Colombo (LNW): The International Workers’ Day, also known as the Labour Day, is globally celebrated on May 1 of every year remembering the labourers and the working class who contributed to the labour movement.
The International Workers’ Day is celebrated in memory of the labour struggle at Haymarket Square in Chicago, USA in May 1886 demanding that the working day be limited to eight (08) hours.
The significant reddish theme for the Labour Day marks the first march walked by labours who wore the shirts soaked with blood worn by protesters who were shot to death during the struggle.
The worker’s struggle is a ceaseless battle demanding better living conditions for the working class despite the world being throttled into a technologically advanced era driven by money.
In Sri Lanka, the mainstream political parties and trade unions are set to celebrate the International Workers’ Day by holding marches and rallies today.
This 10-room property is the perfect place to revel in the raw beauty of Sri Lanka’s central highlands
The National News (WEEKEND): Hidden high in the hills above Kandy, Sri Lanka, W15 Hanthana Estate is an early 20th-century tea planter’s bungalow that has been transformed into a boutique hotel.
Home to 10 individualised rooms, surrounded by expansive gardens, it harks back to colonial-era Ceylon, providing an evocative retreat in the heart of the central highlands.
The welcome
A central living room features sumptuous seating, a library and a baby grand piano. Photo: W15 Hanthana Estate
After a three-hour drive from Colombo airport and a dizzying 20-minute ascent up the mountain-hugging roads from Kandy, I am deposited in the heart of the Hanthana Tea Estate.
An unassuming, low-lying bungalow surrounded by a wide wraparound veranda, W15 Hanthana emerges slowly from the vegetation as we proceed up its wide driveway.
A barefoot, sari-clad butler is waiting to greet me and whisk away my luggage.
The check-in process is informal, completed as I settle into one of the comfortable rattan armchairs lined up along the property’s terrace.
The views captivate from the offset. The property is perched on the side of a mountain, offering uninterrupted vistas of Kandy’s jagged mountains, including the Knuckles range, so-named because its dramatic folds and peaks resemble the contours of a clenched fist.
W15 Hanthana feels wonderfully isolated. Kandy’s sites, including the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, are a relatively short drive away, but this is really a spot for solitude and silence, interrupted only by birdsong and the sound of chanting from Kandy’s newest temple, Sandagiri Maha Seya, which sits on an adjacent mountain.
The room
The four-poster bed in a bungalow suite. W15 Hanthana Estate
Although it has been extensively restored, the property retains the intimate feel of a historic home.
At its heart is a central living room, decorated with plush sofas, a baby grand piano, an overflowing library and charming dark-wood writing desks.
Statement chandeliers resemble ancient candleholders, while artworks include old advertisements for Tetley Tea, historic maps and hand-drawn illustrations of local flora.
My bungalow suite is spacious yet cosy, with wooden floors, a four-poster bed, a three-seater sofa, sumptuous armchair and foot rest, and a writing desk.
It leads on to an enclosed terrace, which is lined with plants and affords plenty of privacy.
The service
Service is smooth and highly personalised. On my first night at W15 Hanthana, I am the only guest, and the small team of butlers and staff do a wonderful job of ensuring I feel entirely comfortable.
The property also has its own in-house naturalist who leads nature walks and other activities, and is constantly on-hand to share fascinating insights into Hanthana’s nature-laden surrounds.
The bungalow dates back to the early 20th century and has been completely restored. Photos: W15 Hanthana Estate
The scene
Facilities include a tennis court, an infinity pool and a sizeable lawn where you can play croquet and boules. Evenings can be whiled away playing board games or in the company of a good book from the library.
I am here because W15 Hanthana is the perfect starting point for exploring the Pekoe Trail, a new 300km network of hiking routes that snake through Sri Lanka’s tea country.
The first stage of the trail passes directly in front of W15’s gates.
The food
Dining at W15 Hanthana proves to be an exceptional experience. Meals are taken on the veranda, where the views can be appreciated at length.
