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With the dengue epidemic still raging and hospitals overflowing with patients, a World Health Organisation expert has come to Sri Lanka to help in the battle against the mosquito-borne disease. The expert, Jeeraphat Sirichaisinthor, from Thailand’s Disease Control Unit, is seen photographing possible mosquito-breeding spots in plants and trees. Pic by Indika Handuwala
Multimillion dollar Airbus dispute: Govt. seeks solution
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) has been asked to come up with recommendations on how to resolve a dispute with Airbus S.A.S over the purchase of four Airbus A 350-900 aircraft. The directive has gone from the Cabinet of Ministers after Public Enterprise Development Minister Kabir Hashim asked “whether the deal be cancelled” [...]
SriLankan director quits in disgust after ‘humiliating’ meeting
Colonel (Rtd.) Sunil D. Peiris, board director and Director of Human Resources at SriLankan Airlines, resigned from his position on Friday after he says a ‘humiliating meeting with the President and some ministers.”The first casualty in the under-fire board of the national carrier, Col. Pieiris told the Sunday Times that he sent in his resignation [...]
Greater Kandy: Eight ministers on board
A Central Development Board comprising eight Cabinet Ministers has been appointed to coordinate the Greater Kandy urban development plan. Its main tasks will include the re-development of the Bogambara Prison area, Kandy suburban railway, a traffic bypass tunnel through the town area andMahaveli riverfront development. Chaired by Minister Sarath Amunugama, the committee includes Ministers Lakshman [...]
TNA delegation to meet Mahanayakes
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader Rajavarothayam Sampanthan is to lead a delegation to meet prelates of leading Buddhist chapters. They will meet the Mahanayakes of the Malwatte and Asgiriya chapters. The move follows a call by the Mahanayakes urging President Maithripala Sirisena not to go ahead with a new Constitution. President Sirisena who met a [...]
Bottom trawling: Lanka rejects TN chief minster’s protest
Sri Lanka yesterday rejected opposition by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to the Government’s new regulations banning ‘bottom trawling’ in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters. Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said the new laws were passed in Parliament for the benefit of Sri Lanka’s fisheries industry. “We have to look after our interests and we cannot be [...]
Fines of more than Rs. 200,000 for serious traffic offences
The Transport Ministry will seek Cabinet approval for a revised traffic fine system with high fines for serious offences, including fatal accidents due to high speed, a senior official said. Transport Ministry Secretary Nihal Somaweera told the Sunday Times the categories on which high fines would be imposed had been identified following a study of [...]
Lanka’s first ever heart transplant: Eight hours of marathon surgery
Sri Lanka’s first-ever heart transplant was performed on Friday night at the Kandy Teaching Hospital, launching the country’s urgently-needed Heart and Lung Transplantation Programme. A 40-year-old woman who was in the throes of end-stage heart failure was the pioneer to be transplanted with a heart from a 29-year-old man who was declared brain-dead after an [...]
Dumping garbage on Muthurajawela wetlands adversely impacts environment
Dumping hundreds of tons of garbage in Dalatura and Nugape areas in the Muthurajawela wetlands is already having its environmental impact, residents warned. The residents told the Sunday Times they are concerned about health risks, floods and the threat of dengue as the garbage site is left uncovered with unsegregated garbage covering the marshland. President [...]
Private hospitals ignore Govt. appeal to reduce blood test charges
Several private hospitals are ignoring the Govt’s call to lower charges for blood reports in the light of the raging dengue. They have arbitrarily reverted to the earlier rates charged for blood reports as of this week. Recently, private hospitals slashed the fee charged for a full blood count (FBC), essential in the management of [...]
GMOA to decide on strike at Thursday’s ex-co meeting
The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) says its executive committee will meet on Thursday to decide on further trade union action to force to Government to nationlise the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine. GMOA Secretary Dr. Haritha Aluthge told the Sunday Times that ahead of the executive committee meeting, a Joint Trade Union [...]
