The Secretary General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, (CPA) Mr. Stephen Twigg who arrived in the island the 10 th of January, met with Hon. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, Speaker of Parliament.

The Secretary General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, (CPA) Mr. Stephen Twigg visited Parliament and met with the Hon. Speaker and other high officials for cordial discussions last Friday (13) in Parliament.

The Secretary General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association during his visit to Parliament also met with Hon. (Dr.) Susil Premajayantha, Minister of Education and Leader of the House of Parliament. A separate discussion was also held with Member of Parliament Hon. Yadamini Gunawardena and State Minister Hon. (Dr.) Suren Raghavan.

During the discussions held, Secretary General Mr. Stephen Twigg made a special emphasis on the CPA Parliamentary Academy which was initiated as a central learning hub for Commonwealth Parliamentarians and parliamentary officials and stated that the purpose of the said initiation has extended to anyone who wishes to learn about Parliaments and key thematic topics. Moreover, Mr. Twigg elaborated on the importance of extending women representation in Parliaments across the Commonwealth Parliaments.

Mr. Stephen Twigg, accompanied by Ms. Emily Davies, Head of Strategy and Engagement of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association also met with the Secretary General of Parliament Mr. Dhammika Dasanayake, Chief of Staff and Deputy Secretary-General of Parliament Ms. Kushani Rohanadheera and Assistant Secretary General of Parliament Mr. Tikiri Jayathilaka for a cordial discussion followed by a special tour around Parliament.

The Secretary General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association also met with senior officials of the Parliament staff and discussed future opportunities and areas of improvements.

ECONOMYNEXT – Debt re-structuring talks with India and China are successful, President Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament as the country is trying get an International Monetary Fund bailout.

“I can tell this assembly that the talks are successful,” President Wickremesinghe told parliament.

“Very soon we will have an answer.”

Sri Lanka has raised taxes and tightened spending to bring a wide budget deficit and unsustainable debt under control. Formal assurances that creditors are willing to re-structure debt has to be given.

State Minister for Finance Shehan Semasinghe said Sri Lanka is expecting to get executive board approval for an International Monetary Fund program by March.

“The President, the Finance Ministry, the central bank and line ministries have done a lot of work,” he said.

“The good results of that work is coming. We have done a lot of work on financial assurances.”

A high level delegation of China’s Communist Party (CPC), led by Vice Minister Chen Zhou, Head of the CPC International Department called on Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena on January 16.

“Sri Lanka is a very special friend of China and we are considering how we could assist Sri Lanka to get over the current crisis,” Chen Zhou was quoted as saying.

“You will have some good news soon.”

The move taken by the General Treasury to settle the salaries of the non-executive public servants on the designated date and the salaries of the executive public servants several days after the designated date has been approved by the Cabinet.

The move, which was made in compliance with the limits of the government’s cash flow in order to manage the expenses for the next few months from January, was approved during the Cabinet meeting held yesterday (16) and was revealed during today’s (17) briefing called in for announcing the Cabinet decisions.

MIAP

Sri Lanka Navy apprehended 10 suspects with 02 local fishing trawlers which were suspected to have smuggled narcotics into the island. The suspects and the fishing trawlers were escorted to the Port of Colombo yesterday (16).

The apprehension was made based on information revealed by the suspects of a local fishing trawler which was held during a special operation carried out by the Navy in waters west of Beruwala on 05th January. The same operation also led to the seizure of 23kg and 235g (including packages) of heroin smuggled by those suspects.

In order to curb illegal activities, including the smuggling of drugs via sea routes, Sri Lanka Navy conducts regular patrols and operations in the coastal and beach areas of the island. According to a coordinated operation carried out by the Navy together with other intelligence services, it has been revealed that a number of local multi-day fishing trawlers are involved in the smuggling of drugs into Sri Lanka.

During the apprehension made by SLNS Wickrama II on 05th January off Beruwala, 22 packages of heroin weighing 23kg and 235g (including packages) were recovered from the suspicious trawler (Reg. No. IMUL–A–1610–MTR Kingfisher – 6). Along with the consignment of narcotics, 05 suspects and the drug-carrying trawler were also taken into custody.

Based on information revealed by the suspects apprehended in that operation, two (02) more local multi-day fishing trawlers (Reg. No. IMUL–A–1888–MTR Kingfisher – 8 and IMUL–A–2029–MTR Kingfisher – 3) suspected of smuggling drugs to Sri Lanka were intercepted off the western coast by SLNS Gajabahu on 07th and 08th January.

During interrogation, the suspects aboard those trawlers admitted that they had thrown the stocks of narcotics overboard with the presence of the Navy. The interrogation also revealed that drug traffickers have developed a new strategy in which they remove inside components of the multi-day fishing trawlers’ Radar Domes and conceal drugs within.

The 02 fishing trawlers brought ashore are currently being inspected. Meanwhile, the fishing trawlers and 10 suspects will be handed over to the Police Narcotic Bureau for onward legal proceedings.

Going by the directives of the President and guidance of the Secretary of Defence, General Kamal Gunaratne (Retd) a range of anti-drug operations are being conducted across the island in order to eradicate the menace of drugs from the country. In this regard, Sri Lanka Navy in coordination with law enforcement agencies, too plays a pivotal role under the able leadership of Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera, continuing operations to apprehend smugglers engage in such illegal acts in the guise of fishing.

SL Navy