I have a one-on-one chat with the chef before every meal, where he outlines what delicious three-course concoction he is planning and checks if I have any special requests.
Bountiful baskets of freshly baked bread come as standard, while one lunch consists of a shrimp salad with orange and pomelo, followed by seer fish with a bean stew.
My hearty evening meals include a perfectly cooked seafood platter brimming with lobster, seared tuna, red snapper, squid and prawns, and a traditional Sri Lankan curry, consisting of several small dishes paired with fluffy white rice.
Highs and lows
Expansive mountain views captivate at every turn. W15 Hanthana Estate
The entire set-up is designed to make you feel like you have been transported back in time, and have taken up residence in your own private home in the heart of the Sri Lankan hills. The views are a definite high point, as is the food.
W15 Hanthana does feel isolated, so this spot is better suited to those who are happy to stay put and revel in the solitude.
The Insider tip
Get your walking shoes on and explore the tea plantations, mountain tracks and rich natural biodiversity that surround this property.
The verdict
W15 Hanthana is the perfect place to reconnect with nature and sample the raw beauty of Sri Lanka’s central highlands, without forfeiting on luxury accommodation and excellent gastronomic experiences.
The bottom line
Room prices start from $480 on an all-inclusive basis. hanthana.w15.lk
Colombo (LNW): The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CEYPETCO) has announced they will slash the prices of fuel from midnight today (30), in compliance with a decision by the government.
Accordingly, the new prices will be as follows;
One litre of 92 Octane Petrol: Rs. 333 (slashed by Rs. 7)
One litre of 95 Octane Petrol: Rs. 365 (slashed by Rs. 10)
One litre of Auto Diesel: Rs. 310 (slashed by Rs. 15)
One litre of Super Diesel: Rs. 330 (slashed by Rs. 135).
However, no price revision will be made on Lanka Kerosene and Lanka Industrial Kerosene, and their prices in order will remain at Rs. 295 and Rs. 330.
Colombo (LNW): Sparks ignite raising controversy over the previous regime’s administration of commodities consumed by the public, as Thushan Gunawardena, former Executive Director of the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) accused the government of Sri Lanka of committing ‘state-sponsored murder’ in a bid to inform Lanka SATHOSA to sell canned fish unfit for human consumption through its outlets two years ago.
In a social media remark, the whistleblower alleged that “a Cabinet decision was taken to sell a stock of canned fish banned by the Ports Authority through Lanka SATHOSA outlets network,” thereby producing evidence for what it appears to be an email allegedly sent to the state-owned commodity distributor, dated July 10, 2021.
“How Sathosa sold canned fish UNFIT for consumption by white labeling with Sathosa Brand. At the time CAA intervened to stop the sale but the Trade Ministry wanted to go ahead with it. This is state sponsored murder. Sathosa is littered with substandard products,” Gunawardena wrote on his Twitter handle.
How Sathosa sold can fish UNFIT for consumption by white labeling with Sathosa Brand. At the time CAA intervened to stop the sale but trade ministry wanted to go ahead with it. This is state sponsored murder👇sathosa is littered with substandard products. pic.twitter.com/1fFeSQrk3I
Colombo (LNW): The deficit in the merchandise trade account narrowed to US dollars 412 million in March 2023, from US dollars 761 million in March 2022, mainly due to the subdued level of imports, compared to a year earlier.
However, the trade deficit in March 2023 widened significantly, compared to February 2023, reflecting the increase in imports due to seasonal demand.
The cumulative deficit in the trade account during January-March 2023 was US dollars 861 million, declined from US dollars 2,397 million recorded over the same period in 2022.
The merchandise exports recovered in March 2023 recording over US dollars 1 billion for the first time during 2023.
However, earnings from merchandise exports declined marginally by 2.0 per cent in March 2023, year-on-year, to US dollars 1,037 million.
