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The fourth phase of the Bharat-Lanka housing project was launched recently, with some 1300 houses across 45 plantation estates in ten districts to be built.

The Bharat-Lanka project aims to construct 10,000 houses for plantation sector workers. Each house is estimated to cost Rs. 2.8 million, and the Indian government is funding the project.

The project has been welcomed by many in the estate sector, as they believe that it would help to partly resolve the longstanding housing issue for them.

Some 4,000 housing units were completed in the earlier phase, with the implementing agencies being the Sri Lanka Red Cross (SLRC), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).

This time, the three organisations have been kept out, and the construction is being supervised by the National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) and the State Engineering Corporation, but this has caused concern about the implementation process.

Besides, the manner in which the contractors have been selected has also been an issue, as the contractors were reportedly picked by politicians in the area without following tender procedures.

The question raised was whether political affiliations were the criteria for the selection of the contractors.

The Indian High Commission explained that it played no role in selecting the contractors.

NHDA officials were not available by Friday to explain the position.

JVP’s Lanka Day in Kuwait drags embassy’s name

A poster put up by the Kuwaity branch of a group known as ‘Ethera Api’, claiming to be a mass organisation made up of expatriate Sri Lankans overseas, had drawn the attention of the authorities.

The poster was about a ‘Sri Lanka Day-Kuwait’ event being organised in a playground in Kuwait City.

One of the photographs included was that of former parliamentarian Sunil Handunnetti, who was described as the president of the ‘Ethera Api’ organisation, and three other activists backing the National Peoples’ Power led by the JVP.

On top of the poster, it was mentioned that the event was being held in cooperation with the Sri Lankan embassy in Kuwait.

The Foreign Ministry had contacted the mission in Kuwait and asked the organisers to remove the reference to the embassy being part of the event.

Ex-military officers’ political parade: Who’s blocking whom?

With the presidential and parliamentary elections ahead, there are several former military personnel extending their support to various political parties.

The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and the National Peoples’ Power led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna have been attracting most of them.

Former Army Commander Daya Ratnayake, former Navy Commander Daya Sandagiri and Major Gen. Sathyapriya Liyanage were among those who joined the SJB.

One of the former high-ranking army officers who wanted to join the NPP approached a journalist known to him, expecting him to convey a message to the JVP/NPP leadership. The message was conveyed not only to a senior member of the JVP but also to the leadership, expecting a response.

But none was forthcoming.

Was the party not interested in the ex-senior military officer, or was it another ex-army officer now with the NPP blocking his entry into the party? This has been the question in the minds of both the officer trying to support the JVP/NPP and the journalist himself.

IGP’s silence order

The new Police Chief, Deshabandu Tennakoon, assumed duties on Thursday after taking part in religious observances.

The IGP’s family members and senior officers were present at the event.

As the IGP prepared for the religious observances during the event, he had to signal to the gathering to be silent.

Immigration Dept. wants to stamp its presence on 75th anniversary

The Immigration and Emigration Department is marking its 75th anniversary on November 1.

The Department was interested in getting the Philatelic Bureau of the Department of Posts to issue a stamp to mark the event. The Department had contacted the Post Master General and found that it was too late as the quota to issue such stamps had been filled.

The Department has now sought the assistance of the President’s Secretary, Saman Ekanayake, to intervene and help it get the stamp issued.

Santhan’s body comes with more problems

T. Suthendiraraja (55), better known as Santhan, a convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case who was later freed by India’s Supreme Court, died in Chennai on Wednesday (28) following a cardiac arrest.

He was among seven people set free by the Supreme Court in 2022 after they served more than 20 years in jail in connection with the killing of the former prime minister in 1991.

Santan’s body was brought to Katunayake on Friday morning and was due to be taken to Jaffna later in the evening, but due to the wrong information provided, the release of the body was further delayed. One of the mistakes was that they used the name ‘Shanthan’ instead of his actual name.

The name used by the LTTE was Santhan.

He was accused No. 2 in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. He was charged with his active association with Sivarasan, considered the mastermind behind the assassination. According to India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case files, Santhan came to Tamil Nadu with Sivarasan in April 1991. The charge sheet described him as a member of the LTTE’s intelligence wing and said he was close to Sivarasan.

By Friday evening, after a lawyer prepared a fresh document and sent it by fax, the body was released to the Negombo hospital, where a post-mortem was due yesterday. His funeral is now likely to take place tomorrow in Uduppiddy, Jaffna.

SriLankan couldn’t find a cat to catch the rat, flight delays for three days

The presence of a rat in an aircraft of national carrier SriLankan Airlines forced the grounding of the aircraft for three days. It turned out to be a joke during a discussion between Ports and Aviation Minister Nimal Sripala de Silva and trade union members early this week.

The meeting between ministry officials and the airline’s management was aimed at addressing the issue of some chronic delays at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) during the past few days.

The delays have been attributed to many reasons, including shortages of aircraft and personnel.

Minister de Silva wanted to check if the rat had actually been spotted and how long it took them to find the rat.

Officials explained that it took them three days to find the rat, and until then, the aircraft that had arrived from Lahore had been grounded, thereby adding to the shortage of aircraft.

For the airline, the matter of finding the rat was no joke, as under safety standards, the matter needed to be taken seriously.

In the event of witnessing a rat in an aircraft, the operator is forced to find the rat, dead or alive, and to make sure that it does not cause further damage. Any damage caused, including chewing electrical wires, could be hazardous. This would mean a full checkup needs to be carried out.

That was the reason the airline had taken the issue seriously, resulting in a three-day grounding of the aircraft.

Field Marshal Fonseka here, there and nowhere at SJB meeting

The rift between the Samagi Jana Balawegaya leadership and Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka has come to the open with a court case pending.

Amid this legal battle, an SJB rally was organised last week in the Mahara area. Field Marshal Fonseka was present at the meeting, though he was not invited. SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa was alerted about his presence, and he arrived for the meeting.

Field Marshal Fonseka had wanted time allocated for a speech before Mr. Premadasa addressed the gathering but was told that if necessary, he could speak after the leader’s speech. However, the meeting ended after the leader spoke.

 Wooing women: Sagara says they’re following Mahinda’s strategy

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam was asked why the National Peoples’ Power and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya were now focusing on attracting the support of females by organising a string of events involving women.

His reply was that the two parties were trying to follow the SLPP leader, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was popular among the female voters, but said that was because he ended the war.

“So the other parties are trying to follow him,” he said.

Actor, politician and where does he go from here?

Actor-turned-politician Uddika Premaratne quit his parliamentary seat after expressing dissatisfaction with the political system and saying he could not play an active role as a young leader.

It was in October last year that an unidentified gunman reportedly fired at his vehicle as he reached his Anuradhapura residence.

The former MP is now reported to be looking at other options, like seeking asylum in Canada.

The shooting incident itself remains a mystery, as no breakthrough has been made in the investigations.

It would be interesting to see the next move of the former SLPP member.