News

The Director General of the Bribery Commission President’s Counsel Sarath Jayamanne says the commission has not received the adequate facilities to fulfil the objectives expected from the country’s anti-graft commission.

According to him the Bribery Commission still does not possess the authority to file cases based on the evidence coming from the Presidential Commission of Inquiry and that it can only summon the witnesses once again and record their statements. He also questioned as to how bribery and corruption can be eradicated in the country without increasing the wages of the officials of the Bribery Commission.

Jayamanne further added that a section of the commission’s old building has broken down and that a portion of the officials are at a different location and also that a new building will be needed if new officials are recruited. Although permission has been granted for a new building, the Urban Development Authority (UDA) has blocked the move, he revealed. 
Source : Derana

In a bid to enhance Sri Lanka’s efforts to strengthen and modernise the general education system in the country via the General Education Modernisation Project (GEM) , the Sri Lankan government signed a USD 100 million credit agreement with the World Bank today.

The General Education Modernization Project will modernise and diversify the curriculum of general education in keeping with the transformation taking place in Sri Lanka’s society and economy. Greater emphasis will be accorded to strategic subjects that are key for economic development such as English and mathematics. 

The project will also help broaden the choices available at the GCE A-level grades so that students have the flexibility in selecting subjects from arts, management, science and technology to vocational streams.  Learning material for English language and mathematics will be developed digitally and the focus will be on children from schools located in more disadvantaged regions.

“Sri Lanka has made impressive progress in expanding access to education. However, to reach the status of an Upper Middle-Income Country, it needs to further improve the overall learning outcomes. Sri Lanka’s education policy makers recognise that a high-quality general education system will enable students to meet the demands of 21st century jobs,” Idah Z. Pswarayi-Riddihough, World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives said. 

The project will benefit school students both at the primary (grades 1-5) and at the secondary (grades 6-13) levels. Technical education and vocational training institutes, academic and managerial staff of the schools will also benefit from this project.

The case filed regarding two attempts to assassinate Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian, M.A. Sumanthiran will be taken up tomorrow, July 30 at the Colombo High Court to serve indictments on the suspects.

In January 2017, Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) reported to the Kilinochchi Magistrate’s court that they had apprehended five suspects in connection with plotting the assassination of the Member of Parliament from the Jaffna District. The suspects, Karalasingham Kulendran, Gnanasekaralingam Rasmadan, Murugaiya Thawendran, Welayudan Wijeyakumar and Lewis Mariyanagam Ajanthan were apprehended by the TID in 2017.

The suspects were initially arrested under the normal law and granted bail, unlike in the case of arrests made under the PTA where suspects can be held in detention during the course of investigation and trial.

TID has however decided to indict the suspects under PTA regulations for several reasons, including the fact that some witnesses had refused to testify if the trial was conducted in the Northern Province fearing reprisals.

Ordinary law also only allows people to be indicted on charges of conspiracy to murder, whereas suspects could be indicted on charges of attempted murder under the PTA. Due to the nature of the case, the suspects were indicted in the Colombo High Court, which has sole jurisdiction in PTA cases.

The B report filed before the Kilinochchi Magistrate’s Court in 2017, reads that the suspects “on the advice and guidance from several persons keeping contact with them, have kept in their possession high impact claymore bombs, locally manufactured detonators and other weapons to be used at several assassination attempts made against the parliamentarian within the Jaffna Peninsula”. 
Source : Sunday Observer

The ‘Aqua Culture Battle’ was launched by the Fisheries Ministry in line with the government's 'Gamperaliya' and 'Grama Shakthi' development programmes to promote a rural economic revolution through the fishing industry, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development and Rural Economy State Minister Dilip Wedaarachchi said.

Under this programme, inland fisheries are being promoted to launch fishing-based industries to earn foreign exchange through value addition. The State Minister was addressing the gathering at Diyawara Aruna attitudinal development programme at the Pelawatte Aqua Culture Development Authority auditorium in Battaramulla, organised by the Jathika Dheewara Maha Sammelanaya on July 23.

He said this was aimed at transforming fishermen into entrepreneurs. Under the programme, new technology would also be introduced to the fishing industry to enable local fishermen to compete with their counterparts abroad.

Steps would be taken to further develop the inland fishing industry by setting up tank based fishermen's unions. He had also directed the Aqua Culture Development Authority to formulate a five-year programme to develop the inland fishing industry.

Already, 12 new varieties of fish had been introduced. Prawn and crab culture development programmes are promoted with a pilot project in the Hambantota district. Under this programme, the crab production industry was launched on 42 acres in Rekawa. It is also hoped to increase this industry to another 200 areas.

Explaining the rationale behind the disbandment of the Prison Intelligence Unit, Minister of Justice and Prison Reforms, Thalatha Athukorala said the unit has been a failure.

“What is the point of such a unit if all these corrupt things such as use of mobile phones by prisoners and drug dealing is happening within the prison” she said. 

According to the Minister she has received a large number of complaints regarding such malpractices. “Even today people known to me have received calls originating from within the prison” she revealed. The Minister said no final decision has been taken about the unit however yet.

She also said that it is clear that no action has been taken by Department officials even when the intel unit has provided them with information.

Police Organised Crime Prevention Division (OCPD) recorded a statement from UNP MP Vijayakala Maheswaran in Jaffna, over her controversial speech on the LTTE. The former State Minister had been questioned for around three-and-a-half hours.
 
Speaking during a state event held in Jaffna on July 2, she had said that the LTTE should be resurrected for the freedom of the Tamil people.
 
