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With strategies being finalised for the upcoming elections, Prime Minister and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is seen explaining the party’s plans at the 72nd convention held at Sirikotha on Thursday – the day after former President Mahinda Rajapaksa came in an open-roof SUV to join the Joint Opposition’s Janabalaya protest organised mainly by his son [...]
Senior citizen deposits: Treasury owes banks Rs. 22.92 billion
The Treasury owes commercial banks more than Rs 22.92 billion in reimbursement for higher interest rates paid on senior citizens fixed deposits on Government instructions, data gathered under the Right to Information Act show. The Government through its 2015 budget mandated commercial banks to grant a special interest rate of 15 percent for senior citizens’ [...]
Cabinet errs between AK-47 and SAR-40
A Cabinet paper presented by Wildlife Minister Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka had erred in stating the Government will issue AK-47 rifles — a ‘select fire’ weapon capable of fully automatic fire — to solve the human-elephant conflict. What will be imported are 2,568 semi-automatic “SAR-40” rifles from China, to be issued to Civil Security Department [...]
Gotabaya to be indicted tomorrow in Permanent HC
Former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and six others have been served with notices to appear in the Permanent High Court trial-at-bar tomorrow in connection with the alleged misappropriation of funds for the construction of the D.A Rajapaksa memorial museum. They are to be served indictments on the same day. The charges against the former Defence [...]
Govt. Analyst to probe mystery fire at PwC office
The Government Analyst has been called in to investigate a suspicious fire that broke out on Friday afternoon engulfing the building housing the local office of international audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). PwC Senior Partner Lasanga Abeysuriya said the data bank with the firm was intact despite the fire, but did not wish to speculate on [...]
Hundreds of unidentified bodies dumped in graves: Chief JMO laments violation of human dignity
Nearly 300 unidentified bodies were buried in Colombo’s public graveyards between 2013 and 2018 alone while dozens more are interred in a similar manner around the country. From January to August this year, a total of 67 unidentified bodies were brought to the Colombo Judicial Medical Officer (JMO). Only 32 of them were claimed. The [...]
Health sector in crisis: Money not released to pay bills for medicines
A crisis is looming in the health sector due to the Treasury not releasing more than Rs 20 billion to settle bills for essential items, including medicines, a senior official said, adding that it is the first time such a large amount has been outstanding. Of this, Rs 10 billion is owed to the Health [...]
Find your own water sources for future projects, property developers in Colombo City told
Property developers, particularly those building condominiums in Colombo city, have been told they must find their own water sources by installing high volume, deep tube wells for future projects due to depletion of treated water provided through the mains supply, said Patali Champika Ranawaka, Minister of Megapolis and Western Development. The National Water Supply & [...]
Mauri’s sit-in protest highlights plight of thousands of families of missing people
Every first week of September for the past five year, Mauri Inoka comes from Anuradhapura to sit in protest in front of the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo. She has just one wish: To know what became of her husband, Madushka Haris, a fruit vendor who was abducted in 2013 along with two others by an [...]
Railways to get 160 passenger coaches from India
An agreement for the supply of 160 passenger coaches to Sri Lanka Railways under concessional financing was signed between India’s RITES Limited and the Government on Friday, the Indian High Commission in Colombo said. The USD 82.64 million contract agreement was signed by RITES Director Mukesh Rathore and Transport Ministry Secretary G.S. Withanage. The passenger [...]
Integrity Badges: CIABOC’s Prevention Strategy against Bribery and Corruption
A new anti-corruption programme targeting public servants will require them to wear Integrity Badges (IB) with catchy slogans such as “Come back home with clean hands”, “We are honest” etc., so as to discourage graft within the State sector. Director General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), Sarath Jayamanna, P.C. [...]
Railways to get 160 passenger coaches from India
An agreement for the supply of 160 passenger coaches to Sri Lanka Railways under concessional financing was signed between India’s RITES Limited and the Government on Friday, the Indian High Commission in Colombo said. The USD 82.64 million contract agreement was signed by RITES Director Mukesh Rathore and Transport Ministry Secretary G.S. Withanage. The passenger [...]
