Bid again says saphire owner

Ayesha R. Rafiq

The egg sized blue sapphire placed for auction at the Ratnapura Regional Gem Authority office yesterday was offered Rs. 21 million. The owner rejected the offer and will re-negotiate with other buyers for a better price, an official of the National Gem and Jewellery Authority (NGJA) said.

Director General of the NGJA, Dr. P.G.R. Dharmaratna said that the owner of the 3 1/2 acre plot of land in which the sapphire was found, Ms. Leela Dharmadasa, had not accepted the offer.

The bid was made by two gem merchants Jinadasa Guruge from Kahawatta and Ranjith Peiris from Ratnapura.

The stone, weighing nearly 500g is around 836 carats and roughly the size of an egg. Earlier reports said it was worth at least Rs. 70 million.

The money will be shared among the owner of the land, the licencee, the owner of the pump that cleans the mud water and the workers.

Ms. Dharmadasa, who is a widow, hopes to divide her share among her two sons and four daughters. What prompted her to exhibit the stone here is the tax concessions granted by the government.

Dead asked to pay GST

By Kumaradasa Wagista

The Colombo Municipal Council has been told by the Department of Inland Revenue to charge Goods and Sales Tax of 12.5% on cremations and burials, Deputy Mayor Omar Kamil said.

"This is the first time in CMC history, that a tax of this nature is being imposed on the dead Poor people who get money from the CMC Public Assistance Department to bury their dead too have to pay GST according to Inland Revenue Department (IRD) rules and circulars," he said.

The CMC levies GST from public market stalls in Colombo. But the taxes do not come to CMC coffers. They go to the Inland Revenue Department while the stall owners add the burden on to consumers," Mr. Kamil said.

Sri Lanka takes over from Maldives

The 25th session of the SAARC Standing Committee, of foreign secretaries of the member countries, began yesterday.

Deputy Foreign Minister of the Maldives, Salah Shihab handed over the Chairmanship of the Committee to Sri Lanka Foreign Secretary Wilhelm Woutersz. The agenda for the commission will include assessment of the progress in the implementation of programmes on the Suppression of Terrorism, a review of the activities under the Integrated Programme of Action and Regional Centres under SAARC, and the implementation of SAPTA (South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement).

Secretary General of SAARC, Naeem U. Hasan presented his report assessing the activities of SAARC.

The Foreign Secretaries of the SAARC countries present at the Summit will be Toufiq Ali of Bangladesh, Lhatu Wangchuk of Bhutan, K. Raghunath of India, Murari Raj Sharma of Nepal and Shamshad Ahmad of Pakistan.

Ranil on politicians and horoscopes

Unlike the SLFP, with a dismal record of avoiding elections, the UNP has faced all elections despite adversities, claimed opposition UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at a meeting with UNP Provincial Council candidates from Uva, Central and North Central on Friday.

Mr. Wickremesinghe told them at this meeting in Kandy when the UNP presidential candidate Gamini Dissanayake was assassinated in 1994, the UNP fielded another candidate and faced the election.

In sharp contrast, the JVP entered a meaningless agreement with the PA candidate, Chandrika Kumaratunga, and did not contest. Thus it was only the UNP which ensured the people's right to choose a leader, or else the PA would have won uncontested.

"It has been a tradition among politicians, to make vital decisions, according to astrological forecasts. I don't mind an election, organised during a time when the President's planets are in exalted positions. But our political history records a number of instances where political leaders had held elections according to their horoscopes, only to be defeated," Mr. Wickremesinghe said.

More News/Comments * Check your flights * Complaints go 'unheeded' * Now it's Andare column liyuwa vagei * SAARC: Pakistan wants Kashmir on SAARC agenda

Return to News/Comment Contents