The decline in earnings from industrial exports, including garments, mainly contributed to the decline in export earnings in March 2023, compared to a year earlier.
Meanwhile, export earnings have improved on a month-on-month basis mainly due to higher exports of gems, diamonds and jewellery and rubber products.
Cumulative export earnings during January-March 2023 recorded at US dollars 2,998 million, a decline of 7.9 per cent over the same period in the last year.
Earnings from the exports of industrial goods declined in March 2023, compared to March 2022, with a significant share of the decline being contributed by garments.
Exports of garments to most of the major markets (the USA, the EU and the UK) recorded declines.
Earnings from the export of petroleum products decreased due to the decline in the average export prices of bunker fuel exports.
In contrast, earnings from machinery and mechanical appliances(mainly, machinery and equipment parts); gems, diamonds, and jewellery; and rubber products(mainly, rubber tires) increased in March 2023.
Earnings from the export of agricultural goods increased in March 2023, compared to a year ago, mainly due to the increase in earnings from tea, spices (primarily, cinnamon and cloves) and seafood (primarily, processed fish).
Earnings from tea exports improved due to the increase in average export prices of tea although the volume continued its declining trend owing to the lagged effect of fertilizer shortages.
However, there was a decline in export earnings from coconut related products (primarily, desiccated coconut and fibres), minor agricultural products (primarily,arecanuts) and natural rubber in March 2023.
Earnings from mineral exports increased in March 2023, compared to March 2022, mainly due to the increase in exports of granite under earths and stone.
Import expenditure increased significantly to US dollars 1,450 million in March 2023, compared to US dollars 1,021 million in February 2023, due to seasonal demand and the partial recovery in fuel imports.
However, continuing the year-on-year declining trend since early 2022, the import expenditure declined by 20.3 per cent in March 2023.
The year-on-year decline in expenditure was observed in all major import sectors, although the decline in intermediate and investment goods was substantial.
Meanwhile, cumulative import expenditure during January-March 2023 declined by 31.7 per cent over the corresponding period in 2022.
Colombo (LNW): Apparel exports in March had sunk to a three year low reinforcing the tough times faced by the industry reiterating its concerns that 2023 will be very challenging.
Stakeholders were concerned that the lack of steady supply of fuel and electricity would affect the smooth operations of the industry.
On the other, it was noted that brands and retailers have started to move sourcing orders from Sri Lanka to neighboring countries to mitigate the risks.
Some of the expected consequences were loss of business and revenue and re-location of production to other countries. Furthermore, given that Sri Lanka’s apparel production relies on imported raw material, an increased concern was the ability of Sri Lankan manufacturers to afford the foreign currency reserves required to purchase raw material to fulfill orders.
As per provisional data, apparel exports in March amounted to US $ 388.36 million, lowest for the month since 2020’s $299.87 million.
In comparison to last year, the dip in March 2023 is 11% and as against 2019’s $ 504 million it is a sharp 23% decline. March 2023 also marked the third month of exports below $ 400 million level.
Since September last year, apparel exports have been on a downward trend year on year.Exports in the first quarter were down by $ 208 million or 15% to $ 1.18 billion.
Apparel exports to the US, the biggest market, amounted to $ 151.73 million down by 16.5% from last year in March. Exports to the EU declined by 7.2% to $ 117.50 million. Shipments to the UK declined by 6% to $ 59 million.
Exports in the 1Q to the US were down by 22% to $ 470 million and to the EU by 13% to $ 344 million. First quarter exports to the UK were down 10% to $ 167.7 million.
Recently, the industry body Joint Apparel Association Forum warned of upward pressure on cost making Sri Lankan exports less competitive especially after the Government decided to implement Gazette no. 2321/62 which has been roundly condemned by exporters and importers.
JAAF said already cost increases have been announced as freight is being dismantled and charges are being rolled out to avoid market forces and urged President Ranil Wickremesinghe to resolve the crisis triggered by anti-competitive behaviour by shipping service providers.
