Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) has taken a policy decision to procure 500 buses including 400 Nos. 50-54 High Back Seater New Buses and 100 Nos. 32-35 Seater New Buses for Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB).
The main objective of this project is to replace the over 15 year old bus fleet in order to maintain the present operation level of SLTB without depleting rural routes.
Accordingly, with the approval of the cabinet of Ministers, the GOSL has decided to utilize the funds available in an existing Indian Line of Credit for procurement buses which is a concessionary financing facility.
In light of this, the Government of India has agreed to allocate USD 15.03 million in this regard from the same Credit Line. At the moment, the pre qualification process has been undertaken prior to commencement of the tendering process.
Minister of Transport, Highways and Mass Media Bandula Gunawardena said 500 new buses will be put into operation for public transport this year.
The Minister made this disclosure while speaking at an event held at Battaramulla Japanese Friendship Path today to distribute 75 new buses received by the country under the Indian loan scheme to depots across the island.
Speaking at this year’s distribution program, Minister Gunawardena said 75 modern buses manufactured to suit the condition of roads in rural areas will join the transport system.
The buses worth about Rs. 10 million have been given to Sri Lanka under the Indian Loan Scheme with the support of the Government of India.
He said arrangements will be made to distribute another batch of buses received under the project to depots all over the island on the occasion of the 75th National Independence Day under the patronage of the President.
These buses have been allocated to depots representing all areas including Northern and Eastern provinces.
“We have planned to add 500 new buses for public transport in the year 2023,” the Minister said.
Representing the Government of India, Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, State Minister of Transport Lasantha Alagiyawanna, State Minister of Highways Siripala Gamlath, State Ministers Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, Shanta Bandara, Dilum Amunugama and a group of MPs and Ministry Secretaries attended this event. .
The total government expenditure on the transport sector decreased by 9.3 percent to Rs.12,320 million during the first four months of 2022 compared to the same period of 2021. Rs. 9,190 million and Rs. 3,130 million has been spent on recurrent and capital expenditure, respectively.
During the first four months of 2022, the total expenditure incurred by the Government on the bus transportation was Rs. 2,850 million which has been spent on welfare services such as operating SLTB buses on economically unprofitable routes, issuing school and higher education season tickets and bus passes to the Armed Forces.
Govt to improve the passenger transport service adding 500 more buses
Sri Lanka crisis: Parents forced to pick which child can go to school
Ten-year-old Malki is too excited to stay in bed.
She’s up an hour before her two sisters and two brothers so that she can scrape some bright red gloss off her fingernails.
Today is her first day back at school and she wants to be spotless.
But her siblings must stay at home – her family can only afford to send her.
Six months ago, Sri Lanka was in the eye of the storm for its worst economic crisis since independence.
While calm has largely returned to the island nation, the full impact of mass unemployment and dramatic price rises is now visible among many families.
Every parent’s nightmare
Malki’s mother Priyanthika has had to pause her children’s schooling so they can earn money by selling fireworks.
Food prices in Sri Lanka reached record levels when inflation hit an all-time high of almost 95%.
Some days, no-one in Malki’s family eats.
While school is free in Sri Lanka, meals are not provided. When you add in the cost of uniforms and transport, education is a luxury Priyanthika can no longer afford.
She says she needs about 400 rupees per day ($1.09, 90p) for each child if they are to return to school.
Sitting in her one-bedroom home on the bed everyone shares, she wipes the tears from her face.
“All these kids used to go to school every day. I don’t have the money to send them now,” she says.
Malki can go to school because her shoes and uniform still fit.
But her younger sister Dulanjalee lies in bed crying, upset that today is not her turn.
“My darling, don’t cry,” says Priyanthika. “I’ll try and take you tomorrow.”
A shattered education
As the sun rises, children who are going to class hurry along dirt roads in white cotton uniforms, jumping on the back of motorcycles or piling into tuk-tuks.
Across town, Prakrama Weerasinghe sighs wearily.
He is the principal of Colombo’s Kotahena Central Secondary College and sees the economic distress every day.
“When the school day begins, when we have the morning assembly, children tend to faint from hunger,” he says.
The government says they have started distributing rice to schools but several schools contacted by the BBC say they have received no help.
Mr Weerasinghe says student attendance fell as low as 40% before he was forced to ask teachers to bring in extra food to keep students returning to class.
Joseph Stalin is General Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers Union.
He believes the government is wilfully unaware of the increasing numbers of families giving up on education because of the cost.
“Our teachers are the ones who see the empty lunch boxes,” he says. “The real victims of this economic crisis are the children.”
“[The government] are not looking for an answer to this issue. It’s been seen and identified by UNICEF and others, rather than the Sri Lankan government.”