100 MegaWatt wind farm project stuck in the Cabinet
A Danish wind turbine manufacturer has won a tender to build the 100 MegaWatt wind farm in Mannar but the project is held up by delays at Cabinet level. The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union (CEBEU) has now urged Cabinet to speed up approval of the US$ 140 million (Rs 22,68 billion) project which Vestas [...]
Sea of devotees
The Nallur Kandaswamy Temple Chariot festival was held yesterday with the presence of a large number of devotees. Pic by N. Parameswaran
Next-of-kin at a loss for lack of information on arrested Lankan undergrad in Australia
Authorities in Sri Lanka and Australia are remaining tight-lipped about the arrest of undergraduate Kamer Nizamdeen (25), charged with a terrorism related offence by Australian authorities, leading to mounting frustration among his family and friends. A family source who spoke to the Sunday Times yesterday said Mr Nizamdeen was given access to his Lawyer, but [...]
Elections watchdog prepares to hear voter list gripes
The Elections Commission has begun inquiries into objections and appeals to the voter registration list and the final draft of the 2018 voter register will be ready by October 15, a senior official said. Deputy Elections Commissioner, M.M. Mohamed told the Sunday Times, the inquiry process would continue till the end of this month and [...]
Crucial Register for Medical and Dental Specialists soon to become a reality
The long-awaited, crucial Register for Medical and Dental Specialists will now become a reality, with Parliament on Friday passing unopposed an amendment to the Medical Ordinance. This will allow the Registrar of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) to keep a Register which includes the names of medical and dental specialists. Described as a “historic” [...]
Hike in price of bakery products hard to swallow
Angry consumers say that the increase in the price of bakery products is disproportionate to the recent hike in the price of flour, leaving a sour taste in the mouth of consumers. The price of flour went up by five rupees this week, and bakery owners were quick to increase the prices of their products–including [...]
Lit oil lamp may have caused the raging fire that killed doctor
An oil lamp lit to invoke blessings is suspected to have caused the fire on the upper floor of a house in Bellanwila on Thursday, that killed an expectant doctor and injured her husband, also a doctor, and their four-year-old son. Initial medical investigations revealed that death was caused by carbon monoxide poisoning as the [...]
Children suffer abuse from those trusted to protect them
Children from poverty-stricken homes and broken families are extremely vulnerable to abuse by adults, the Woman and Child Abuse Prevention Bureau said. Inquiries by The Sunday Times revealed shocking stories of abuse suffered by children even in places where they reside for protection, such as orphanages, while in other cases abuses take place with the [...]
Dammaloka Thera denies connection with capture, sale of elephants
Ven. Uduwe Dammaloka Thera who was indicted in the High Court of Colombo for keeping an elephant in his custody without a licence, giving evidence, stated he had no connection with the capture or sale of elephants. In his statement before High Court Judge Sampath Wijerathna, he said he did not ever want to own [...]
From 2008, no Govt. rep on SriLankan board to arrest financial nosedive: Top official
The Government, as the main shareholder, had no representation in the SriLankan Airlines’ board of directors since 2008 to safeguard the state’s interests, the airline’s chief financial officer pointed out this week. The airline’s Financial Management department head, Yasantha Dissanayake, highlighted this shortcoming while testifying before the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) appointed to investigate alleged [...]
No early elections: President
President Maithripala Sirisena said yesterday that the next presidential election would not be held before the scheduled date. The President who was addressing an SLFP Youth Front meeting in Nivitigala last morning said “many persons including some senior ministers are saying there will be an early presidential poll. But I am the one who will [...]
Cement mixing truck rolls downhill injuring seven
Seven persons were injured (one seriously), in a freak accident at Aturugiriya on Friday evening. Four vehicles -a car, a trishaw, a motorbike and a military vehicle- were damaged when an automated cement mixing truck which had been carelessly parked on an incline crashed into four vehicles below, injuring five persons, the Aturugiriya police said. [...]
The rot of ragging
No longer is ragging the lighthearted thing of the past. Today, it is a crude and sadistic exercise that, despite widespread censure, continues to be inflicted on unsuspecting freshers by seniors. He was blindfolded and stripped down to his underwear before being marched into a dark hall. Malaka, a 24-year-old fresher from the Borella-based Institute [...]
Fines for violating traffic rules payable online next year, says Govt.
