- Three members of the Public Utilities Commission reject PUCSL Chief Janaka Ratnayake’s proposal of 36 per cent electricity tariff hike to ease the difficulty of consumers in paying exorbitant price for a unit of electricity; proceed with 66 per cent hike of the Ceylon Electricity Board.
- President Ranil Wickremesinghe instructs government officials to provide relief to low-income families without leaving anyone behind – directs to purchase adequate rice to feed 2.85 million (28,50,000) families subject to a maximum of Rs. 20 billion – each family to receive 10kg of rice in March and April.
- The Board of Investment Sri Lanka benchmarks the sustainable development goals by launching a MobileApp, the first of its nature, to enable investors to have easy access to investment-related information and offer a novel brand experience – App can be downloaded for both Apple and Android devices.
- Three minors were arrested by the Welipenna Police for brutally assaulting a grown man in Galmantha, Aluthgama-Mathugama area – The victim, 34 and a resident of Kurudhippita, Walagedara, succumbs to his injuries and dies.
- The Department of Motor Traffic announces more than one million (1,122,418) driver’s licence holders in Sri Lanka are women, considering the total of 12,700,000 holders; adds among them are 2,082 women who have obtained heavy vehicle licences; asserts there is a significant increase of women applicants for driver’s licences.
- The Treasury releases a circular on the government’s programme for purchasing and distribution of paddy – The circular issued under the signature of Treasury Secretary Siriwardena, on the direction of President Wickremesinghe, as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policy.
- The historic Temple of the Tooth Relic in the city of Kandy to host a “Janaraja Perahara” on February 19th, after a gap of 34 years: The procession has been organised to coincide with the 75th Independence Celebration, and will be inaugurated under the patronage of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
- President Ranil Wickremesinghe says the government will not give in to the demands of protesters; stresses just because certain groups strike demanding the removal of certain officials, the government will not remove anyone arbitrarily as there is a procedure that is being followed; asserts the government will follow the rules and act accordingly: His comments follow two recent demonstrations demanding the removal of the Vice Chancellor of the Ruhuna University and the removal of the General Manager of a state Corporation.
- Four Police officers including an OIC attached to the Crimes Division of the Tissamaharama Police Station convicted and sentenced to death over the murder of a person during a raid in Tissamaharama in 2005: Verdict made by Hambantota High Court.
- Political parties of the Opposition claim the Government’s Printer and the Treasury Secretary have violated the constitutional duties entrusted with them by denying the issuance of funds for the Local Government Polls and the printing of ballot papers – Government’s Printer Gangani Liyanage responds saying she has acted within legitimate boundaries.
Sri Lanka Original Narrative Summary: 16/02
Prepare to go to prison – Marikkar warns Govt Printer and Treasury Secretary (VIDEO)
By: Isuru Parakrama
Colombo (LNW): Both the Government’s Printer and the Treasury Secretary have become puppets under the palm of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, leading to which the postponement of the upcoming Local Government Election is being carried out in violation of the Constitution of Sri Lanka, warned Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP S.M. Marikkar, speaking to a briefing called in today (15).
Reminding that no circular is considered as superior as the Constitution itself, Marikkar emphasised that the Government’s Printer and the Treasury Secretary have the responsibility to follow the guidelines of the Election Commission in compliance with the constitutional duty entrusted with them.
Should the Government’s Printer believe that ballot papers will not be printed in the event of funds not being released, she should also be questioning as to how the Government Press’ affairs were carried out during the last polls held in the country, the SJB MP stressed, pointing out that such funds were not released on the basis of ‘money-in-hand’ but were of systematically credited expenses.
Addressing Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena, Marikkar reminded that he had issued Rs. 100 million for the election affairs to date and added that should he believe that funds cannot be allocated for the holding of the upcoming Local Government Polls, the Treasury Secretary should also be held accountable for wasting public funds amounting to Rs. 100 million this far.
The SJB MP went on saying that the Treasury Secretary’s conduct behind the provisions of the circulars in violation of the Constitution of Sri Lanka should be a prison sentence up to three years, and the Government’s Printer should also be facing the same fate, should she continue to avoid her duties.
The President who came to power pledging that the Constitution will be protected and democracy will be strengthened has resorted to a conduct which had never been committed in the history of Sri Lanka, Marikkar went on, adding that him barring the printing of ballot papers would be a violation of democracy. Despite the President’s everyday walk under the STF’s protection, he should bow to the public’s opinion, the SJB MP added.
