two payments of $166,013.68 each to the respective real estate company’s of the buyer and seller. “In fact, no such commission payments totaling $332,027.35 were made” to either company, according to the indictment. The indictment further details how the former ambassador replaced the embezzled funds after his scheme had been unearthed by embassy officials.

“In or around October 2013, the defendant approached the Embassy Realtor with a request for the Embassy Realtor to receive a money transfer of approximately $332,000. Based on prior communication with the defendant, the Embassy Realtor hoped that this transfer was payment for a proposed renovation to the embassy, which needed to be changed from a residence to office space.”

After the conversation with Wickramasuriya, the indictment says, the realtor received five payments totaling $332,000. Of this sum $40,000 came from a Sri Lankan company with a note stating “Loan to Jaliya Wickramasuriya”, $125,000 came from an ‘acquaintance’ of Wickramasuriya, $32,000 from the former ambassador himself and sums of $73,265 and $61,735 respectively from two US-based companies employed by Wickramasuriya as consultants to the embassy. A cashier’s cheque was drawn out for this total sum of $ 332,027.35 issued to ‘the Embassy of Sri Lanka,” the indictment reveals.

“The defendant personally collected the cashier’s cheque from the Embassy Realtor. The defendant subsequently deposited the cashier’s cheque into the Sri Lankan government bank account. The defendant subsequently provided the Sri Lankan authorities with a letter from the Embassy Realtor and addressed to the defendant, which stated that a cashier’s cheque in the amount of $332,027.35 was being issued to the Sri Lankan embassy as a ‘final reimbursement’. This letter was purportedly signed by the Embassy Realtor. In fact, however, the Embassy Realtor did not write or sign this letter,” the indictment exposes.

The charges in the United States are restricted to wire fraud, money laundering and immigration fraud.Wickramasuriya also faces prosecution in Sri Lankan jurisdiction in connection with the same events, for charges of criminal breach of trust and forgery, among other offenses.

Source : CDN

Despite the government’s efforts to crack down on ragging two first years students of the Wayamba University have been assaulted by seniors for resisting ragging. According to sources, the students are freshers in the Technology faculty. 

Speaking to the media one student who faced the assault said the seniors had ordered the students to shave, get short haircuts and come in stipulated clothing into university. “We, however, went in normally just like them,” the student said claiming this resulted in the brutal attack.

The victims had also been a part of a group that had organized an anti-ragging awareness campaign in the university. “They said ragging had existed for many years and questioned as to who we were to stop it,” the attacked student said. According to him, President of the Technology Faculty students union had also attempted to snatch his phone as he recorded the incident.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says Christmas is an opportune time to get rid of divisiveness and bring amity among all Sri Lankans regardless of differences and it is a time to remember the past with hopes for the future.
 
Following is the full text of Prime Minister's message:
 
The life of Jesus Christ brought hope and reconciliation to a fragmented world. Christmas is the season of great joy. It's a time for remembering the past, with hope for the future. It is an opportune time to rid ourselves of divisiveness and bring about a sense of brotherhood and amity among all Sri Lankans, going beyond the barriers of caste, creed and language.
 
Let me wish each of you the Joy and Peace that the Christ Child brings.
 
Have a Blessed and joyful Christmas!

(Colombo Page)

Following the devastating tsunami that has reportedly killed over 400 people in Indonesia Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe has written to Indonesian President Joko Widodo to express his condolences. 

Wickramasinghe said he was sorrowed by the news of the tsunami that led to the loss of life and infrastructure in the country while expressing his solidarity with Indonesia and extending his condolences to the families of the victims.

A brazen shooting on Christmas Day morning at the Tangalle Kudawella Fisheries harbour has shocked the locality. The shooting has left four individuals dead and another five injured Police said. 

The incident had occurred around 7.15 am today when two unidentified gunmen arriving in a motorcycle had opened fire a group gathered in the harbour. Police say a T56 weapon was used in the shooting. Preliminary investigations have revealed a possible personal dispute between two fisher groups in the area had led to the killings. The groups had clashed on several occasions previously the Police said.