News

Former Deputy Minister and National Freedom Front stalwart Weerakumara Dissanayake, MP, along with former National Organiser Piyasiri Wijenayake and North Central Provincial Council Member P.B. Kumara, have obtained membership of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, today (11), at the Presidential Secretariat.

The Former official residence of the speaker, 'Mumtaz Mahal' is set to be converted to a Military Training College. According to reliable to sources talks are underway to convert the residence to a Military Training College for the Senior Officers of the Tri-forces. The first round of discussions was held recently in Colombo.

If the project takes off military sources revealed that Senior Officers could undertake certain senior officer courses in Sri Lanka itself. Currently, the military sends officers overseas to countries such as Pakistan in order to complete these courses due to their unavailability in Sri Lanka.

However, sources also claim the project has hit a snag as the land and premises ownership currently lies with the Department of Archeology.

Built in 1929, Mumtaz Mahal was purchased in 1948 to serve as the official residence of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and served in that capacity till a new residence was built in 2000 in close proximity to the New Parliament Complex in Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte. Since then the house has been used by various government entities.

Pic Source: rootsweb.com

Vacation of post letters will be issued today to all railway staff who are continuing the strike sources from the Ministry of Transport said. The staff had previously been warned to return to work but have failed to do so as discussions between the union and authorities failed repeatedly. The strike has been ongoing since last week when the staff went on an unannounced strike citing several demands.

While the Ministry has called on retired staff comprising of engine drivers, railway guards and station masters to report for duty with immediate effect at the office of Additional General Manager of Railways (Operations), the Ministry is also set to recruit new staff as a result. The new staff are to be trained while working alongside the returning retired employees who are also to be given temporary appointments.

With the service being declared as an essential service last week by President Maithripala Sirisena the department will now terminate the employment of workers who do not report to work. However, the Unions have decided to continue with the strike at a meeting held today.

Wariyapola Police have successfully nabbed three suspects along with 70,000 tablets of Tramadol, an opioid pain medication. The arrests had been made on the Wariyapola - Puttalam road near the CTB depot in Wariyapola.

Acting on a tip-off received the team of officers discovered the haul of Tramadol pills which were being transported for sale by the three individuals at the time. The Police arrested two males and one female during the raid.

The suspects aged 49, 50 and 39 are said to be residents of Mannar, Naththandiya and Negombo.

The painkiller is commonly used as a substitute for drugs. Experts claim Tramadol abuse can cause serious consequences and be highly addictive.

Pic Source : justiclawyer.com

Following the recent retirement of DIG Chula De Silva who was heading the Sri Lanka Police Traffic Division, the Police has failed to appoint a successor yet to the vacant post. While DIG De Silva retired on December 6, no officer has been appointed to take up the job despite that almost a week has elapsed since his departure.

According to Police sources while DIG Chula De Silva had formally requested for a service extension he was not granted his request due to top political interference.

However, the Police are said to be in turmoil now as there appears to be no suitable candidate for the job. The outgoing DIG was highly experienced in the area of Traffic Management.

No acting DIG has been appointed as well with Senior DIG Crime and Traffic Management, Nandana Munasinghe having to overlook the division now amidst his workload.

Reports also claim that the names of the heads of the Criminal Records Division (CRD) and the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) have been suggested for the post but no final decision has been made yet.

Anniversary celebrations were kicked off with a series of religious programmes commencing from a flag blessing ceremony at the Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura. The Hindu religious ceremony was conducted at the Ponnambalamwaneshwarar Hindu temple l in Colombo while the Islamic ceremony was held at the Fort Jummah Masjidh and the Christian Service was conducted at the St. Lucia's Cathedral. An all-night Pirith chanting ceremony was also conducted at the Welisara Navy camp.

The Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force (CNVF) was formed in 1937 and after World War II, it was brought under the Royal Navy and named as the Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (CRNVR). Turning a new chapter in the annals of Sri Lanka's maritime history, the Royal Ceylon Navy was established on 09th December 1950. With the country becoming a Republic, the Royal Ceylon Navy was renamed and came to be known in its present name; Sri Lanka Navy from 22nd May 1972.

The Navy has etched its name in the annals of Sri Lankan history by the courage and the commitment of its men, displayed during the humanitarian operation that led to the defeat of terrorism ushering in an era of peace and harmony to the country. As the first line of defence of this island nation, the Navy plays a pivotal role in protecting the country's maritime regions and resources within it. In addition, the blue jackets also play their role well during natural disasters and emergency situations.

The Sri Lanka Navy is also in the forefront of steering the maritime capabilities of the nation as the country is strategically situated in an international shipping route. The 'Galle Dialogue Maritime Conference' held in-line boosts the link between the nations while discussing maritime related issues of the future world.

Source: Ministry of Defence
Pics Source: Sri Lanka Navy

Sri Lanka Freedom (SLFP) party along with the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UFPA) have decided to contest the upcoming local government elections under the 'beetle leaf' symbol political sources have revealed. This decision was taken after the break down of talks between the SLFP and the Joint Opposition's Podujana Eksath Peramuna.

President Maithripala Sirisena is said to have suggested that the party contests in the districts of Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura and Gampaha under the 'hand' symbol while for several other local government bodies the party is to contest under the banners of the Ceylon Workers Congress led by Arumugam Thondaman. Decisions have also been made to contest in the East through the National Congress led by A.L.M Athaullah.

Basil wades into East by boat

Meanwhile, while the Joint Oppositions Pdujana Peramuna has made the final decision to contest under the symbol of a 'flower bud' the party is set to contest for several areas in the East under the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) party led by Karuna Amman and their symbol the 'boat'.

Three political parties belonging to the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will contest together in the upcoming local government polls.

Accordingly, the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) and People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) have come together for the elections. The trio is set to contest under the 'house' symbol of ITAK.

Announcing the move the Secretary of TELO, N. Srikanthan said the decision was arrived at following a meeting attended by the leaders of all three parties.

The meeting held yesterday (09) was held between Mavai Senathirajah (ITAK), Selvan Addiakalanathan (TELO), Dharmalingam Siddharthan (PLOTE) along with other MPs and party members. Party sources say important decisions regarding the upcoming election was arrived at during the meeting.

Party leaders representing the Joint Opposition have commenced official talks to take a decision against the despotic behaviour of Basil Rajapaksa.

According to political sources, the parties including the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna had taken this step as no favourable response was received despite their repeated complaints to Mahinda Rajapaksa against Basil's despotic behaviour within the JO.

The parties are expected to discuss regarding the secret plans by Basil to weaken the other parties in the JO thereby compromising their ability to bargain in the political arena.

Three stalwarts belonging to the National Freedom Front and other active members are said to be leaving the JO due to the unbearable behaviour and conduct of Basil Rapakasa. JO party leaders are also of the opinion that the departure of Sriyani Wijewickrama, the only other MP except for Dinesh Gunawardene to represent the Mahajana Eksath Permuna was caused by these issues. Wijewickrama left the JO and extended her support to President Maithripala Sirisena and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party yesterday.

Sources claim these discussions within the JO are set to end prior to the upcoming local government elections. Meanwhile, till a decision is made in this regard the party leaders have also decided to stand firm about getting a fair amount of nominations for each party within the JO sources revealed.

The Central Bank nor any state bank was controlled by the Ministry of Finance during his tenure as Minister of Finance, the former Minister Ravi Karunanayake has said.

The former Minister, therefore, claimed that in such a situation he cannot be made responsible for decisions taken by those institutions at the time.

Karunanayake made these comments while in an interview with the editor of lankanewsweek.com, Sujith Mangala De Silva. During the discussion, the Minister also claimed that the public will understand the truth in the near future.