Central Bank referring to February data said reduced demand from major markets for garments due to unfavourable economic conditions globally mainly contributed to this outcome.
Future outlook remains depressed for the apparel industry as well given high inventories accumulated from last year’s purchases by buyers. Industry previously expected exports to turn around from June but the latest assessment is that it could be September.
Future orders appear slim as well. Import of textiles in the first two months of this year are down by 40% to $ 383 million. In the first half of last year (January to June) imports grew by 16% to $ 1.68 billion before finishing the year flat at $ 3 billion.
Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka Tourism Ministry will be planning to make Sri Lanka a year-round tourist destination, with measures to be taken to promote the tourism sector attracting more high end travelers from European countries including the Netherlands.
A short term tourism promotion plan is now being implemented on the drive is now underway on the directive of President Ranil Wickremasighe before the revising of the tourism target to 2.0 million in 2023 from an earlier 1.5 million.
This was resulted in on the back of better trends seen in the first quarter, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairman Priantha Fernando said.
“Based on the arrivals last year we set a target of 1.5 million tourists about six months ago. But with this SLTDA will be revising it to 2 million,” Fernando said adding that the target for March 2023 was only 90,000, but we have exceeded that to d 112,991 tourists,
He said this was the first time since 2019 that we have welcomed more than 100,000 tourists for the third consecutive month.
Under this set up, the Embassy of Sri Lanka in the Netherlands in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), recently organised a successful briefing for over 50 tourism industry representatives.
It was attended by Dutch Government officials, media professionals, tour operators, travel agents, travel bloggers, social media influencers, travel journalists, TV professionals, and airline representatives.
The Embassy was aimed at highlighting the latest developments in Sri Lanka including valuable insights on the country’s unique attractions and experiences.
Ambassador Aruni Ranaraja expressed her gratitude to the industry representatives for their continued support and accentuated the uniqueness of Sri Lanka as a combination of the “Whole of Asia in one Island”, which is compact, diverse, accessible and is now popular.
Menken Maritime founder Bernard Menken relayed his decades’ long friendship with Sri Lanka on business cooperation and stated Sri Lanka is his preferred holiday destination, recalling Dutch history and its rich cultural heritage as a major attraction for the Dutch travellers.
Andrew Travel Company Sri Lanka Managing Director Mahen Kariyawasan during his presentation described the uniqueness of Sri Lanka’s tourism product and stated that Sri Lanka is back on track once again for welcoming all demographics of travellers.
Emirates Airlines Sales Executive Mathieu Hastman was hopeful that Emirates, currently operating two flights daily to Colombo, will soon be back to pre-COVID regularity, offering greater connectivity between Netherlands and Sri Lanka.
The tourism industry representatives in attendance expressed their appreciation for the timely briefing and their eagerness to resume travel to Sri Lanka. They commended the Government’s efforts to prioritize the safety and well-being of tourists and pledged to promote Sri Lanka as a top tourist destination in the Netherlands.
Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka’s first official national Multidimensional Poverty Index (national MPI) using data from the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2019 was launched recently following a multi stakeholder collaboration.
With support from UNICEF, the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the European Union, the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) unveiled key findings of the Index.
The Sri Lankan MPI creates a comprehensive picture of poverty. It reveals who the poor people are and how they are poor by focusing on a set of interlinked deprivations that poor people experience.
To further probe and support child-focused policies, an individual child MPI for children aged 0-4 was crafted, which includes the same indicators as the national MPI, plus two pivotally important child deprivations in Sri Lanka: under-nutrition and early childhood development. Sri Lanka’s child MPI is pioneering in being the first official measure of child poverty that links directly and precisely with the national MPI.
The Sri Lankan MPI is an official permanent statistic of multidimensional poverty that will be updated and published regularly, reported as SDG indicator 1.2.2 (proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions), and used to complement the monetary poverty measure.