The present spot-fine system will be converted to an electronic fine system from next year, allowing fines for violating traffic rules, to be paid online, officials said. Law & Order Ministry Secretary Padmasiri Jayamanne said the project is part of the ‘smart city’ concept where an automated traffic management system will also be introduced. “Though [...]
Two volunteers clearing landmines lose their lives
Two volunteers attached to a landmine clearing agency died in an explosion on a clearing site in the North this week. One of the victims died on the spot while engaged in clearing landmines near Mankulam on Monday, while the other victim succumbed to his injuries two days later in the Vavuniya hospital. The victims [...]
Right to Information application shows DWC has erected more than 1,000 km of electric fences
More than 1,000 kilometres of electric fences have been erected by the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) in the last three years alone in an effort to mitigate the impact of the human-elephant conflict, statistics obtained by the Sunday Times through a Right to Information application show. From 2015-2018, the length of electric fencing put [...]
This land belongs to both people and elephants
Rash decisions without considering science will end in disaster ‘Proper’ fencing the answer and not restricting elephants to Protected Areas where they will starve to death People and elephants can co-exist, environ mentalists urge Serious concerns are being expressed in environmental circles and by the public about the decision to arm wildlife officials with [...]
Human hand set perfect trap for elephants
An anicut near Periyaru River (a branch of the Mahaweli) bordering a village at Polonnaruwa became a deathtrap for nine elephants that waded into the watery grave, deceived by a cover of water hyacinth, the Department of Wildlife Conservation said. Department of Wildlife Conservation Director-General M.G.C Suriyabandara said the elephants had died when they tried [...]
600,000 people in 12 rainless districts cry for drinking water and relief
Twelve agriculture-dependent districts in three provinces have been affected by a drought so severe that some 600,000 people have little or no water to drink unless the local council or disaster management officials send bowsers. All districts of the Northern, Eastern and North Central Provinces have been severely affected by the drought. The Jaffna, Kilinochchi, [...]
Female migrant workers: Whither welfare of the goose that lays the golden egg
The exodus of female workers, over the years, to work abroad, is a boon to Sri Lanka’s economy. During the armed conflict, migrant workers’ remittances were equal to that spent on the military campaign to quell the LTTE rebellion. Even in 2014, remittances accounted for nearly 10% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), an amount [...]
Union agitations condemn undergrads, lecturers to hard labour
The high frequency of union activities at state universities is taxing the system. The Sunday Times learns from administrators, students and lecturers of the leading universities that the resulting backlog and increased workload, which is a product of lecture boycotts and university shutdowns, cause an ineffective cramming of work, a drop in the quality of [...]
Pick of the Pix
Pix by Amila Gamage, M.A.Pushpa kumara, Sameera Weerasekera, Hiran Priyankara and Jayarathna Wickramarachchi
Renovation activities ‘archived’
Despite the best efforts of the staff at the Department of National Archives to improve standards (efforts which were commended by internationally renowned archivists who were here for a recent conference), sections of the National Archives building have been cordoned off for months. This is because sections of the building is crumbling. Though Cabinet approved [...]
Haggala Gardens to get new parking lot
The Haggala Gardens in Nuwara Eliya a popular destination to both local and foreign tourists, has recorded the the largest number of visitor arrivals. This season alone 14,295 persons have visited the Gardens bringing in an income of Rs. 912,193 from parking tickets alone. The Gardens was the second botanical sanctuary built during the British [...]
JICA hands over Greater Kandy Urban Plan to Minister
The recommendations of the “Greater Kandy Urban Plan’’ were handed over to Minister of Megapolis Patali Champika Ranawaka by the Japanese Ambassador Kenichi Suganuma. Speaking at a seminar held in conjunction with the handing over ceremony, Dr (Ms) Lalitha Dissanayake, -Senior Lecturer of the Department of Geography, University of Peradeniya- said originally the landscape in [...]
New drugs slipping through the law
The increasing use of medically-used psychoactive drugs by addicts has placed authorities in a quandary, with few options to control the escalating trend unless new laws are introduced. The National Dangerous Drug Control Board (NDDCB) said the new drugs used by addicts need to be listed in drug control legislation. As the current law does [...]