Several parties including sections of the United National Party (UNP) had demanded action against Maheswaran prompting the Speaker to inform the Attorney General to investigate whether the Jaffna District MP’s controversial statement has violated the Constitution or any laws and to take necessary legal action. The AG had, in turn, instructed the Inspector General of Police to conduct investigations into the statement.  Maheswaran had resigned from her State Minister portfolio on July 5 following the backlash over the speech. 
 
Last Friday (July 20), the OCPD informed the Colombo Magistrate’s Court that  they have obtained testimonies from nearly 40 individuals including government employees and media persons, who were presented at the event in which the former State Minister delivered the said statement. A request had also been made to the Speaker to grant permission to obtain testimonies from Maheswaran and several other MPs, who had attended the event.
 
Source : Derana

The Water Board has announced that a nine-hour water cut will be imposed in several parts of Colombo District from 9.00pm today to 6.00am tomorrow (29).

The water supply to the following areas will be suspended during that time period:

Wellawatta, Dehiwala, Mount Lavinia, Ratmalana, Kalubowila, several parts of Nugegoda including Nedimala, Rajagiriya Royal Park, Lake Garden, Bandaranayakepura, Pelawatta and Mulleriyawa.

Meanwhile the water supply to Colombo 05 will be at low pressure, the water board said.

The Cabinet of Ministers, on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance and Mass Media Mangala Samaraweera decided to write off the non-consumption loans granted up to Rs One Hundred Thousand to women by all registered Finance companies.

Further, the government has also decided to introduce an interest rate cap of 30 percent per annum on all future loans given by Micro Finance Companies.

This scheme of relief initially will be limited to women who have obtained microfinance loans for non-consumption purposes in the drought-affected districts.

Accordingly, the Minister of Finance and Mass Media Mangala Samaraweera said that women who obtained such loan amounting to Rs 100,000.00 and below can apply for complete write off of the interest and the capital payment.

The General Treasury will reimburse the loss incurred by the micro finance companies for having written off the capital component. The Government has allocated Rs 500 million for this year to initiate the reimbursement program. The micro finance companies will have to absorb the interest component of the loan written off.

Micro finance institutions are currently providing micro loans without collateral through a door-to-door strategy of high interest rate loans amounting to 40 percent to 220 percent per annum for women seeking economic activities and income generation sources. When multiple loans are obtained under micro finance scheme, people have to pay much higher interest than the initial loan amount due to higher interest premium. 

Source : Colombo Gazette

The Court of Appeal yesterday (25) extended the Interim Order preventing the FCID from arresting former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

The Court re-fixed to mention the appeal filed by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, seeking an Order to prevent Financial Crime Investigation Division (FCID) from arresting him, on 28 September.

The Court reinforced the Interim Order by making it an Inter Parte Interim Order, preventing the Financial Crime Investigation Division (FCID) from acting on the Certificate (B Report), under the offences against the Public Property Act, in the Magistrate’s Court against former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Rajapaksa contends the construction of the D. A. Rajapakse memorial and museum is a civil matter, and that there is no criminal breach of trust and he has not misappropriated money.

The government will start a new Development Bank and will offer LKR 10 billion in loans to Sri Lankan entrepreneurs during the first round of financing,” Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said. 

Speaking at the Northern Entrepreneur Awards 2017 organised by the  National Enterprise Development Authority (NEDA) in association with Yalpanam Chamber of Commerce, in Jaffna, the Premier said that entrepreneurs in the Northern Province will get special incentives to promote entrepreneurship.

“Capital for development will also be given. Northern entrepreneurs will get larger tax reliefs. Tax relief for Capital expenditure is 200% at present but it will be increased to 300%. If your new industry is an industry targeting exports, then the tax is only 14% ,” he said.

The Prime Minister also said that the government is negotiating with India for a major development project for the Northern Province in the scale of the historic Mahaweli project’.

“We are in talks with India for Northern development, in the next 10 years. There was a strong base of entrepreneurship during pre-war times in the North, which the prolonged war destroyed. Some Northern entrepreneurs switched to Colombo while others migrated. Now we should rebuild the economy and speed up growth here, bringing north in par with the rest," he added.

Co-cabinet spokesperson, Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said the Government would forge ahead with the death penalty directive given by President Maithripala Sirisena even if it leads to the loss of GSP Plus.

He was responding to criticism levelled by the European Union and other countries over the Government’s decision to enforce the death penalty for drug traffickers.

Speaking at the Cabinet press conference yesterday, the Minister clarified that the death penalty would be implemented on those who were already convicted on drug related offences and who continue to trade drugs while being behind bars.

“A list 19 such individuals drafted by the intelligence services have been forwarded to the Justice Ministry so that the government can carry out the death sentence,” he said.

The Minister stated that the President’s directive is to mainly address the issues Sri Lanka is having with previously convicted drug traffickers who continue to engage in the trade.

Investigations by Police Narcotics Bureau revealed some suspects arrested for the possession of heroin had been acting on the orders of an inmate at Welikada who is already serving a life sentence for drug related offences. A concurrent investigation by the PNB over the arrest of another individual with 103 kg of heroin revealed that the suspect had been in touch with eight prison officials. Referring to this incident, the Minister said these prison officers will be severely dealt with under the law for aiding drug traffickers.

Source : Daily News

Uva provincial councillors Shasheendra Rajapaksa, Kumarasiri Ratnayake and Sudarshana Denipitiya have left the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) group to sit with the opposition. Sources say they intend to act as independent councillors going forward. 

The trio have taken the decision in retaliation against a speech made by Chief Minister of Uva province Sampath Dissanayake in Tambuttegama on July 18.

While he is said to have apologised, the three councillors will stick to the decision made sources say. Other Councillors had worn black armbands in protest of the speech at the recent council meeting as well.