UNICEF say it will get harder for people to feed themselves in the months ahead, with inflation in the cost of basic goods like rice continuing to cripple families.
It’s expected more children across the country will be forced to stop attending class.
The last hope?
With the government seemingly unable to manage the situation, charities have had to step in.
Samata Sarana is a Christian charity which has been helping Colombo’s poorest for three decades.
Today, its food hall is packed with hungry students from schools across the capital.
While the charity can help around 200 children daily, it is clear it’s struggling to meet demand.
“They give us food, buses to go home, they give us everything so now we can study,” says five-year-old Manoj as he waits in line for lunch with a group of friends.
When Malki returns home from her first day back at school, she tells her mother how much she enjoyed seeing her friends again.
But she also tells her mother she needs a new workbook and says her teachers are asking for extra money to buy materials for a school project.
Money that the family does not have.
“If we manage to find today’s meal, we go on to worry about how to find something to eat tomorrow,” says Priyanthika.
“That has become our life.”
BBC
60,000 MT of coal will reach Sri Lanka on Friday; Norochcholai to run on full capacity from Sunday
Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Power and Energy said that a shipment of 60,000 MT of coal will reach the country on Friday (6).
The Ministry said that another five coal shipments are expected to reach Sri Lankan shores in January and payments for the fives shipments have already been made.
The generator at the Norochcholai Power Plant that was the shutdown for maintenance will be reactivated on Sunday (8), said the Ceylon Electricity Board.
One generator at the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant was shut down on the 22nd of December 2022 citing early maintenance and resulted in the loss of 300 MW to the national power grid.
In the midst of all this, a proposal is made to once again increase the electricity tariff.
According to the country’s Power & Energy Minister the objective of this tariff hike is to cover the cost of providing a continuous supply of electricity.
One of the scenarios presented by the CEB engineers will be used for this purpose, and according to the Minister the generation plan is as follows:
27% from hydro-power
28% from Coal
13% from Diesel and Furnace Oil
2% Wind Power
12% from Private Diesel or Furnace Oil Power Plants.
13% from Solar power plants
4% from rooftop solar panels
The CEB Employees’ Union allege that this is an attempt to reduce the low cost production using coal, and to increase the production that would cost more.
According to them, it only costs Rs. 47/- to generate one unit of electricity using coal.
However, if Diesel is used to generating one unit of electricity, the cost would be north of Rs. 100/-.
The cost to generate one unit of electricity using furnace oil is Rs. 65/-.
Therefore, an additional cost will have to be borne after electricity generation using coal is reduced, and the missing capacity is sourced using fuel and from privately-owned power plants.
One generator at the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant was shut down citing early maintenance, however, the decision came due to the delay in procuring coal.
The electricity capacity that was lost by shutting down the generator is now being sourced from the West Coast Power Plant in Kerawalapitiya which uses Furnace Oil to generate electricity.
If this generator is shut down until the date that a coal shipment is due to arrive in Sri Lanka, the additional cost to provide electricity is a whopping Rs. 3.2 Billion.
The Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka Janaka Ratnayake on Thursday (5) said that the PUCSL it is not considering any tariff hike at the moment.
He suggested the Government to look into actual financial data of the Ceylon Electricity Board to improve the cash-flow management.
He also slammed the presentation made to the Cabinet on the proposed electricity tariff hike noting that the presentation was made by new general manager of the Ceylon Electricity Board, an engineer and the Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy, completely disregarding the proper procedure.
He said if the cabinet goes ahead with the proposed tariff hike, the PUCSL will use its power to VETO such a decision.
Rashika Hennayake
The President instructs the IGP to immediately start investigations regarding the construction of the fake Dalada Maligawa
The President instructs the IGP to immediately start investigations regarding the construction of the fake Dalada Maligawa
President Ranil Wickremesinghe has instructed the Inspector General of Police C D Wickramaratne yesterday(05) to immediately start investigations regarding the request made by the Mahanayake Theros of Asgiri and Malwathu chapters and the Diyawadana Nilame of the Dalada Maligawa regarding a fake Dalada Maligawa is being constructed in Wadakada, Kurunegala
Accordingly, the Inspector General of Police said that investigations were commenced immediately under a Deputy Inspector General of Criminal Investigation Department, and two investigation teams under the supervision of an Assistant Superintendent of Police have already gone to the place and has commenced investigations.
According to the letter sent to the President it had mentioned that as stated in the constitution, the government is bound to protect and nurture Buddhism. It also stated that the government should investigate the facts immediately and prevent such acts from the beginning for the sake of the perpetuation and development of Buddhism.
