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Despite economic crisis ministries seek more vehicles
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The Presidential Secretariat is in a quandary over repeated requests by different Ministries for official vehicles from its vehicle pool.
The latest request came from a State Minister this week, with a letter sent by the Ministry’s Secretary requesting a vehicle on a temporary basis for the Ministry’s State Minister, as his official vehicle had been sent for urgent repairs.
Presidential officials said the Secretariat was fielding a large number of requests from different quarters, for official vehicles.
“People seem to believe we have an infinite pool of vehicles but we only have a limited number. We clearly do not have enough vehicles to accommodate all the requests that come our way,” an official said, adding that the sense of entitlement among ministers and senior government officials when it came to official vehicles showed no sign of going away even in the midst of a dire economic crisis and a vehicle import ban.
Moragoda given a farewell party by Indian entrepreneur Adani
These days, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner Milinda Moragoda is quite busy in India attending farewell celebrations, goodbye dinners and luncheon requests as his three-year term comes to an end this month.
Among senior government officials, counterparts and corporate leaders he met before returning home was Adani Group’s Chairman Gautam Adani who hosted a farewell dinner at his residence on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner Milinda Moragoda with Adani chief Gautam Adani
Just days earlier, the Adani firm came under scrutiny with another fresh investigation by a journalists’ consortium that found his family members used ‘opaque’ funds to invest in stocks.
Earlier this year, the one-time world’s third richest man saw the Group’s wealth plunging by USD 80 billion following a report released by a US firm that found “stock manipulation and accounting fraud.”
Back home, the conglomerate is also tackling a controversy where its deals–be it the Colombo Port terminal development or renewable energy projects in Mannar– were told to be considered as government-to-government projects, not even Private-Public Partnerships (PPPs).
Railway carriage restoration: Official derailed in his move to bypass Ministry Secretary
An attempt by an official at the Transport Ministry to bypass senior officials and obtain Cabinet approval to award a contract to a private company for the restoration of 23 railway carriages has ended in a farce.
The official had signed the proposal as the Ministry Secretary and submitted it to the Transport Minister. The Ministry Secretary was however unaware that another official had signed a proposal for such a large scale project. The Ministry Secretary was after all the Chief Accounting Officer of his Ministry.
It soon became clear that the official was way in over his head and had no idea of the costs that such a project would incur. The matter became known and he was pulled up for violation of protocol in bypassing his boss.
Moreover, the Finance Ministry had also replied to the Transport Ministry that there were not enough funds to undertake such a costly project. A senior Transport Ministry official said they would be lucky to get funds to complete at least half of the railway carriage restoration project.
Reports of hidden agendas in move to remove wildlife chief
The Wildlife Conservation Department Chief has come under the spotlight on social media, where a string of campaigns are being carried out to get him removed from the post.
The main allegation is the failure to prevent deaths and injuries caused to elephants.
Officials claim there were other motives too behind the campaigns as some politicians were known to be eying the department’s lands, which they could give off to people in their electorates so they could obtain votes in return during the upcoming elections.
Certain businessmen were also seeking such opportunities so they could grab lands while the department was in a state of confusion along with moves to change its chief.
Farmers asked to pay a toilet fee
At the Dambulla Dedicated Economic Centre, farmers and traders have expressed frustration over the move by the centre’s management to charge them Rs. 100 to use the centre’s toilet facilities.
Many point out that the charge of Rs. 100 was unheard of for the use of a public toilet. Many have asked why poor farmers were asked to cough up money to ease themselves, or if the traders were to include the toilet fee into the price of the carrots. The fact that vegetable prices had fallen in recent weeks had only added to their anger.
Farmers and traders have to pay an exorbitant fee to use the toilets
The economic centre management said the fees were to pay the salaries of the cleaners, but the result of it all had been seen almost immediately. Many had turned to using the surrounding area of the economic centre when nature called, creating a health hazard in the process.
One farmer pointed out that a kilo of ‘kekiri’ was now selling for just Rs. 10.
“As such, I will have to sell ten kilos of it to earn enough to use the toilet here.”
Heated arguments between Central Bank Governor and trade unionists
On Tuesday, a high-level meeting between senior Central Bank officials and a delegation representing various trade unions turned out to be not-so-productive after the unions attempted to score some political points during the meeting.
The meeting came after trade union representatives failed to turn up for a meeting on August 28 after seeking one with Central Bank officials following a protest. The meeting was held at the boardroom of the bankers bank where the Monetary Board convenes for its meetings.
The heated arguement between the Central Bank governor and trade unionists
The main focus of the meeting was the potential impact on the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) due to the implementation of the Domestic Debt Optimisation Programme (DDO), but when Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe inquired at the outset about the unions they represented, it was established that some trade union representatives were not contributing members of the Fund on which they wanted to discuss the impact of the DDO programme on the EPF.
Thereafter, the meeting saw some heated arguments between the two sides and even some infighting among trade union representatives who came prepared with written points. At one stage, a learned lawyer who was among the representatives was heard telling Governor Weerasinghe to “go and read the EPF Act” to stress a point.
A veteran trade unionist who watched the proceedings on social media said it looked like an internal trade union meeting.
MPs asked not to press the wrong button
While it was extremely heated on many occasions, this week’s Parliamentary debate on the No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella was not without its fair share of funny moments.
Primary Industries State Minister Chamara Sampath Dassanayake launched a furious attack on Britain’s Channel 4 after it screened a controversial documentary on the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks. Mr Dassanayake, though, trained his ire on State-owned “Channel Eye,” leaving many who were watching bemused.
“Channel Eye has a serious axe to grind against the Rajapaksas,” Mr Dassanayake said. He kept referring to “Channel Eye” over and over before someone from the Government bench took pity on him and told him it was Channel 4 he should be criticising.
Health State Minister Seetha Arambepola meanwhile, repeatedly referred to the NCM against Minister Rambukwella as an “Impeachment Motion” (Doshabhiyogaya). She made the mistake five times before Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Parliamentarian Chaminda Wijesiri got up and asked why she was referring to a No-Confidence Motion against a minister as an Impeachment Motion, which was moved against a President. She apologised and corrected herself.
At one point during his speech, Kalutara District Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Parliamentarian Rohitha Abeygunawardena was less than impressed when he observed Health Minister Rambukwella speaking to someone else instead of listening to what he had to say.
“You need to listen to what I am talking about. Otherwise, it is another issue,” Mr Abeygunawardena told the Health Minister.
When the vote was ultimately taken, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, had to remind the MPs they should not mix up the buttons they had to push.
“If you are for the motion you press the green button and the red one if against. Please do not confuse the two,” he told MPs.
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