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In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, a vital issue is the reopening of schools and there is controversy among experts over how and when it should be done. At the Jaffna Hindu Primary School, a rehearsal was conducted and as part of it, a teacher wearing a face mask is seen checking the temperature [...]
PHIs to keep away from polls duty
Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) have decided to keep away from election duties, demanding that gazette notifications are issued empowering them to carry out their duties during the COVID19 pandemic. The decision was taken after a meeting between the Public Health Inspectors Union and Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi broke down on Wednesday without a decision on [...]
Edwards empire: Multimillionaire couple remanded on huge money laundering charges
Rienzie Mahesh Kumara Edwards and his wife, Punya Priyanji Menike Edwards, two suspects in an international money laundering case, were remanded this week by Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne. The couple are accused of transferring foreign currency to Sri Lanka in a suspicious manner and illegally buying land belonging to a private hospital in Colombo [...]
Cranes for ECT: India insists on strict adherence to tripartite agreement
The Sri Lanka Ports Authority’s plans to install three cranes at the unused East Container Terminal (ECT) at the Colombo Port were scuppered by India and Japan, reminding the Government that any development there must be within the terms of a tripartite agreement signed last year. Now, amidst trade union protests, the SLPA has expedited [...]
Light rail project: JICA demands clear answer from Govt.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has urged the Sri Lanka Government to follow “due process” if it intended to shift from Japanese funding for the Colombo light rail transit system (LRT) to a public-private partnership. The Government is yet to respond to the strongly-worded letter to the Treasury Secretary from JICA’s Sri Lanka Representative [...]
Despite better COVID record, EU keeps Lanka out of visa list
Sri Lanka, which is credited with successfully controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, is not on the list of 54 countries whose citizens will benefit from the reopening of the European Union external borders from early next month, an official EU website reported yesterday. The list included countries which have higher COVID-19 death tolls than Sri Lanka. [...]
MCC deal: Uncertainty over payment of US$ 10 million
Colombo and Washington were locked in a controversy yesterday over claims that Sri Lanka had obtained ten million US dollars as a prelude to the US$ 480 million Millennium Challenge Compact deal. The Presidential Secretariat, in a statement on Thursday on the report of the Experts Committee, declared that “although US dollars 7.4 million and [...]
Govt. offers soft loans, highway contracts to local constructors, instead of settling Rs. 40bn bill
The President’s Office has directed the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) to issue instructions to commercial banks to grant loans at four percent interest to construction companies in lieu of settling nearly Rs 40bn worth of unpaid bills owed to them by the Government. The President’s Office also said the Ruwanpura Expressway from Kahatuduwa [...]
IRD to set up new unit to audit big-time taxpayers
The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) is to set up a new tax unit dedicated solely to auditing tax files of about 600 companies that bring in the largest amount of annual tax revenue to the department, after revelations that the estimated tax revenue was not coming from these companies. The IRD currently has tax files [...]
Police will arrest you, if you fail to wear a face mask
From the second week of July, people failing to wear face masks in public places will be arrested and produced in courts for violating the quarantine regulations, Police said yesterday. Police spokesman Jaliya Senaratne said that during the next week they would be warning people who fail to wear masks in public places, but action [...]
No money to pay maintenance, pandemic-hit estranged husband threatens to drink poison
The COVID-19′s tragic economic impact was evident at the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court this week when in a maintenance case a defendant produced a bottle of poison before court and said he had no choice but to drink its contents as his business had collapsed due to the pandemic. The defendant, a father of three, [...]
Seafarers no longer allowed to fly in to join ships at Lanka’s ports
Suspension just days after shipping agents thwart move by Avant Garde Maritime Services (AGMS) and Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Ltd (RALL) to monopolise transfer of seafarers between vessels, hotels ports and airports The Government has temporarily blocked seafarers from coming in by commercial flight to join ships at any of Sri Lanka’s ports after several recent [...]
PM outlines bounce-back plan to revive virus-hit economy
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa declared yesterday it was vital to prevent the economy from weakening, maintain stability and ensure the country returns to normal. He was addressing the 33rd annual sessions of the Organisation of Professional Associations (OPA) via a video link. Noting that sectors such as tourism, apparel, manufacturing, remittances and several industrial and [...]