PMD
President asks the Election Commission to reach common ground on the election
It is reported that four members of the Election Commission met and discussed with President Ranil Wickramasinghe at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday (05) evening.
Political sources stated that the discussion has ended without agreement due to 4 members of the Election Commission.
The President has said that the members of the Election Commission should have four opinions regarding the election of the Commission’s work.
The President has stated here that the independence of the commission has been handed over to the commission.
The President has also said that there is no obstacle to run it independently. If necessary, Wickramasinghe has also informed the group to make inquiries in writing to the Attorney General. It is stated that the President has further said that the Attorney General’s Department will work to provide legal support for that.
The Attorney General has informed the Attorney General’s Department about the background conditions that should exist for conducting a free and peaceful election. Sources also said that if there is any legal problem related to the work of the Election Commission, the Attorney General should directly inform him.
Sri Lanka Original Narrative Summary: 06/01
- State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya says a Gazette has been issued to limit air-travellers from bringing gold jewellery above 22 karats.
- Govt suspends imports of many products to conserve Forex reserves: among such items are shampoo, perfumes, certain make-up preparations, peas, carrots, turnips, cucumber, gherkins, certain types of mushrooms, strawberries, truffles, papadam, mineral water and men’s suits.
- Central Bank says Official Reserve Assets increased to USD 1,896 mn by end-December 2022, compared to USD 1,806 mn by end-November 2022: analysts note that the Reserves are still below USD 1917 mn which was the Reserve on 31st March 2022.
- Govt postpones Parliament debate on the controversial “Bureau of Rehabilitation Bill” until 19th Jan’23: Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe says the Govt will not withdraw the Bill, but has merely postponed it’s introduction.
- Forest density, which was 83% in 1882 has shrunk to 16% by now, and 395 elephants have been killed between 1st January and 5th December 2022 says the Centre for Environment and Nature Studies: claims that losing forest density can be considered the most severe environmental damage.
- Unofficial Road Development Authority sources say the Chinese Contractor building the Kadawata-Meerigama section of the Central Expressway has stopped work and is claiming damages as the Exim Bank of China is now not disbursing any funds after the debt default announcement on 12th April 2022.
- IGP instructs CID to investigate complaints against “YouTube” activists Janaka Senadhipathi and Sepala Amarasinghe over defaming Lord Buddha’s Sacred Tooth Relic and Buddhism: 2 teams of the CID deployed for the investigations.
- President and Finance Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe appoints Ronald Perera, PC as the Chairman of Bank of Ceylon for the second time.
- SLPP “Independent” MP Dr Nalaka Godahewa predicts the current Govt will not be able to secure even 20% of the vote at the upcoming local Govt elections: also says the Govt has failed to gain the confidence of the international community and organisations.
10.Sri Lanka beats India in the 2nd T20 Cricket International at Pune, India by 16 runs: level the 3 match series 1-1: SL – 206/6 (20) – (Dasun Shanaka 56*, Kusal Mendis 52, Charith Asalanka 37, Pathum Nissanka 33): IND – 190/8 (20) – (Dasun Shanaka 4/2, Kasun Rajitha 22/2).
Wimal to contest the upcoming LG elections through a new name and a symbol!
Member of Parliament Wimal Weerawansa says that several parties including the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the Uttara Lanka Sabhagaya and the Nidahasa Janata Sabhaya will contest the upcoming local government elections through a new alliance.
Udaya Gammanpila said that his alliance hopes to contest the election with a symbol that has not been used by any political party so far.
Also, the Secretary General of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, Dayasiri Jayasekara, said that the broadest progressive force in the country will be created by his party.
Sepal Amarasinghe arrested!
YouTube social media activist Sepal Amarasinghe has been arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department yesterday (05).
He has been arrested for making statements on social media insulting the Temple of the Tooth(Sri Dalada Maligawa) and Buddhism.
The Police Media Spokesman stated that he was arrested in Boralasgamuwa area.
President appoints Ronald Perera PC as BOC Chairman
President’s Counsel Ronald Perera has been appointed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Chairman of the Bank of Ceylon (BOC).
The appointment was made in the President’s capacity as the Minister of Finance.
Perera previously served as the BOC Chairman from 2015 to 2019 during the Good Governance Regime, and on August 01, 2022 he was appointed as the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC).
MIAP
Clash between Police and protesters at Technical Junction (VIDEO)
A group of protesters accompanying the Inter-University Students’ Federation who were on their way to stage a silent protest outside the Attorney General’s Department clashed with the Police at the Technical Junction, Maradana today (05).
The Police argued that they cannot march on the highway without prior notice, but a heated exchange has occurred between the two parties, leading to a tense situation.
The Police informed the protesters to step aside from the highway and walk on the pavement.
MIAP