ComBank regains the award as SABank with highest climate finance transactions
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has reaffirmed Commercial Bank of Ceylon’s status as the South Asian financial institution to record the highest number of climate finance transactions in fiscal year 2022, awarding Sri Lanka’s benchmark private sector bank the prestigious Climate Assessment for Financial Institutions (CAFI) award in respect of the year.
The CAFI Award for climate reporting was conferred on Commercial Bank for successfully completing 314 climate finance transactions that met IFC’s climate eligibility criteria. The CAFI tool was used to assess climate eligibility and measure the climate impact of investments.
The only Sri Lankan bank to be accorded this accolade, Commercial Bank won the same award for fiscal year 2021 as well, alongside the climate impact award that acknowledged the bank’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction.
Commenting on this recognition, Commercial Bank Managing Director/CEO Sanath Manatunge said: “This award positions Commercial Bank as a consistent leader in climate financing and attests to our commitment to sustainable financing which is at the heart of responsible banking. We will continue to promote sustainable economic growth in this region and address challenges posed by climate change through our green financing and climate financing initiatives.”
IFC Global Director – Financial Institution Group Tomasz Telma said: “We are pleased to recognise our clients’ dedication and transparency in reporting their climate investments. CAFI is a critical platform for reporting progress in the fight against climate change by linking finance to impact which ensures that the financial services industry can measure and quantify the climate impact of their investments using transparent and globally recognized methodologies.”
IFC awarded Commercial Bank after tracking data on climate financing submitted by its clients in the South Asia region using CAFI – a digital, web-based platform introduced by IFC to help banks and other financial institutions assess climate eligibility and to measure the development impact of the projects they finance.
Commercial Bank uploads data on its green projects and green loans and leases granted to the CAFI platform as a practice.
Using CAFI, the bank can verify whether a project meets internationally agreed-upon criteria for climate finance and ensure that climate metrics and eligibility criteria stay in line with IFC’s definitions for climate-related activities and the common principles for climate mitigation finance tracking.
The bank finances projects that focus on renewable energy, energy and resource efficiency, waste management, emission reductions, smart agriculture, green buildings among others under its Green Financing activities.
The bank’s Green Financing is geared towards the fight against climate change, meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 7 and 12: Affordable and Clean Energy, and Responsible Consumption and Production.
Sri Lanka and Russia to further strengthen socioeconomic relations
Sri Lanka has taken major step forward towards strengthening socioeconomic relations with Russia while opening avenues for local businessmen and entrepreneurs to establish contacts with Russian counterparts, official sources disclosed.
Amidst the changing global dynamics, with the intention of strengthening socioeconomic relations between Russia and Sri Lanka, the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) recently organised a four-day program, Russia-Sri Lanka Economic Forum (23-27 Jan.), which heralded fruitful outcomes for both nations.
The program was organised in collaboration with the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Russia, Economic Affairs Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Sri Lanka Export Development Board.
At the invitation of FCCISL, a high-level Russian delegation of 12 members took part in the four-day program. The Russian delegation was headed by Sverdlovsk Regional Government Deputy Governor Kozlov Vasily Valerievich.
The delegation was composed of Sverdlovsk Regional Government Minister of International Economic Relations Yarin Vyacheslav Yurievich, officials of the Sverdlovsk Regional Government, representatives from large companies, investors, and education institutes from Russia.
The objectives of the four-day program were to attract foreign direct investments from Russia, to promote Sri Lankan products and services in Russia, to strengthen higher education, to promote tourism between the two nations, and to raise awareness on new business and economic opportunities in the Sverdlovsk region for the Sri Lankan business community.
FCCISL President Keerthi Gunawardane officially welcomed the Russian delegation, guests and participants of the forum. FCCISL Deputy Secretary General Tilan M. Wijesooriya moderated the sessions of the forum where five presentations were made by the Russian delegation focusing on economy, industrial development, tourism, trade fairs, and university education.
The focus of the second meeting was to enhance the trade between Russia and Sri Lanka. With a view for promoting tourism between the two countries, the Russian delegation had productive discussions with Minister of Tourism Harin Fernando,and ministry officials.
Exploring the investment opportunities in Sri Lanka for Russian investors, the Russian delegation had a productive meeting with the Chairman, Director General and officials of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka.
Parallel to those meetings, the Business-to-Business meetings between Russian importers and Sri Lankan exporters were held at the Sri Lanka Export Development Board.
With the intention of enhancing the quality of research and academia, and with a view for developing university students in both countries, he Ural Federal University of Russia, represented by the Rector, Dr. Viktor Koksharov, signed several MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with the UGC, University of Colombo, NSBM Green University and NIBM.