New tax bill: Unions threaten indefinite strike
Inland Revenue Department (IRD) trade unions will meet tomorrow to decide on an indefinite strike action over the Government’s move to revise revenue collection and introduce a new tax bill. IRD trade unions’ joint committee convener H.A.L. Udayasiri said the decision was taken as there was no Government response to last week’s token strike on [...]
Accountant challenges constitutionality of new tax bill
A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Friday challenging the constitutionality of the Inland Revenue Bill which was tabled in Parliament this week. Raja Nihal Hettiarachchi, a Chartered Accountant and Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL), in his petition says that some of the fundamental features of [...]
Tampering with witness a criminal offence- CoI orders legal action
An attempt to coerce a witness who testified before the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Treasury Bond (TB) issue, came to light during this week’s proceedings, prompting the Bench to direct the Attorney General’s (AG) Dept to take legal action against those who attempted to tamper with a witness. Deputy General Manager of Pan [...]
Police make early breakthrough in Rs 7.7m Ragama heist
A combination of police intelligence and technology facilitated an early breakthrough in the investigations of the Rs 7.7 million robbery in Ragama, police said. Chief Inspector G.W.L. Ravindra, of the Crime Investigation Unit of the Peliyagoda Division, told the Sunday Times that, based on intelligence, they had initially tracked a habitual gambler over the robbery. [...]
Police officer strictured for dereliction of duty
A police officer testifying before the High Court Trial-at-Bar for the gang rape and gruesome murder of a schoolgirl in Punguduthivu, Jaffna, S. Vidya, was this week questioned as to how he failed to arrest a key suspect wanted in connection with the murder. During the 7-hour long testimony, the former Headquarters Inspector of Kayts, [...]
Senior journalist passes away
Prabath Weeraratne, the Associate Editor of the Sath Handa newspaper and senior journalist, passed away yesterday from a sudden heart ailment. A former student of Ananda College, Maradana, he once served as Media Secretary to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. He also held positions as Deputy Editor of Randiva, News Editor of Mawbima, News Editor of Lakbima [...]
Eminent economist, academic, administrator and policy advisor no more
Professor Buddhadasa Hewavitharana, Emeritus Professor of Economics, former Chair and Head, Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Peradeniya, passed away on July 7 at his residence at the age of 85. Professor Hewawitharana, an eminent economist, academic, administrator and policy advisor, contributed widely to teaching, research, and influencing policy in the field of development [...]
SL not in position to reject investors without profile – BOI Chairman
Sri Lanka cannot afford to reject investors merely because they did not have a public profile, Board of Investment (BOI) Chairman Upul Jayasuriya said this week. Investors behind the proposed Al-Aman World Capital Centre (WCC) have pledged US$2.4 bn towards the project and it was for the banks to determine the source of their funds. [...]
Child in front seat crashes into windscreen
In a vehicle collision in Nuwara Eliya, an eight-year-old travelling in the front seat had died after he crashed into the windscreen of the car, police said. The car had been travelling on the Nuwara Eliya-Kandy Road, when a van travelling in the opposite direction had collided. The victim, Dilantha Denuwan Liyanage was seated on [...]
Plastic polluter: Sri Lanka victim of wrong data by World Bank
Widely published information that Sri Lanka is the fifth largest polluter of seas is based on an erroneous statistic first released in a World Bank study which was then used by researchers to compile a list of worst offender countries, the Sunday Times found. Domestic and international media continue to report that Sri Lanka falls [...]
Hell in the hills: Uma Oya crisis worsens with each passing day
Public anger and an air of despair greeted Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera last Monday when he visited the villagers affected by the Multipurpose Uma Oya Construction Project. He was one of the three members of a ministerial committee tasked with assessing the damage and recommending solutions to the gargantuan problem. The hapless villagers vented their [...]
