The Hambantota International Port (HIP) is to promote afloat vessel repairs promptly in 2023, the Port officials said today.
HIP is supporting Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDPLC) to handle running repairs to vessels while they remain afloat in the harbour.
The majority of vessels directed to HIP for afloat repairs come with damages experienced below the water line. CDPLC carries out permanent repairs on these ships with service assistance from HIP.
Praneeth Rajapakse, Head of Afloat Repairs, CDPLC noted that“Usually repairs of this nature require us to bring the vessel into dry docks, but we are confident of doing such operations efficiently at HIP.
HIP has the berthing capacity and capability to handle afloat repairs along with our expert team. Handling dry docking services afloat is a valuable saving of time for our vessels, especially when they are carrying cargo and incurring demurrage costs.
“The facilities available at HIP makes this complex service possible, and we are able to carry out our permanent repairs without the ship having to go elsewhere with a temporary fix,”he added
Recently, CDPLC directed MV Sandpiper for afloat repairs at HIP. The Sandpiper had damaged its stern tube aft seal unit during a cargo operation in Bangladesh and sought dry docking services.
However, CDPLC recommended afloat repairs at HIP which was a much more convenient and cost-effective solution.
“HIP being the closest in the region to east west shipping lanes, makes the port an ideal destination for ships requiring any type of repairs and we have the necessary skills, and deep draft berthing capacity to handle afloat services, which will be a value addition to the shipping industry.
“We plan on aggressively promoting this service in the coming year,” Tissa Wickramasinghe, COO of Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG) disclosed.
The MV Sandpiper which completed the repairs successfully, is now back in operation. An equally complex repair was handled by CDPLC on MV Sunny Hill, while she was berthed at Hambantota International Port in March this year.
Hambantota Port to promptly promote afloat vessel repairs in 2023
FAO and USAID step into to distribute fertilizer to all paddy farmers
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with funding through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will distribute 36,000 metric tonnes of Triple Super Phosphate (TSP) fertilizer to all paddy farmers in Sri Lanka through the Ministry of Agriculture.
The amount of TSP provided per farmer will be determined based on the area they cultivated in the 2022/2023 Maha cultivation season.
The distribution list along with the land extent cultivated during this Maha season used to determine the amount of TSP fertilizer allocated per farmer has been published and displayed at all Agrarian Service Centres of the Department of Agrarian Development.
FAO invited all eligible paddy farmers to visit their respective Agrarian Service Centre and ensure their details have been incorporated. The distribution lists will be displayed until 5 January 2023, and the date of fertilizer distribution will be shared through the Agrarian Service Centres.
Sri Lanka has imported 103,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer after ban was lifted at the end of December 2021, Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said, though importers were given licenses to bring down more.
However forex shortages were preventing the opening of letters of credit, blocking imports.With the fertilizer ban being implemented in 2020, paddy production had fallen 40 percent in the 2021 Maha season.
The ban was lifted in November 31, 2021 and National Fertilizer Secretariat data showed that 103,832 MT of fertilizers have been imported from December 01, 2021 to June 08, 2022, Minister Amaraweera said.
The amount of the imported chemical fertilizer is Urea -20,262 KCL -13,000 SOA -61,233Kieserite -6,411, SOP -168 ,TSP -1241.5,,CES -443.2 and DAP -811.2
Minister Amaraweera said, National Fertilizer office has given permission to import another 38,503.5 MT of Urea.But fertilizer importers were unable to open Letters of Credit due to lack of foreign exchange.
They were also owed Rs 22 billion from the government for subsidized sales of fertilizer and private importers were reluctant to get involved in the business, Amaraweera said.
The fertilizers actually imported were less than the amounts that were given permission to import.
“All other fertilizers that have been imported are less than the amount that has been permitted to import, and the main reason is inability to open LCs due to lack of forex,”Amaraweera said.
For the 2022/2023 Maha season the cabinet had given approval for state fertilizer firms to import 150,000 metric tonnes of urea, 45,000 MT of MOP and 36,000 MT of TSP.