Education Ministry stalls bid to buy 16,000 temperature screening devices
On the advice of the Health Services Director General, the Education Ministry has cancelled the purchase of 16,000 temperature screening devices to be used in schools and educational institutions, a top official said. Education Ministry Secretary M.H.M. Chitrananda said the procurement had been stalled as the Health Ministry and the Sri Lanka Medical Association had [...]
SMS on second Aluthgama attack: Court frees all suspects
Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne has discharged four suspects accused of attempting to excite disaffection and hostility among the people, by forwarding SMS messages that referred to the likelihood of an impending attack on Muslims similar to the June 2014 attacks in Aluthgama. The suspects were discharged after the CID informed the Chief Magistrate that [...]
Dogs tied with wire to lure leopards to snare: Suspect arrested
The man who cruelly tied up a dog as bait to attract leopards to snares set up on an estate in Uduweriya area near Horton Plains was arrested this week, a senior wildlife official said. Jinapriya Gallage, a resident of Nuwara Eliya who was hiking near the area on Tuesday, spotted the tethered dog on [...]
Campaigns navigate tough rules
Candidates in the August parliamentary elections are navigating the restrictions imposed on campaigns. In Puttalam district, where more than 350 are contesting eight seats with 143 of them from recognised political parties, candidates are feeling hemmed in and are asking the Election Commission to review guidelines. Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) candidate, Sanath Nishantha Perera, [...]
Sri Lanka has not taken a firm stand on ragging: Prof de Silva
Former Chairman of the National Child Protection Authority, Professor Harendra de Silva said that, to his knowledge, no lawmaker in Sri Lanka had continuously opposed ragging at Universities. Professor de Silva made this comment participating as a panelist in a webinar yesterday. The webinar hosted by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka in commemoration [...]
Operation prison ‘clean up’ sees intense raids and shakeup of officials
As authorities continue to intensify raids within prisons to locate mobile phones, drugs and other contraband, the Department of Prisons has also initiated a major shakeup of senior officers at many prisons in the wake of criticism over how criminals direct crimes from jail. On Friday (26), a suspicious parcel thrown over the wall onto [...]
Six months on, ‘temporary’ move over sand wreaks havoc
The mines chief has proposed setting controlled prices for sand in each district to get over the mafia dealings that led the government to allow free transport of construction materials – a move that has ended with disastrous consequences for the environment. Illegal sand miners are recklessly exploiting the current lack of regulated construction material [...]
Authorities left redfaced as PNB officers nabbed for links with drug traffickers
Police yesterday announced the arrest of four officers attached to the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) on charges of maintaining links with drug traffickers. At a media briefing held in Matara, Police Spokesman Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jaliya Senaratne disclosed that the four PNB officers and a civilian were arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department [...]
Three Russian wildlife smuggling suspects remanded again
Three Russians charged with smuggling genes and specimens of insects and animals were this week remanded by the Nuwara Eliya Magistrates’ Court until July 2, after they failed to fulfill bail conditions. The suspects, Alexander Ignatenko, Artem Ryabov, and Nikolai Kilafyan, were arrested on February 26 by officers of the Horton Plains National Park. The [...]
Wildlife officers discover exotic species at businessman’s house
A rare albino soft-shell turtle and green iguana were among several exotic species discovered when Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) officers raided a business premises in Mount Lavinia. The team of DWC officers led by Bellanwila Wildlife Range Officer Saman Liyanagama raided the location following a tip-off. Aside from the live turtle and iguana, the [...]
Unit cost of energy from Lakvijaya: The Sunday Times stands by article
The Sri Lanka Energy Managers Association (SLEMA) has said global costs of greenhouse gas emissions in one of its studies had been wrongly presented with damages at national level to mislead readers to believe that the certain power plants are causing large scale damages to the country. Referring to the article headlined ‘Rs 10 added [...]
No bridge over troubled waters for these residents
The construction work of the Thaligala-Liyangastota bridge in Ambalantota has been abandoned due to the negligence of the responsible authorities. Residents expressed their concerns about the neglected construction work as the steel cables that had been allocated for the bridge, have begun to deteriorate. This bridge was to be built over the Walawe River to [...]