Tampering with witness a criminal offence- CoI orders legal action
An attempt to coerce a witness who testified before the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Treasury Bond (TB) issue, came to light during this week’s proceedings, prompting the Bench to direct the Attorney General’s (AG) Dept to take legal action against those who attempted to tamper with a witness. Deputy General Manager of Pan [...]
Hong Kong grants Rs 177 million for Sri Lanka flood relief
Hong Kong, which has generously handed out financial aid to Sri Lanka at times of disasters on previous occasions, has once again approved three grants totalling HK$9.03 million (Rs 177.3 million) to three non-government agencies that will provide flood relief. The money was approved today by the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee from Hong Kong’s [...]
JVP urges Sri Lankan migrant workers to give policy ideas
Sri Lanka’s leading leftist party reached out to migrant workers in Hong Kong last weekend when Sunil Handunnetti, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna member of parliament, invited them to engage in policy-making for the sake of their future which has been mortgaged and driven to bankruptcy by two main political parties. At an afternoon gathering organised [...]
A long walk for water
The drought in the Northern, North Central, and North Western provinces has been worsening over the past months. Drinking water has become the main issue with villagers forced to travel long distances to find water. Farming lands have dried up. These photographs captured from various parts of the affected areas show the impact of the [...]
Myliddy fisherfolk hopeful of going back home
After languishing in temporary camps and rented homes for 27 years, the fisher-folk of Myliddy in Valikaamam north, Jaffna, had the first glimmer of hope of returning home, although there is a long way to go. The government on Monday returned some 54 acres of land in the coastal belt of Myliddy including the fisheries [...]
Marking Esala Poya
A Kapruk pooja perahera proceeded from Saliyawewa in Anuradhapura to Abhayagiriya viharaya yesterday to mark Esala poya day. Pic by Jayarathna Wickramarachchi
In U-turn, three-wheelers bow to safety rules, including speed limit
Three-wheeler passenger safety measures including a 40-kilometre per hour speed limit will become effective after all operators dropped earlier objections. An amended version of the Motor Traffic Act gazetted in January will soon be published. The National Council for Road Safety, chairman, Sisira Kodagoda, claimed that measures to regularise three-wheeler services was delayed because three-wheeler [...]
Don’t let that mossie get you
Try and avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes – this is the urgent emergency measure that a dengue expert is advocating to the public to bring down the numbers affected by this disease. Take immediate steps to prevent mosquito bites, urges Consultant Paediatrician Dr. LakKumar Fernando who was instrumental in setting up the Dengue Unit at [...]
Focus on vital aspects of health and wellbeing
Tightly-packed, extensive and informative while also tackling controversial topics, the 130th Anniversary International Medical Congress 2017 of the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) will be held from July 13-16 in Colombo. Under the guidance of SLMA President Prof. Chandrika Wijeyaratne, ‘Patient Engagement-Professional Enhancement’ will be the theme of this major medical congress being held in [...]
Mel’s murder most foul solved, sealed and sentenced
A mix of good police work and a sharp prosecution strategy led to the successful conviction this week of the the murderer of journalist Mel Gunasekera. Even though initially, the murder seemed an open and shut case, with the Police apprehending the suspect less than 48 hours after the brutal killing, the prosecution’s task of [...]
More muscle to shovel garbage, minister pleads for public help
Government politicians are pleading for public help, faced with an unprecedented garbage crisis, which local authorities and public policy-makers have still been unable to solve. At the same time, they are threatening people who dump garbage on the streets with punishments.Still, the municipal councils do not collect garbage every day. In some areas tractors or [...]
Drivers turn crossings into death zones for hundreds of pedestrians
Mohammed Haneefa, 69, who lives in Hendala, Wattala, was full of anticipation on June 25 not only because it was the day before Ramazan, but he was also awaiting his son who was visiting him. He stood by the side of the Negombo-Colombo main road that evening for his son who was not too familiar [...]