Minister Amarweera said, to get the funds to import the necessary fertilizers, discussions have started with the World Bank, Asia Development bank and other international financial institutions.
Sri Lanka launches a tourism promotion drive in Brazil in the New Year eve
Sri Lanka has initiated a new promotional campaign in Brazil to lure tourists in the New Year 2023 following the revival of tourism this year with arrivals around a total of 73,314 tourists as of December 26.
The Tourism Minister Harin Fernando stated that a considerable number of tourists are scheduled to visit Sri Lanka in the months of January and February next year.
Meanwhile, the US Silver Spirit luxury cruise left the island on Dec.26 The luxury cruise ship docked at Colombo Port on December 23, along with 438 tourists and 404 members of its staff.
The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Brazil had a networking session with Brasilia based Printed and Electronic Media Journalists to promote Sri Lankan Tourism, Food and Ceylon Tea.
This was a part of the Trade and Tourism promotion initiatives of the Embassy, at its premises on 21 December, 2022.
In his address to the journalists, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Brazil, Sumith Dassanayake stated that currently Sri Lanka has reached the stability level of the pre-pandemic era and the country is ready to receive large number of tourists from across the world.
He invited the gathering to promote Sri Lanka as a Trade and Tourist destination amongst other in the country. Responding to journalists at the Q & A session, Ambassador Dassanayake spoke of the possibility of arranging a familiarization tour to a group of Brazilian journalists to visit Sri Lanka, in due course.
The Minister Counselor (Commercial) of the Embassy conducted a workshop on Ceylon Tea, highlighting the history, the process of bringing tea leaves to the cup and unique characteristics of Ceylon Teas.
The event concluded with a Sri Lankan Dinner and tea tasting which allowed invitees to sample different varieties of Ceylon teas.
The guests shared live updates of the event on their social media platforms, reaching out to their large number of subscribers and followers.
Minister of Tourism Harin Fernando states that 701,331 tourists visited Sri Lanka between January 2022 and December 26, 2022.
The minister pointed out that the government expects tourist arrivals to hit 720,000 in total by the end of 2022.The number of tourist arrivals in the year 2021 stood at 194,495.
Sri Lanka shines at “3rd International Thai Silk Fashion Week” in Bangkok
Embassy and Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in Bangkok coordinated the participation of Creative Director of Buddhi Batiks Darshi Keerthisena at the “3rd International Thai Silk Fashion Week” held at Royal Paragon Hall, Siam Paragon, Bangkok. SriLankan Airlines was one of the sponsors of Sri Lanka’s participation.
The “3rd International Thai Silk Fashion Week”, the biggest fashion extravaganza in Thailand was co-hosted by the Office of the Permanent Secretary, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Association of Thai Culture and Promotions in honour of the 90th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother.
Inaguaring the Fashion show the Deputy Prime Minister Professor Dr. Wisanu Krua-ngam stated that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his Government considers the Thai Silk Fashion Show as an opportunity to promote cross-cultural exchanges and enhance multilateral relationships with other countries through Thai silk, an important legacy of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother.
Fashion designers from 60 countries showcased traditional and contemporary outfits made of Thai silk during their shows, which were telecasted live on “Fashion TV”. Renowned fashion designers, such as Jimmy Choo, Rocco Barocco and Danha Kim were among the participants. Some of them joined the judging panel and exchanged ideas with fashion students.
The Organizing Committee of the “3rd International Thai Silk Fashion Week” comprised Heads of Mission and their Spouses based in Bangkok including Sri Lanka Ambassador to Thailand Chaminda Colonne’s spouse, Stephen Senanayake.
The event drew at least 10,000 visitors per day, including members of the diplomatic corps, local and foreign media, international design houses, representatives of luxury brands, fashion designers, merchandisers and travel agents.
