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It seems like the Sri Lankan government has implemented some interesting tax waivers for imported vehicles recently.

While the normal duty applies to imported electric vehicles, the luxury tax has been waived off.

In the usual process, vehicles valued at more than Rs. 3.5 million are considered a luxury and are subject to an additional tax of 100 percent.

For example, if your vehicle exceeds the value of Rs. 3.4 million by half a million, you have to pay another half a million as a luxury tax.

“It looks like the Treasury has given waivers to a large number of people. Their justification may have been the depreciation of the rupee, so the rupee value of the vehicle would’ve gone beyond Rs. 3.5 million,” a source commented.

In a government department, even the topmost official has got a handsome luxury tax waiver for his Volvo wagon.

UNP welcomes controversial Pohottuwa man

In true Sri Lankan hospitality, the United National Party (UNP) welcomed new party members with open arms, and among them were Dr. Rukshan Bellana, who gained attention through his hospital escapades, and former Pohottuwa party member Mahinda Kahandagamage, who represented the self-employed in the city.

Mr. Kahandagamage, a strong supporter of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, had been involved in many controversial protests against the UNP-led Yahapalana government. Among them were the incidents when journalists were beaten up in protests.

During the ‘Aragalaya’ campaign in 2022, Mr. Kahandagamage was beaten up by protestors near Beira Lake.

Seized bottom trawlers to be sold to pay compensation to family of sailor killed in action

The recent death of a Navy sailor in Sri Lanka’s northern waters during the Navy’s attempt to arrest a group of invading Indian fishermen highlights how far this issue has become a pressing one for fisher communities, even though Northern politicians rarely take up the issue.

The death of the sailor, a skilled diver and naval officer with years of experience, was not only a personal loss to his family but also to his colleagues with whom he worked for decades across the island under different assignments.

The Fisheries Ministry is considering a proposal to pay compensation to the sailor’s family, but it is struggling to secure adequate funds within the allocated funds for the Ministry as it is cash-strapped with other ongoing development initiatives and cost-cutting measures.

Therefore, the Ministry is considering auctioning a batch of Indian bottom trawlers that were seized in the past and declared state property to raise a significant amount to pay the compensation. For this, the Ministry called for reports on the detained Indian bottom trawlers from its District Offices of Fisheries Department in the North.

Expressways: Minister says repayment not possible even if he is born again and again

Transport and Highways Minister Bandula Gunawardena expressed concern over the repayment of the loans obtained to construct expressways.

He said that even if he were born multiple times and became the Minister of Transport, it would be difficult to pay back foreign loans as the total loans amounted to about Rs 800 billion.

He said that with the Rs 5 billion profit made annually by the expressways the government would have to pay loans for at least 160 years. “This means even if I end my lifetime and am born twice, then too, the country would not have paid these debts.”

Conductors allegedly robbing millions from SLTB collection

Some of the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) buses need urgent repairs as their maintenance has been poor due to the economic crisis in the past few years.

But Transport Minister Bandula Gunawardena disclosed this week that the economic crisis was not the only reason for the poor maintenance of the buses.

He explained the reasons politely, probably making sure that he did not hurt the feelings of the employees. “Though 90 percent of the conductors are honest, there are 10 percent who pocket part of the day’s revenue to maintain their families.”

He said that as a result, the SLTB loses Rs 10 million a day, or more than Rs 3600 million annually.

But the question remains as to what action the Minister, his Secretary, and the SLTB Chairman have taken to stop the revenue leakage.

Sirisena says he learned much from newspapers

During a visit to an art exhibition on Friday, former President Maithripala Sirisena told a journalist that he used to read a lot of newspapers and often visited the parliament library to read books.

He lamented that new politicians did not read as much as he did and would not know much about what was happening.

The former president was well known for his quote, “I got to know this from the newspaper,” during his tenure, when he got to know of actions taken by his own Yahapalana government.

