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The Chief Executive Officer of SriLankan Airlines Suren Ratwatte has resigned from his position. 

Ratwatte had tendered his resignation to SriLankan airlines Chairman Ranjith Fernando. He joined the national carrier as CEO in October 2015 but had failed to revive the loss making institution as expected.

Chairperson of the Office on Missing Persons (OMP), Saliya Pieris PC refuted several articles in the media as well as social media quoting him as having informed protesting families at Mulaithivu that the OMP can release the name list of the disappeared during the final stages of the war or those who surrendered to the security forces, if a written request is submitted. 

Saliya Pieris in a release stressed that the OMP did not at any stage state that they possess any list of surrendees or of the disappeared. Pieris said that what was conveyed to the families was that the issue of those who surrendered and are alleged to have disappeared is high on the list of the OMP’s priorities. 

The full text of the release: "The attention of the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) is drawn to several articles in the media as well as social media quoting its Chairperson, Mr. Saliya Pieris as having told protesting families at Mulaithivu that the OMP can release the name list of the disappeared during the final stages of the war or those who surrendered to the security forces, if a written request is submitted. This is not accurate.

The seven commissioners of the OMP were in Mullaithivu on Saturday, June 2 to meet with families of the missing and disappeared, civil society organisations and activists working on the issue of disappearances and the media at the Mulaitivu District Secretariat in order to share the OMP’s organizational plan and strategies, as well as to hear public views and incorporate suggestions on the structure and operations. In addition, the Chairperson met with families of the disappeared who were protesting outside the District Secretariat.

The Chairperson of the OMP did not at any stage state that the OMP is in possession of any list of surrendees or of the disappeared. The OMP does not possess such a list. What the Chairperson did say is that that the issue of those who surrendered and are alleged to have disappeared is high on the list of the OMP’s priorities. What was asked from the OMP by the families was to obtain the lists of surrendees from the authorities. The Chairperson requested them to submit this request in writing to the OMP and assured the families that the OMP will immediately follow up the same with the authorities. He also stressed that he cannot give false promises or assurances nor promise a quick solution to what is a complex issue. He also stressed the desire of the OMP to continue engaging with families in order to ensure progress in the search for the missing and disappeared."

The Attorney General has informed the Secretary to the President that releasing section C350 of the Bond Commission report will not impact the ongoing investigations into the Central Bank treasury bond scam, the Presidential Secretariat said. 
 
Section C 350 or the ‘Forensic Report on Communication Information Analysis’ - is said to contain detailed phone records collected by the CID of conversations between individuals connected to Perpetual Treasuries Limited including its owner Arjun Aloysius and politicians, journalists, religious leaders and civil society members.
 
President’s Secretary Austin Fernando had sought the advice of the Attorney General on releasing certain sections of the Bond Commission report which had not been released previously, based on several requests received by him from various parties.  
 
Issuing a statement to the media on June 1, the President’s Secretary said that there have been repeated calls from various sections for the release of the names of 118 MPs who allegedly accepted money from Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL).
 
However, Fernando said that he does not know where the media or others who talks about it got their information as he is not aware if there are 118 such names. 
 
He stated that MP Dayasiri Jayasekara has requested from him, under the Right to Information Act, for the CID investigations reports as well as all other documents and information mentioned in the Bond Commission’s report and not presented to the parliament.
 
However, he said that he cannot do so due to the advice given to him by the Attorney General and the Bribery Commission DG and that he cannot release those information without asking them. 
 
Fernando said that he made a request to the Attorney General in writing seeking his advice on the matter. 
On June 5, it was reported that sections C 350 to C 360 of the report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Central Bank bond scam, which had not been released previously, have been handed over to the Speaker of Parliament.

The proposal made by Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera to implement the 'Enterprise Sri Lanka' Interest Subsidy Loan Scheme was approved by the Cabinet yesterday. The Cabinet of Ministers approved to establish a Secretariat at the Ministry of Finance and Media to coordinate the implementation and promotion of the Enterprise Sri Lanka exhibitions under the theme, "Vision 2025". The Enterprise Sri Lanka programme was one of the main proposals presented by Minister Samaraweera in his 2018 Blue-Green budget. 

The government expects to disburse LKR 60,000 million through state and private banks to would be entrepreneurs and another LKR 5000 million has been set aside by the Treasury to reimburse the interest subsidy to the banks. Accordingly, 16 different loan schemes have been proposed to aide a new entrepreneur class in the fields of Agro, fisheries industries as well as for small and medium enterprises.

