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A key ministry secretary is due to retire next month, and a tussle has already begun among several senior officials who are vying for the coveted post.

Several additional secretaries have already thrown their hats in the ring, canvassing ministers and MPs to recommend their names to the President to replace the outgoing secretary. The subject minister, who has been under a cloud himself in recent weeks, has already recommended his favourite.

Sources also disclosed that the man who is set to retire next month has no intention of letting go of his post. He is known to have visited an MP who is a close confidant of the President, requesting that the MP intervene to get him a service extension of one year. The MP had said he would speak to the President.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, though, has been heard by others insisting that he will not appoint anyone from within this particular ministry as its secretary, given the plethora of problems it currently has and accusations of rampant corruption within it. Accordingly, it will likely be an official from outside the ministry. Sources said the President has already identified an official he believes is suitable for the role. The replacement will report directly to the President.

Sinopec’s price tactics cause concern among other players

It is a known secret that the new player in the Sri Lankan petroleum market, “Sinopec Energy Lanka (Pvt) Ltd,” is trying to break the market share by selling below the prices fixed by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).

This week, the Chinese company began its retail operations in Jaffna in selected fuel stations with sign boards showcasing its prices for both Octane 92 petrol and diesel, less than Rs 7 and Rs 3 rupees from the CPC prices, respectively.

Sinopec is now selling a litre of Octane 92 petrol at Rs 358, which is Rs 7 less than the CPC and Lanka Indian Oil Company price of Rs 365.

When the company started its operations in the Western Province last month, it started selling both petrol and diesel at prices that were Rs 3 less than the price set by the CPC. The company is scheduled to take over 150 fuel stations run by the CPC in terms of its 20-year agreement with the government.

The Sinopec tactic has already caused existential concerns among other retail fuel sellers, particularly CPC-run ones, as many motorists prefer to buy fuel from Chinese outlets. The company is also flexible when it comes to extending the credit period for three days, whereas other sellers require customers to settle bills on a daily basis.

Minister seen with powerbroker at airport; rumours of possible crossover

A senior government minister recently took wing overseas from Katunayake, but it was the man who accompanied him to the airport that set tongues wagging in the corridors of power.

The minister was accompanied to the airport by an individual who is a high-level operative of the main opposition. He is a man known for shunning the spotlight but is recognised as a major power broker behind the scenes. It so happened, however, that as the minister arrived at the airport, he was seen by another government minister who also happened to be there. He immediately recognised the powerbroker with his ministerial colleague, mostly because he was himself once part of the same party and knew the powerbroker well. He immediately alerted the highest levels of government to the development.

Those in the highest levels of power are now keeping a sharp eye on the minister, concerned about whether he is planning a political somersault.

Technology spells trouble for Aswesuma beneficiaries

Aswesuma beneficiaries were recently issued a QR code system with the stated aim of making it easy for them to obtain their welfare benefit payments from their local Grama Niladhari.

When the beneficiaries met their Grama Niladhari with the QR code, they were told to go and get the QR code scanned and printed from a communication shop because the Grama Niladharis were not in a position to download and scan the codes.

In the end, the beneficiaries had to spend money out of their own pockets to find a communication shop to do the needful. It was yet another case of how the system turns technology into another inconvenience, though it is supposed to help people.

The slip with the QR code: A pillar-to-post struggle for Aswesuma beneficiaries

Fisheries Minister Devananda backs Palestinian struggle

The ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza following the surprise attack by the militant group Hamas on Israel last week raised geopolitical concerns in the Middle East, with an indirect impact on developing countries including Sri Lanka.

Among the local politicians who condemned the attack on Gaza, one of them had witnessed the struggle of Palestinians decades ago. The one-time militant turned politician, Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda, was among the Tamil militants attached to the then-Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) whose members were given training by Palestinian militant groups led by the Palestine Liberation Organisation in 1978.

“I have seen the resolve and determination of the Palestinian people. They are not warmongering people but a peace-loving community fighting for their land and rights. The EPRLF extended its support and solidarity for the Palestinian liberation cause. Now, they are under attack, and the international community should intervene in order to protect their lives,” Minister Devananda said while addressing an event held at Kopay Training College in Jaffna this week.

The Minister also stressed that when he was in the armed group, they adopted the lessons learned from Palestinian militant groups in the separatist war back in Sri Lanka but suggested that now “they [the Palestians] should take lessons from us”—indicating the price the community paid during the final phases of war with losses of civilian lives and collective
damages.

Millions busted for Morocco tour by Lankan officials

The self-styled “saviours of Sri Lanka’s economy” have started globe-trotting once more.

A state minister recently flew to Morocco with four officials to attend a conference. The entire delegation had flown business class and taken millions of rupees in taxpayer funds with them to pay for expensive hotels.

The delegation was originally supposed to be even bigger, with no less than seven officials due to go to Morocco with the state minister. The Presidential Secretariat, however, had refused to grant approval for three of them.

After learning of the delegation, a former Treasury Secretary commented that during his time, he only sent one direct-level officer to this meeting. The accepted norm is that Treasury officials remain in office during the budget preparation period. The 2024 budget is due to be presented to Parliament on November 13.

In Tel Aviv, Lankan mission working 18 hours a day but personal issues complicate matters

As war rages between Israel and Hamas, the Sri Lanka Embassy officials in Tel Aviv are working intently to ensure that the needs of Sri Lankans in Israel are met.

They have been working 18 hours a day, looking into the needs of Sri Lankans in the country and fielding calls from anxious family and friends back home who want to get in touch with their loved ones.

The work of the already overstretched staff has been complicated by the personal issues of some who are trying to contact those in Israel. Foreign Ministry sources said there were some instances where the husband and wife were estranged. As such, the person in Israel has not contacted the one back home to let them know they are safe. There have also been calls urging embassy staff to help locate ex-girlfriends and ex-boyfriends who are in Israel.