News
Rising cost of living: Hot, spicy debate at Govt. group meeting
View(s):The debate was as hot as some of the spicy Sri Lankan curries when the government parliamentary group met last Tuesday.
Government MPs complained of the spiralling cost of living and declared that life was becoming difficult for the people. One of those vociferous was Kalutara district Parliamentarian Lalith Ekanayake.
Moving in as the trouble shooter was Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena. He said foodstuffs were available a plenty in co-operative outlets and members should not be misled by false claims. He was of the view that such shortages were a media hype and cautioned MPs not to be misled by them.
Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage came out with a proposal that would ensure essential food items reach the consumers directly at home. He proposed that pradeshiya sabha members be enrolled to distribute the items. The remarks did draw laughter from those present. One member quipped in the ear of a colleague seated next to him “what happens if they take it home or sell it themselves?”
Parliamentarian Janaka Wakkumbura raised issue over a State Minister clearing land in the Sinharaja forest. He was shouted down. Someone remarked that the land in question had been apportioned in the 1960s. In fact, the deed has been traced back, said a voice.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was not present at the meeting. It was presided over by Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, who is the Leader of the House.
Official remarks boomeranged on top bureaucrat
A bureaucrat, much in the news in the recent weeks, was livid that some of his official remarks had boomeranged.
He declared that it happened only because of his former boss who had advised him to do so.
Of all places, he made the confession before
a team of uniformed personnel to whom he had to give a lecture.
The morale seems to be to not
bank on the media to give messages to
other nations.
Q and A session in Parliament on April 5
Parliament will sit from April 5 (Monday) till April 9 (Friday).
The whole of Monday is being devoted to question and answers – the result of MPs questions piling up.
SLPP member tells why he acquired a more racist bent
Though he came to Parliament as a nationalist, listening to the way certain political leaders spoke in Parliament led him to gradually acquire a more racist bent, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Parliamentarian Premanath C. Dolawatte revealed.
Speaking during the debate on the CoI report into the Easter Sunday attacks, the first time MP said he had now been pushed into a situation where he felt he should not be afraid to speak up for his country, religion and race.
“The reason for this transformation is that some political leaders here are raising questions on whether Sinhala or Tamil language came first or whether it was the Sinhalese or Tamils who settled in the north first,” he said.
He alleged that such political leaders were
not concerned with creating a nationalist Sri Lankan identity but were leading people to embrace extremism.
Current Energy Minister gets shocking response to recent photos aboard oil tanker
Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila recently posted photos of himself aboard an oil tanker, claiming to be the first subject minister to have done so.
When he posted photos of himself on Facebook claiming to be the first subject minister to have boarded an oil tanker, Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila would surely not have expected the level of mockery that came his way.
Mr Gammanpila posted photos of himself climbing aboard an oil tanker on Tuesday, under the caption “According to the CPC (Ceylon Petroleum Corporation) sources, on 22.03.2021 I became the first Sri Lankan Energy Minister to enter into an oil tanker.”
The images and the caption quickly went viral, with many openly mocking Mr Gammanpila for his rather pompous announcement. In one of the more popular ‘memes’ that was shared around, someone had edited an image of the minister climbing aboard the vessel with a local newspaper clipping on the moon landing. Another noted that Mr Gammanpila had actually created three records in one day – the first Sri Lankan Minister to board an oil tanker, the first Sri Lankan Minister to disembark from an oil tanker and the first Minister in the world to create two such records in one day.
Weerawansa under fire for giving boost to the smoking of new cinnamon cigarettes
Firebrand Government politico and Industries Minister Wimal Weerawansa came under fire from the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) this week over his moves to promote a brand of cinnamon cigarettes.
NATA Chairman Samadhi Rajapaksa told a news conference that promoting the product violated the existing law, though the manufacturers claimed the product claimed was nicotine free.
Dr Rajapaksa said the demand for cigarettes had decreased with the introduction of new taxes. He believed that cinnamon cigarettes was a last ditch effort to regain the cigarette market.
Minister Weerawansa has been an enthusiastic proponent of the cinnamon cigarettes. At the news conference held to promote it, he posed with one of the cigarettes in his mouth and used a Hollywood analogy to justify the decision to promote the product.
“In the movie “Catch Me If You Can,” the fraudster ends up being recruited by the FBI. Therefore, new inventors (such as those who produced the cigarettes) must be given a chance as they are pioneers in their fields,” he claimed.
One wonders whether the law will also catch up with Mr Weerawansa for promoting an “illegal” product.
Opposition blasts Former President’s speech on Easter Sunday massacres
Former President Maithripala Sirisena’s hour-long speech during the Parliamentary debate on the report of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on the Easter Sunday attacks did not sit well with Opposition MPs.
Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) National List Parliamentarian Harin Fernando was particularly incensed.
“Other Government MPs are getting ten minutes but the Government has allocated 60 minutes to a man who has the most charges levelled against him by the CoI report. The only reason I can think for this is that the Government wanted him to take the time to make himself look clean,” Mr Fernando said.