Yet, the MPI is not just a statistic. It is a policy tool. It provides relevant information to accelerate poverty reduction in different sectors with limited resources – by informing high impact budget allocations to social sectors, focused interventions, policy design and coordination, and monitoring.
In addition to capturing simultaneous deprivations in different dimensions, the national and child MPIs can also be disaggregated by age, sex, or location.
It can be used to show the extent to which different deprivations contribute to poverty, for whom and where, thereby providing more detailed insights into how to focus policy interventions.
UNICEF said poverty has many faces and especially the experience of deprivations during childhood, such as in nutrition and cognitive development, can last a lifetime.
In line with the international community’s commitment to “End poverty in all its forms everywhere”, as embraced in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1, Sri Lanka recognizes the multiple ways in which poverty manifests itself for individuals beyond monetary deprivations, including deprivations in education, health, and living standards.
SJB expresses doubts that the Govt will keep its promises to the IMF: MP Patali Champika Ranawaka says the IMF is charging an exorbitant interest rate of over 8 per cent per annum on its USD 3 bn loan to Sri Lanka.
Former CB Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal calls for a top level probe to ascertain whether Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe and Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardene (as Members of the Monetary Board), had approved of the EPF management investing EPF Members’ funds in Government T-Bills & Bonds after the SL Govt securities had been rated as “Default”, and while knowing of the impending “hair-cut”: asserts that, by their actions, they would have caused losses of several hundreds of billions of rupees to the EPF Members.
Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chairman Vish Govindasamy says the country has only gained a “fragile stability”: asserts there is a lot more to be done in future: CCC and Govindasamy have been strong advocates for the Govt’s “debt default” and the IMF programme which has resulted in the sharp depreciation of the LKR, very high interest rates, high utility prices, massive negative growth, discontinuation of Forex construction contracts, etc
Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development & Housing W S Satyananda says the Ministry will launch a new housing project for the underprivileged community in Colombo, with the assistance of USD 450 mn from China: 1,995 houses to be built across 5 areas in Colombo and the project to be completed in 2 years.
SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara says the SJB has decided to initiate disciplinary action against MP A H M Fowzie for voting in favour of the IMF, in contravention of the party decision.
Court orders fines of Rs.4.1 mn on 29 stores that sold eggs above the current maximum retail price in Wattala, Attanagalla, Negombo, Minuwangoda, and Gampaha.
CID names former MP J Sri Ranga as a suspect over the incident of setting fire to President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence in Colombo: Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage orders Sri Ranga to appear before Court on 3rd May: the former MP is currently in custody for allegedly influencing witnesses of a fatal traffic accident in Vavuniya in 2011.
SLPP rebel and FPC MP Professor Charitha Herath says the IMF agreement is perhaps the most devastating document against the 4-decade-long political career of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa: asserts there’s a great disparity between the contents of the “IMF” document and the politics of the ruling party led by Rajapaksa.
The sudden deaths of hundreds of fish in Kotmale Oya which supplies water to the Upper Kotmale reservoir leave local authorities baffled: Lindula MOH Dr Dureirajah Rishinee says dead fish and water samples have been sent to the Peradeniya Uni’s Veterinary Hospital to test.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe says he intends to establish an “Institute of History”, with the aim of bringing together the museum, archives, archaeology, cultural triangle, and universities.
Colombo (LNW): Former Navy Commander and current North-Western Province Governor Wasantha Karannagoda said there is “something else” behind the United States’ move of banning him and his family from entering the US soil.
Denouncing the move, the former Navy Commander emphasised that the US’ sudden decision to blacklist him 14 years after the war is ‘surprising’ and that he believes that “a former military official and the US Ambassador are behind the move.”
The North-Western Province Governor also denounced the US State Department for refereeing information documented by non-governmental organisations and other investigations pertaining to the ban, calling it a ‘shame.’
Karannagoda and his family are banned from entering the US over alleged human rights violations committed during the war season.
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