There were several instances where the former president said he was unaware of the moves taken by the government and claimed that he only became aware of them after reading papers.

Uma Kumaran only Sri Lankan-origin candidate to win a seat in UK election

British-born Uma Kumaran, whose parents left Sri Lanka during the northern insurgency begun by the LTTE, was the only candidate of Sri Lankan origin to win a seat in Thursday’s UK parliamentary elections.

Ms. Kumaran was elected as a Labour Party MP from Stratford and Bow. She campaigned in the newly carved constituency considered a ‘safe’ Labour seat in what she claimed was to fulfil five pledges including to be accessible to the community, to lower energy bills, and to provide the biggest boost for affordable housing in a generation.

Uma Kumaran with Labour leader Keir Starmer

As a Labour Party member, Ms. Kumaran secured more than 19,000 votes, defeating her closest rival by more than 12,000 votes.

Her family had left Sri Lanka in the 1980s, and she was born in East London, in the heart of the capital’s Tamil community, where her parents settled.

In a recent interview, she said, “My grandad was one of Jaffna’s first trade unionists; his dad, my great-granddad, kicked him out of the house temporarily for joining the front of a trade union picket line calling for rights for sanitation workers. Both my grandfathers were civil servants and always had a sense of public service. This runs throughout my family.”

Among those who congratulated her was Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin. He said, “You bring great pride to the Tamil community.”

However, several other Sri Lankan-origin candidates were defeated in the UK elections. They were Ranil Jayawardene (Conservatives- North East Hampshire lost to Lib Dems); Thangam Debboinaire ( Labour- Bristol Centra lost to Green); Charith Gunawardene (Greens – Southgate and Wood Green lost to Labour); Naranee Ruthra-Rajan ( Green – Hammersmith and Chiswick lost to Labour); Chrishni Reshekaron (Labour Sutton and Cheam lost to Lib Dems); Myuran Senthilnathan (Reform – Epsom and Ewell lost to Lib Dems); Rizwi Rawoof (Reform – Gillingham and Rainham lost to Labour); Shaz Muzzammil (Conservatives – Birmingham and Ladywood lost to Labour); Gavin Haran (Conservatives – Southend East and Rochford lost to Labour); Lucian Fernando (Reform – Hastings and Rye lost to Labour); Kamala Kugan (Stalybridge & Hyde lost to Labour); Devin Paul (Labour – Hamble Valley lost to Conservatives).

Chaos at Chavakachcheri Hospital over appointment of medical superintendent

The ongoing dispute between the Northern Province’s health administration and the Central government over the appointment of a medical superintendent caused chaos at Chavakachcheri Base Hospital this week.

The medical superintendent who took over the post introduced changes, including utilising a building that had remained closed for more than two years but with little help from staff and the Provincial Health Director’s office, which he alleged had been trying to remove him from the post.

Patients had to be sent to Jaffna Teaching Hospital for treatment since doctors attached to the hospital launched a trade union action on Wednesday.

The Human Rights Commission’s Jaffna branch officials also visited the hospital on Friday to monitor the situation based on a complaint lodged with the office.

Foreign Minister Sabry meets the Hikawa family during his visit to Japan this week

Young Sabry with Aya and her parents 30 years ago

Sabry goes down ‘memories’ lane in Japan

During what was his official visit to Japan earlier in the week, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry had requested for a visit to be arranged to the home of his ‘host family’ in Fuefuki City in the Yamanashi Prefecture when he went on his first overseas visit out of Sri Lanka.

He had been part of an exchange programme 30 years ago as a young lawyer. That  programme was organised by the Japanese Cabinet Office and he had left on the ‘Nippon Maru’ ship at the time.

The host family was a Mr and Mrs Hikawa and their young daughter, Aya. In his own X tweet, the Minister says memories “came rushing back reminding me of the warmth and love we shared”. He goes on to say “the bonds we shared” remain as strong and “heartfelt” as ever.