Traders reject import credit diktat, while hundreds of vehicles idle in ports
Vehicle importers say they are concerned about the decision to extend the imports ban for another six months from July, calling the conditions “unfair’’. Cabinet spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardana told the Sunday Times that restrictions will be gazetted next week. The chairman of the Vehicle Importers Association of Sri Lanka (VIASL), Ranjan Peiris, told the [...]
Evolution of governance
The 17th century philosopher Thomas Hobbes famously wrote that human life in its natural state is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Hobbes argued that our instincts tend toward war in a bid to attain dominance over others; thus the establishment of government would be necessary to maintain law and order. The evolution of governance [...]
Unique Vidattaltivu under threat
Serious concerns are being expressed by environmentalists over moves to revive a proposed large-scale aquaculture project, after de-gazetting a part of the protected Vidattaltivu Nature Reserve in the Mannar district. Environmental lawyer Jagath Gunawardena said that the proposal had been strongly rejected by the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) which had appointed a technical committee [...]
Proposed elevated expressway poses risk to Thalangama wetland
The Thalangama wetland–home to birds, reptiles, mammals, fish and insects, including threatened species–is under threat from the proposed elevated expressway from Athurugiriya to New Kelani Bridge via Rajagiriya, the Environment and Wildlife Resources Ministry has warned. The Ministry has asked the Highways Ministry to therefore reassess the proposed route and look for alternatives “giving due [...]
Pick of the Pix
Pix by Nilan Maligaspe, Priyantha Wikramaarachchi, Sameera Weerasekara, Ishanka Sunimal, Lahiru Harshana, Jude Samantha
Tour guides may be forced to quit if no redress, warns union
The devastating impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry could see qualified, licensed tourist guides quitting the field altogether if urgent action is not taken to assist them, a union representing the country’s top tier tourist guides warned. According to the Sri Lanka Institute of National Tourist Guide Lecturers (SLINTGL), tourist guides have been among [...]
Cinemas to open – but crowds gone with the wind
Jam-packed cinemas with crowds outside pressing in to see the latest Hollywood and Bollywood blockbusters and favourite Tamil or Sinhala films will be sights of the past when movie halls reopen on July 2. Strict guidelines issued by the health ministry include the blocking of every other seat with tape, not allowing intermissions, no serving [...]
Local spenders throwing hotels, restaurants a lifeline
A month after reopening their doors, restaurateurs and management of hotels are hopeful that business will return to normal in coming months. “Progress is good: reservations have been made for weddings and functions and for stays at hotels – mainly in hotels in the outskirts of Colombo,” the President of the Sri Lanka Hotels Association, [...]
‘Give teeth to preventive measures to build on triumphs against COVID-19’
Nothing has been gazetted, say PHIs, threatening to stop COVID-19 work Tourism Authority goes ahead with independent certification for hotels Give teeth to the health preventive measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka. This was the clear call from many sectors including health, with sources strongly urging that if the country does [...]
Suggestions from SLCP to protect schoolchildren
With schools set to open on a staggered basis for their students, the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians (SLCP) has recommended certain measures. Pre-schools and day-care centres are scheduled to open on July 1; Grades 5, 11 & 13 on July 6; Grades 10 & 12 on July 20; and Grades 3, 4, 6, 7, [...]
Colombo East Hospital gears up for large-scale RT-PCR testing with ADB help
The test-runs are on and next week the Colombo East Base Hospital, Mulleriyawa, will have the capacity to conduct 500 RT-PCR tests per day. Currently, the hospital has 1 RT-PCR machine capable of carrying out 500 baseline tests per day but is hoping to scale-up later with a few more machines, increasing the capacity to [...]
Transport associations raise concerns about school closing hours
Transportation association representatives have raised concerns about the four different times allocated for school closure, and they have made a request to restrict school closure to two allocations. In a circular released by the Ministry last week, times for each grade was designated as follows: Grade three and four – 7.30 am to 11.30 am, [...]