Lithuania offers job opportunities for Sri Lankans in the transportation sector
Lithuania leading heavy vehicle transport and logistics provider in Europe has chipped in to assist Sri Lanka to overcome dollar crisis by opening employment avenues in the transportation sector for Sri Lankans.
A leading transport service in Lithuania plans to recruit 600 truck drivers for its trans-Europe services and sought Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena’s intervention for speedy training process for selected drivers, Prime Minister’s Media Division said.
This request was made by Dana Janerikaite, Senior Director of Manvesta in Lithuania who called on Prime Minister Gunawardena at the Temple Trees on February 13.
She said the company plans to recruit 600 truck drivers but could select only 109 persons with good driving skills and basic English knowledge.
“We pay a monthly salary of SL Rs one million to work in our trans-Europe truck services. We have contracts for transport of luxurious vehicles including Mercedes Benz, Tesla etc. and food and other goods to over 500 clients. We need good drivers and I prefer to recruit from Sri Lanka because it is easy to teach basic skills to literate persons,” she said.
The Prime Minister said the company could use the driving training facilities available at CTB Driving School and other training centers to speed up the process.
He said he would take up the issue with the Minister of Labor Minister and Foreign Employment to establish a data bank on applicants for driver employment.
Local recruitment agency, Fortuna’s Managing Director Vimal Perera said the Manvesta’s training manager used the trucks available at Port of Colombo to test the driver skills and recruited more than 100 out of 300 applicants. “We urge the government to provide left hand drive trucks for these tests,” he said.
Transport and logistics in Lithuania account for about 12.3 % of GDP (which is the largest share of GDP for this sector among the EU Member States), employing more than 127 thousand workers (ca. 12% of all the country’s workforce).
5500 companies are operating in this sector in Lithuania, of which 4862 companies are very small (having up to 9 employees but altogether employing 21% of the workforce), 523 companies having 10-49 employees (comprising 23% of the workforce), 94 medium companies with 50-249 employees (21% of the workforce) and 22 large enterprises with more than 250 employees (35% of the workforce).
Road transport generates around 60 percent of the export revenue of the overall transportation and logistics sector in Lithuania.
The comparative advantage of the country’s trucking industry has long relied on the low cost of its workforce and the flexible work arrangements .
As compared to other countries, the road transportation sector in Lithuania is especially sensitive to the cost due to the geographical distance of the country from the leading centers in Europe where transportation and logistics activities take place.
3 members of PUCSL rejects chairman’s proposal of 36% electricity tariff hike
Three members of the Public Utility Commission have rejected the proposal of PUCSL chairman’s proposal of 36 precent electricity tariff hike to ease the difficulty of consumers in paying exorbitant price for a unit of electricity.
These members have approved the 66 percent tariff hike of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), PUCSL chairman Janaka Ratnayake said.
The CEB’s proposal of putting additional burden of Rs 287 billion on consumers annually has been revised by bringing it down to Rs 142 billion in a reasonable manner he said adding that three members of the the PUCSL Chathurika Wijesinghe, Douglus Nanayakkara and S.G.Senaratne had opposed to Commission’s legal tariff hike proposal out right. ,
Mr Ratnayake noted that these commissioners have violated the provisions of the electricity act by approving unreasonable price increases of CEB which will drag the people into more economic difficulties.
Electricity is still produced at a cost which is borne by the CEB. Since the CEB is the State and the State is still run by the people, taxpayers indirectly have to bear the cost of production. Investments in the CEB are made through taxpayers, several energy experts said.
The management is not properly incentivised to improve their performance because the CEB is heavily reliant on the government, they added.
If the CEB performs poorly, the security or bailing out by the government would always give them an ultimate form of protection, further enhancing weakened institutional gaps within the CEB.
BOI launches MobileApp
Colombo (LNW): Board of Investment Sri Lanka benchmarks SDGs by launching a MobileApp, the first of this nature, to enable investors to have easy access to investment-related info & offer a novel brand experience.
For Apple : apple.co/3HZejzT
For Android : bit.ly/3lCvIXt
Plan to mandate provisions of digital and e-payment facilities in all govt institutions for payment and collection purposes: Kanaka
By: Isuru Parakrama
Colombo (LNW): State Minister of Technology Kanaka Herath has urged officials at the Ministry of Technology to take immediate measures to implement a plan to make electronic payment facilities mandatory for all public sector institutions. The Minister’s call to action was made during the monthly progress review meeting of the Ministry of Technology.
It has been acknowledged that many government institutions lack the technical facilities needed for the public to make electronic payments using digital technology. The current practice of issuing handwritten receipts for cash transactions is both time-consuming and informal, making the development of electronic payment facilities a priority. The 2023 budget has proposed to implement this project under the subject Ministry and it will be mandatory for all payments and collections in the public sector to be made electronically.
