- The Election Commission writes to President Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Minister of Finance requesting the funds for the holding of the LG Polls: Commission Chief Nimal Punchihewa says the request is made based on the Finance Secretary’s response to previous requests that he cannot make a decision on the funds without the approval of the Finance Minister due to the current ‘financial situation.’
- Senior Adviser to the President on National Security and Chief of the Presidential Staff Sagala Ratnayake launches a programme aimed at reducing the environmental damage caused to the coast of Sri Lanka by the distressed MV X-Press Pearl vessel which caught fire two years ago: The programme is jointly implemented by the Marine Environment Protection Authority, Department of Coast Conservation, Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government, Central Environmental Authority, Environmental Police, Sri Lanka Navy, and Tudawe Brother Pvt. Ltd.
- Public Security Minister Tiran Alles decides not to appear before the HRCSL in connection with the Police measures to disperse recent protests, stating that the manner in which he was summoned is ‘not in compliance with any standard procedure.’
- Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara says relief will be provided to the public through the fuel price revision in April; asserts the benefit of the strengthening of the Sri Lanka Rupee against the US Dollar will be passed on to the general public.
- Chief Inspector of the Bandarawela Police Station to be investigated over the inappropriate questioning of a mother, who was arrested for allegedly abandoning her infant in a train at the Colombo Fort Railway Station, in front of the media: Activists raised deep concerns over the Police’s conduct and the manner in which the media was handled.
- Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa attends the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna District Authority Board rally in Moneragala; says his party is never afraid of elections and the SLPP always served the rural areas: Event organised by ex Minister Shasheendra Rajapaksa.
- Luxury passenger ship ‘Princess Cruise’ docks at the Colombo, with nearly 2,000 passengers aboard mainly from the US, the fourth luxury cruise with in around three months from the arrival of the previous cruise liner in the island in November 2022, signalling the revival of the country’s hospitality industry.
- Insight published by Verité Research highlights economic management in Sri Lanka suffers from a lack of compliance – by the bureaucracy and by the Parliament – to the existing laws and rules of the country, and this has been the case for at least 20 years; says despite the government’s proposed new laws on stronger public finance management, it lacks the ability to flout them with impunity, and/or change them as they become a constraint to irresponsible decision making.
- SLTDA provisional data show Sri Lanka welcomed 31,086 visitors during the first eight days of March, 2023, boosting the confidence of the tourism industry: A total of 241,270 visitors have arrived in Sri Lanka so far: Tourism Minister Harin Fernando says Sri Lanka is “not a bucket list country, but a destination that is impossible not to love”; asserts the country has overcome the difficulties and has returned to normalcy.
- Attorney-at-Law Yohan Ariyawansa of the Samagi Young Lawyers’ Movement says State Water Supply Minister Sanath Nishantha can be imprisoned up to two years under Section 263 of the Penal Code for acknowledging on Facebook that contaminated water from Beira Lake was ‘deliberately used’ to disperse the February 26 protest march organised by the National People’s Power: Section 263 states “Whoever maliciously does any act which is, and which he knows or has reason to believe to be, likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.”