Minister Samaraweera said that apart from young entrepreneurs, women and differently abled persons will also be provided special opportunities to take part in this programme. Women and differently abled persons who come forward to take part in this programme will be offered additional interests subsidy of 10% and 15% more respectively. 

Samaraweera stated that the government's objective is to ensure that no entrepreneur is ever denied credit due to the lack of collateral, but is able to access financing given viability of the project proposals. 

"The government expects the SME sector to be the backbone of the economy. However, the lack of capital or the difficulty in accessing capital due to both the cost of capital and the requirement for collateral have been the main impediments in the development of start ups of the SMEs", Samaraweera said. The Enterprise Sri Lanka loan schemes will be ceremonially launched by the President and the Prime Minister on 22 June at the BMICH.

Police have arrested Yashodha Range Bandara, the son of State Minister Palitha Range Bandara, over the suspicion of drunk driving and misuse of public property. 

He has been arrested while admitted in the Sri Jayawardenapura Hospital following a motor accident on Wednesday (6), the Police Spokesman said. The Chairman of the Puttalam Pradeshiya Sabha and Yasodha Range Bandara, 25, were injured when the vehicle driven by the latter had lost control and crashed into a house in the Kottapitiya junction, on the Chilaw-Puttalam road.

A double cab, belonging to the Ministry of Irrigation, was involved in the accident while it was later reported that the state minister’s son had been under the influence of alcohol at the time. 

Arachchikattuwa Police had launched an investigation into the incident.  Chilaw Magistrate and District Court Judge yesterday ordered the Arachchikattuwa Police to arrest Yashoda Range Bandara and Puttalam Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Anjana Sandaruwan.

Source : Ada Derana

The National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) has proceeded with the plan to award a multi-million dollar water project in the Gampaha district, first mooted through an unsolicited proposal five years ago by former Economic Development Minister, Basil Rajapaksa, to a controversial firm involved in the building of the constantly malfunctioning Norochcholai Power plant.
 
The US$ 229.5mn contract for the Gampaha, Attanagalla and Minuwangoda Integrated Water Supply Scheme was granted in August 2016 to China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), despite serious concerns raised by the Auditor General’s (AG) Department on various aspects including questions over the qualification of the Chinese contractor to undertake such a major project.
 
“It was observed that while the Memorandum of Understanding entered into originally by Sri Lanka in 2010 was with a company named China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation (CNMEI & EC), which presented its list of qualifications, the contract was ultimately signed by the Chairman of NWSDB on May 15, 2013 with a different company named CMEC,” the Auditor General’s Department raised in a query addressed to the Chairman of the NWSDB, dated January 24, 2018.
 
The Auditor General’s Department has, therefore, called for an explanation as to why the contract was signed with a different ‘sub-contracted company’ and not with the company with which the agreement had been reached originally.
 
In its query, the Auditor General’s Department makes note of the fact that there was no evidence of even a registration certificate in the set of documents submitted by CMEC related to the contract.

The Department points out that even a letter of recommendation issued by the Chinese Embassy in Colombo in June 2010 to the then Minister of Water Supply and Drainage, had mentioned CNMEI & EC as the contractor while the proposed financier of the project, China Development Bank had also issued their ‘Letter of Intent’ to finance the project to CNMEI & EC.
 
“Further, as per procurement guidelines, only the Secretary of the respective Ministry has the authority to sign a contract of over Rs. 500 million but in this particular contract, the Chairman of NWS&DB has signed it violating procurement guidelines,” the AG’s Department has highlighted.
 
The project proposes to provide tap water to around 150,000 households benefiting around 600,000 people in the entire Divisional Secretariat areas of Attanagalla, Gampaha, Minuwangoda and a part of Mahara and Mirigama.
 
Eighty-five percent of the project is proposed to be funded by a loan from the China Development Bank (CDB) with the balance to be financed by Bank of Ceylon (BOC).
 
On October 17, 2017, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga whose hometown is Attanagalla, wrote to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe citing her serious concerns about the decision to proceed with the controversial contractor.
 
“I am very concerned about the manner in which this project was awarded to a company which is apparently not qualified to carry out such a major project,” the letter which has also been copied to Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Minister for Water Supply and Drainage, Rauff Hakeem states.
 