 People will realize the truth someday:

“I have not done anything wrong. The people will someday realize the truth and join me as the truth cannot be concealed for long”.

“I have been involved in social service since childhood so whether I have the power or not my service to the public will not be stopped”.

“When one is involved in social services it creates enemies within the party and from the opposition as well” Karunanayake was quoted as saying while also adding that he has the strength to able to face such enemies.

The Minister had previously claimed that he was not involved in the Bond scam as the Central and state banks were not under the Ministry of Finance.

Cabinet approval is said to have been granted to handover the tender to supply new e-passports sans following the normal tender process. According to sources, this tender has now been given to M/S De La Rue Lanka Currency and Security Print Ltd as proposed by Minister of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure, Harin Fernando.

Tender Valued at Rs. 1.2 Billion

While the value of the tender is said to be Rs. 1.2 Billion government insiders have cast doubt regarding the proposal to handover the tender without following the process. According to insider government sources, there are now concerns if any serious financial irregularities are behind this deal.

De La Rue did not bid for tender

These sources while pointing out that M/S De La Rue Lanka Currency and Security Print Ltd. had not even submitted a bid for the tender when it was first called to print the newly proposed e-passports. They further explained that the Government Printers are able to provide these required passports at only an expenditure of Rs. 600 Million. However, according to them, it is questionable as to why this possibility was ignored and cabinet approval was granted to handover the tender to M/S De La Rue Lanka Currency and Security Print Ltd instead.

Presidential observations shown the door

While a similar proposal to hand over the tender to the same company was submitted at a previous occasion, presenting his observations on the project President Maithripala Sirisena had suggested that it is better to grant the tender after a competitive bidding process than grant it to a single supplier.

However, it appears that several parties in the government have continuously pushed to grant this project to the said company and as a result, a MoU was signed by the ICTA and M/S De La Rue Lanka Currency and Security Print Ltd on June 13, 2017, to provide the related technical requirement analysis.

According to the MoU signed disregarding the previous cabinet proposal and the Presidents observations on August 9, 2016, Minister Harin Fernando had presented cabinet paper CP/17/1576/722/017 jointly with the Minister of Immigration and Emigration S.B Nawinna. However, the recommendation of the cabinet at the time was to launch the e-passport project according to the ‘Swiss Challenge’ procedure instead.

De La Rue not up for a ‘Swiss Challenge’

However, according to reports M/S De La Rue Lanka Currency and Security Print Ltd had expressed their displeasure at this recommendation of the cabinet while the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka is also said to have lobbied for the company requesting several government officials to grant the project to De La Rue.

Insider sources of the government also claim that Minister Fernando had on November 20 presented cabinet paper No. 17/2522/749/022 accordingly requesting the project be granted without calling for tenders as proposed by the cabinet paper presented on August 9, 2017, in this regard.

Immigration and Emigration Department to go out of business

Meanwhile, insider sources of the Department of Immigration and Emigration say the process of issuing passports will be fully privatised by granting the project to M/S De La Rue Lanka Currency and Security Print Ltd.

According to the department trade unions, fears are also rife that the 400 strong staff at the ‘New Passport Office’ newly established at a cost of Rs. one billion recently will be laid off as a result.

Strike action imminent

As a result, all trade unions are expected to voice their dissent against the decision to grant the project to De La Rue. However according to the unions if it the tender is granted nevertheless the union and staff are prepared now to launch a serious trade union action soon.

The third reading of the budget was passed by a two-thirds majority in parliament today. The budget received 155 votes for with only 56 voting against it.

The third reading of the budget presented by the Minister of Finance and Media, Mangala Samaraweera was debated for a months time.

While United National Party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party faction in the Government, Tamil National Alliance, Ceylon Workers Congress and Eelam Peoples Democratic Party voted in favour while the Joint Opposition and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramun voted against the Budget.However former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was not present during the vote.