The government will take proactive measures to address the technical limitations faced by government institutions in implementing electronic payments, and effective measures will be taken in the coming month of July to provide technical guidance and instructions to all relevant institutions, said Janaka Sampath Geekianage, Director (Development) of the Ministry.
A committee consisting of high-level representatives from key government organisations, including the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Technology, and the Ministry of Public Administration, has been established to oversee this initiative. The committee has already taken steps to prepare necessary plans, make decisions, and provide the technical guidance required to ensure the successful implementation of electronic payments in government institutions.
The Ministry of Technology is also taking steps to inform the public about this initiative and expand the existing electronic payment system currently in operation in the private sector and limited public sector institutions. Vehicle licence fees, birth, marriage, and death certificates can already be obtained through electronic payments and the Ministry of Technology aims to expand this service further.
Minister Herath highlighted that this development is aimed at providing greater convenience for citizens and streamlining the process of accessing government services. By allowing for remote access, it eliminates the need for in-person visits to government institutions, saving time and effort for citizens. Additionally, the implementation of electronic payments is expected to reduce financial irregularities and corruption by conducting all transactions in a secure and transparent manner.
Encouraging citizens to make use of these electronic payment facilities and making the required payments to state bodies through these digital means would also be of importance, he added. These efforts are being made to establish a digital economy, Herath further emphasised.
Meanwhile, Secretary of the Ministry of Technology Prof. Neranjan Gunawardena confirmed that all necessary steps will be taken to officially launch this initiative by September of the current year and to fully implement it in all government institutions by March 1, 2024.
PUCSL’s stance on electricity tariff revision pushes the country into dark abyss
Sri Lanka’s 60 -65% electricity tariff hike once in two months in accordance with IMF dictated power pricing formula is set to create another energy crisis with long hour power cuts as a result of the clash between the power and energy ministry and the public utilities commission headed by Janaka Ratnayake,official sources said.
Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera is expected to issue a statement on electricity tariff revision which has to be introduced in January 2023 today following the deadlock at the end of discussions between the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and the PUCSL yesterday.
The electricity tariff hike has become an urgent need to rescue the CEB from a possible bankruptcy due to its heavy borrowings from banks and billions of rupees due to fuel, and coal imports as well as to private power suppliers.
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is facing a severe financial crisis with no rupees or dollars to pay oil and coal shipments as its outstanding amounts to key organisations.
These dues include; Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Rs. 112 billion, renewable energy suppliers Rs. 40 billion, rooftop solar providers Rs. 4 billion, private power plants Rs. 80 billion, monthly bank loans interest Rs. 10 billion and Rs. 35 billion for coal payments for February
PUCSL Chairman Janaka Ratnayake who is still against the electricity tariff hike has not given approval for any new cost effective price formula pushing the country not only into another dark period once again but also jeopardizing the government’s commitments made to the IMF to secure US$2.9 bail out loan.
Janaka Ratnyake’s arrogant attitude of not bowing down to pressure of the country’s urgent need of tackling coal shortage and settling the economic crisis with the help of the IMF Extended Fund Facility.
PUCSL’’s blockade of IMF proposed electricity pricing formula will definitely disrupt the government’s plan to rescue the country from a severe economic crisis in the short run a at a time the government is about to settle the coal shortage to run the Norochcholai power plant and the ongoing economic program agreed with the IMF.
Lanka Coal Company says that six shipments must reach Sri Lanka monthly before April during the off-season, and as per the calculations around 12 shipments should have already reached Sri Lankan shores.
The cabinet has given approval for two companies recently to bring down these 12 shipments and the energy ministry is taking measures to expedite the procurement process averting the energy crisis.
A petition filed by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) seeking an order on the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply during the 2022 GCE Advanced Level examinations, has been rejected by the Court of Appeal.
Three minors arrested over assaulting man to death
By: Isuru Parakrama
Colombo (LNW): Three minors have been arrested by the Welipenna Police for allegedly assaulting a grown man in Galmantha, Aluthgama-Mathugama area.
The victim was a 34-year old resident of Kurudhippita, Walagedara, according to Police.
He had left the house last (14) evening to purchase household goods and had an altercation with the suspects, who are only 16 years old each. The suspects are accused of beating the man after an escalated argument.
The victim who was injured from the incident had succumbed to his injuries upon being admitted to the Seenawatte Hospital, and his death was pronounced thereafter.
The Police are conducting further investigations into the incident.