Amidst the signing of the agreement with CMEC, which now holds the legal authority to implement the project, it is learnt that four out of 20 tasks mentioned in the qualification list of the project screening report names a third company by the name of Tiajin Water Industry Engineering and Equipment Company Ltd (TWIEE), which is an associate company of CNMEI & EC. The same firm has also undertaken 10 out of 18 tasks classified as foreign construction work.
 
“As CMEC does not meet the project requirements, it has entered into a partnership with TWIEE and submitted the qualification of TWIEE. However, as the agreement is only with CMEC, TWIEE has no legal tie up with the project. Hence, the contract agreement is not with a party qualified for the project,” the AG’s Department points out.
 
In addition, the Department has also raised concerns on the suitability of CNMEI &EC as the contractors given that the company has only involved in projects related to energy generation, hydro electricity, telecommunication, radio, and electronic transmission.
Although they had been involved in major projects worldwide, their experience in projects related to water supply and drainage has been limited to about a mere four projects in the past 10 years.
 
Sources from the Auditor General’s Department said that the department had in 2016 alone raised similar queries on three occasions dated January 6, December 22 and December 31 because there were serious doubts about the suitability of CMEC to undertake the project.
 
The sources noted that the Strategic Enterprise Management Agency (SEMA) in 2012 had also recommended reconsidering the decision to hand over the project to CMEC given that the Norochcholai coal power plant had broken down about 35 times since it was commissioned in 2011.
 
“The Ministry of Water Supply and the NWSDB had awarded this contract to CMEC in violation of many Government procedures as stipulated in the Tender Procedure Guidelines, Financial Regulations, as well as Cabinet approvals. There is no justification to continue with this agreement with CMEC, especially by a Government committed to transparency and Good Governance,” former President Chandrika Bandaranaike said in a recent letter addressed to Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, urging the cancellation of the project.
 
“There is a serious issue regarding the Company to which this contract has been awarded, namely CMEC of China. It is this Company that built the Norochcholai power generation plant. That contract too was awarded, without calling for tenders to CMEC who has doubtful credentials reconstruction of power projects or water supply projects.

“Their technology and financial ability has been questioned as a consequence of the Norochcholai machinery breaking down 38 times in five years, since it was first commissioned in 2011,” she highlighted explaining the gravity of the situation.
 
It is learnt that although unsolicited water supply projects were suspended with the change of Government in January 2015, a project review committee appointed to inquire into unsolicited water supply projects recommended the continuation of the CMEC contract. Subsequently, the Cabinet granted approval and requested the External Resources Department of the Ministry of Finance to negotiate with China Development Bank to secure funds,” she said.
 
In February 2016, Cabinet granted approval for a loan agreement between NWSDB and CDB to finance 85 percent of project cost and with the Bank of Ceylon for the remainder.

The Cabinet in August 2016 authorised the Treasury to issue a letter of undertaking to CDB for US$ 146.3mn, which is 75 percent of the loan amount, in addition to a letter of guarantee.
 
According to the report, lowest estimated rates for the tasks were offered by NWSDB, with the changing in costs being at 11 per cent. Estimates for the treatment plant by CMEC indicated an increase in cost which was at Rs. 1,554.99 million, change in cost as high as 51 percent. Therefore, the NWSDB could have done the project for Rs. 1,554.99 million less.
 
The report highlights that even though procurement guidelines state that only a maximum of 20 percent can be paid as an advance to a contractor, an advance payment of 34 percent was made to CMEC. A further 50 percent advance was made to sub-contractor NWSDB, in complete violation of the above.
 
The project is also mired in financial controversy after the Water Board obtained a loan of USD 34.3 million from the Bank of Ceylon that lay in the bank accounts of the CMEC from May 19, 2017 to December 15, 2017 or a seven month period.
 
However, during that entire period, the Water Board paid interest of Rs 454.4 million for the loan, to the BOC, while the contractor profited from the money in the bank, the AG report highlights.
 
The AG report also noted that the Contractor CMEC was paid USD 16.2 million on August 11, 2017, purportedly for work conducted from February 10, 2014 to March 31, 2017.

However, this money was only secured through a loan facility only in August and September 2016. 

Source : Sunday Observer

Nuwara Eliya Police have found another child at the house of the Chairman of Talawakele-Lindula Urban Council who is currently in remand custody over a child abduction case. 

Police spokesperson said that the boy (11) is currently under police custody with the Nuwaraeliya Police conducting further investigations.

