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The Public Services United Nurses’ Union has written to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, expressing strong displeasure at a proposal it claims has been made by the Commissioner General of Pensions to cut down paid leave days allocated to nurses and other public servants.

In the letter, union President Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Thera claims the proposal was recently presented to a Sectoral Oversight Committee in Parliament by the Commissioner General of Pensions and sought to cut down both casual and annual paid leave given to nurses. The letter noted that given the prevailing shortage of nurses in the public health sector, current staff members are overstretched and performing extra shifts already, and a decision to cut down their paid leave would cause severe inconvenience to them.

When asked, a senior government official dismissed the letter as an “attention-seeking exercise” and insisted no action was being taken to cut down on paid leave for public servants. The official added that the government “had better things to do” than lock horns with trade unions over such a matter.

No boat rides on the Kandy Lake until a dispute over contract is solved

Dispute rocks the Kandy Lake ‘Joy Motor Boat Service’

The Kandy Lake’s iconic “Joy Motor Boat Service,” used by many tourists who come to Kandy town, has been halted indefinitely after the Kandy Municipal Council sealed the building housing the motor boat service.

When asked, Municipal Commissioner Ishan Wijethilake said the contract period of the businessman who maintained the service had ended, and the Municipal Council took measures to call for fresh tenders for the boat service and award it to the highest bidder.

However, a dispute has now arisen between the company that operated the boats for the past 53 years and the persons who have been awarded the contract.

As such, the Kandy MC has taken steps to seal the premises until it completes an internal inquiry into the matter, the Municipal Commissioner explained.

Politics behind the temple photograph

A senior government official paid a courtesy call recently on a politically inclined senior monk who had vociferously campaigned for former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the last presidential election.

The monk has been fiercely critical of the present government and President Ranil Wickremesinghe of late, accusing them of not giving a senior monk such as himself the respect he deserves.

While chatting with the venerable Thera, the official couldn’t help but notice a large photograph of the man who had earlier held the same position the official now holds. The official asked why the monk had a photograph of the former top official at his temple.

“He was very supportive of us when he held the post. We hope he will come again and help us like he used to,” said the monk.
The official then jokingly asked the monk whether that meant his own photograph would never be found in the monk’s temple, to which the monk had no answer.

Jaffna University students posing for a group picture with the President

President’s response to Jaffna University student’s question on Thesawalamai and Kandyan Law

President Ranil Wickremesinghe visited Jaffna this week, and amid his many engagements, there was a Q&A session with Jaffna University students.

During the session, a law faculty student asked the President to allow students to learn Thesawalamai and Kandyan laws in their native languages.

President Wickremesinghe pointed out that Thesawalamai was originally written in Dutch before being translated to English, while all books on Kandyan Law are in English.

President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake quipped that if the question had been raised before either President Maithripala Sirisena or Mahinda Rajapaksa, they would have already instructed him to translate both the laws and the books to Sinhalese, prompting laughter.

Battle hots up for ITAK leadership ahead of convention

In Tamil political circles these days, talk is dominated by the upcoming National Convention of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK),
the main constituent party of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

The main reason is that it is expected to elect a new party leader during the convention. Nominations were also called for the post recently. Currently, former parliamentarian Mavai Senathirajah functions as the leader of ITAK, while octogenarian R. Sampanthan is the parliamentary leader of the party.

When it comes to canvassing for top leadership posts to secure the highest votes, the party also seems to be divided, rallying behind two leading candidates: parliamentarians M.A. Sumanthiran and S. Shritharan. Last week, Mr. Shritharan was in Trincomalee, conducting grassroots-level meetings with party activists ahead of the internal polls.

The two-day annual convention will be held on January 27 and 28 at a beach resort hotel in Trincomalee.

Little Champ Kilmisha taking a selfie with the President

President meets sa-ri-ga-ma-pa champ

Amidst his busy schedule of the four-day official visit to North this week, President Ranil Wickremesinghe took time to meet Kilmisha Udayasheelan, the title winner of the “Sa-ri-ga-ma-pa Little Champs 2023” music reality competition organised by the “Zee Tamil” television channel in Tamil Nadu.

The 14-year-old made history as the first Sri Lankan girl to triumph in an Indian reality competition, winning the grand prize of INR one million.

Japan delighted over Sri Lanka’s speedy economic recovery

The Japan-Sri Lanka Policy Dialogue on Economic Relations was held this week at the Finance Ministry after a lapse of seven years.

Speaking during the meeting, Japan’s Ambassador Mizukoshi Hideaki pointed out that he had been serving as his country’s top diplomat to Sri Lanka for three years now, and as such, he was witness to the country’s unprecedented economic crisis from the beginning.

“At first, I was shocked at how quickly this economy has collapsed, but now I’m very pleasantly surprised by the speedy recovery,” Ambassador Hideaki told Treasury officials. While the economy has not fully recovered, it had reached a certain level of stability, the ambassador said, adding that he was delighted to see the data that had been publicly released and show the performance of the
Sri Lankan economy.

The ambassador congratulated the Treasury, Central Bank, and other officials for all the efforts they had made to ensure the country’s economic recovery.

Shock and concern over electricity sector reforms

Parliamentarian Charitha Herath has written to Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara, expressing concern over the government’s proposed electricity sector reforms, including its draft Electricity Bill.

In the letter, which Prof. Herath has posted on his official social media accounts, he notes that a “robust evaluation” of the proposed power sector reforms in Sri Lanka is imperative and should encompass comprehensive studies, including technical, economic, sensitivity, and risk analyses. “Regrettably, no analysis reports accompanying the proposed bill or emerging during the recent process have been observed,” the MP adds.

Prof. Herath has raised a list of 16 concerns over the proposed electricity sector reforms in his letter to Minister Wijesekara.

These concerns include the potentially disproportionate authority granted to the minister, notable disparities in the objectives outlined in the report of the cabinet-appointed committee and the Act, the lack of professionalism and transparency in the proposed mechanism for selecting and appointing individuals to institutions, aggressive reform timelines that provide limited flexibility for necessary corrections, and concerns that automatic activation of the Act may hinder changes in government policy without amending the Act.

Prof. Herath adds that the reforms also do not ensure the “Least Cost Principle,” having been replaced by “at least at economic cost,” which includes externalities.

Given the significance of the concerns, the MP has asked Minister Wijesekara to address the issues raised by him for the betterment of the proposed reforms.