Four suspects including the Chairman and a Councillor of the Talawakele-Lindula Urban Council were arrested last Sunday (03), on charges of kidnapping a 5-year old girl in 2017.

The arrested suspects were presented at the Nuwara Eliya Magistrate’s Court on the 4th and were ordered to be remanded till the 11th.

MP Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thero says that an internationally accepted legal document should be formulated for the regulation of Glyphosate. Speaking at a conference held in Colombo yesterday (05), he said that there should be more support for public awareness programs on this matter.
 
He states that, presently, there are 32 containers with Glyphosate waiting to be released at the port, and that these Glyphosate imported from various countries should be inspected via a proper regulating authority before being released.
 
The thero got emotional while recollecting an incident he encountered related to the Glyphosate issue. According to him, a 20 year old man, whose father and uncle also died of kidney disease, was sent to India, by the help of the priest, for treatment of his kidney disease. However, the young man has died at the age of 28 due to the same disease. Rathana Thero says that hearing of such incidents is upsetting and yet the government has no policy regarding Glyphosate. 
 
He further said that it is regrettable that we are unable to discuss about something that is a matter of attention in the whole world. He says that there is no dialogue in the country regarding this issue due the lack of awareness among the public. He added that no politician in the country is currently addressing this situation.
 
Source : Ada Derana

After the inauguration of the second session of the 8th parliament, the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) will be convening for the first time, today (07).
 
It was proposed at the inaugural session of the current Parliament that, the previous Committee should be reinstated. However, a member of the previous COPE committee, MP Weerakumara Dissanayake, was replaced by MP Jayantha Samaraweera.

Accordingly, the COPE committee comprising of 26 MPs will be meet this evening. A chairperson for the committee would be selected at the meeting and reportedly, the previous Chairperson, MP Sunil Handunnetti, will be re-elected to the post. Meanwhile, MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage stated that all the members of the COPE committee should sign affidavits saying that they haven’t received money from Arjun Aloysius.

Source : Ada Derana

 TNL Chairman Shan Wickramasinghe says the equipment belonging to TNL from its Polgahawela broadcasting station was taken after presenting an incorrect fault. 

According to him TNL has made the necessary payments to the government in order to broadcast pointing out that his organization which has been operating for 25 years has not faced similar accusations previously. 

Meanwhile Director of TNL, Ishini Wickramasinghe says legal action will be taken in this regard while presenting their case before the courts.

Sri Lanka was elected to one of four (04) seats available for the Asia-Pacific, in the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, for the period 2018-2022, at the election that took place in Paris during the 7th General Assembly of UNESCO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Eight countries contested from the Asia-Pacific Group, namely, Bangladesh, China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Malaysia, Palau and Sri Lanka. With Palau withdrawing its candidature earlier today, seven countries stood for election. The countries that succeeded in being elected are: China, Sri Lanka, Japan and Kazakhstan, securing 123, 122, 107, and 98 votes respectively.

This is a significant milestone for Sri Lanka as it was able to garner more votes than Japan while falling behind China by just one vote. This is also the first time that Sri Lanka contested for a seat in the Committee since becoming a State Party to the Convention in 2008 . Political analysts pointed out that this demonstrates the confidence the international community has placed on Sri Lanka under the new unity government that has made great strides with regard to democracy and good governance. 

Sri Lanka was able to get more votes than established Asian countries such as Thailand and Malaysia due to efforts undertaken by the current government to strengthen the rule of law, human rights and reconciliation, analysts said. 

The Foreign Ministry said that Sri Lanka recognizes that intangible cultural heritage is an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity in the face of growing globalization, and that an understanding of the intangible cultural heritage of different communities helps promote intercultural dialogue, and encourages mutual respect for other ways of life. 

The decision to seek election to the Committee at this juncture is driven by the Government’s commitment to the process of reconciliation in the country through which Sri Lanka endeavours to preserve and promote ancient traditions of all communities in the country while fostering respect and understanding of each other’s ways of life, practices, customs and traditions.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa claims he had no knowledge of being appointed as an advisor to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP)
While claiming he loves the SLFP however Rajapaksa had said he would not be part of the party during the time is is aligned with the United National Party (UNP). 

He had also said when the Pohottuwa party is making major progress he has no interest to join the SLFP claiming that he will not tolerate being thrown out and then invited back if and when others in the SLFP feels like it.