Embassy and Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka
Bangkok
28 December 2022
CB Governor Nandalal warns of business collapse except forex earners
Uttering an obvious again in front of a podium, Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe recently said only those who could survive this crisis are the ones who could make earnings in foreign currency at a time when the economy is undergoing a dramatic reset in its attempt to come out of its worst balance of payment crisis.
“Only those who can survive as I always say are the foreign exchange earning sectors,” he said referring to the potential pain that could be felt in the process of restructuring the country’s debt stock, which is now in default.
Speaking at a recent forum in Colombo, .Weerasinghe however urged every business to transform itself to earn dollar incomes using the current crisis as an opportunity as those who earn in dollars get a better deal compared to a year ago after the rupee collapsed shedding nearly 80 percent of its value.
He said such companies could navigate the import shortages and beat domestic inflationary forces much better than those who are confined to the home market alone, earning only in rupees.
“In this kind of situation, and especially in a balance of payment crisis situation, people who are engaged in foreign exchange earning sectors can only survive and do business, ” he claimed.
This is an incentive for all the industries to focus on turning to businesses which are more competitive, foreign income operating entities. This is where the future is,” he stressed.
Many enterprises with the exception of those who have at least an element of foreign income started feeling the squeeze in their operations and thereby their financial performance in the man made economic crisis.
This was because they were compelled to either significantly phase down their operations or close certain business lines altogether when they could not import either the intermediate goods needed to keep their production lines running.
They found it extremely difficult to find foreign currency to open letters of credit when the dollar shortage grew out of control for the finished goods imports which generated those steady incomes.
Making the conditions worse in 2022, these companies were confronted with multifold increase in costs due to both runaway inflation and the sharp loss of value of the rupee against the dollar, sending their manufacturing and operational costs through the roof and thereby shrinking their margins.
This was seen from the Producer Price Index, which remained stubbornly above 100 percent during the last couple of months. However, most of such costs were passed down to the end consumer as seen from the 70 percent increase in consumer prices.
Tightening of the monetary policy aimed at squeezing demand conditions also reduced much of their incomes forcing businesses to downsize their operations.
However, the dollar income earning companies showed much resilience during this period as they found little disruption in sourcing the imported materials they needed while the rupee depreciation added a sudden boost to their toplines in rupee terms, adding further strength to their financial performance.
Three suspicious dead bodies found in three different locations!
The police said that the bodies of three people who had died suspiciously were found in three places.
A dead body of a man was found in a field in Uhana, Herodurua area last night (27th) and it was later revealed that he was a 37-year-old resident of the same area.
Also, a dead body of a 64-year-old man was found in a well in Ilukkanuwa area of Peradeniya.
Also, a dead body of a male person was found in a canal in Karadibokku area of Kilinochchi and his identity has not yet been identified. The police say that the person is between 40-50 years old.
Uhana, Peradeniya and Kilinochchi police stations are conducting further investigations.
Do schools really need buses?
A program of providing buses to schools in various parts of the island is being implemented under the “Sakwala” program which is being implemented based on the concept of the opposition leader Sajith Premadasa. Buses have been provided to 51 schools under this program.
When doing any good work in our country, it is inevitable to be criticized. Those could be meaningful criticisms, pointless criticisms, things that come out of your mouth as well as deliberate political attacks, or even insults and slanders.
These days, Sajith Premadasa is constantly being attacked by political opponents for providing buses to these schools. They have even given him the name called “Busman”.
What these people often tell people is, “Why does schools need buses?” or “Is it necessary to provide buses to schools at this time?”
As a very simple answer to this question, the transportation costs between two schools in two distant areas in 2022 are posted below. These expenses are for various educational activities involving students and teachers. These are paid for by students’ parents, teachers and school funds.
Out of which, the transport cost of Tambuttegama Madhya Maha Vidyalaya, Anuradhapura in the year 2022 is 32 lakh rupees. The transport cost of Mahawa Vijayaba Middle School in the year 2022 is close to 27 lakh rupees. The value of a bus given to a school through Sakwala program is 50 lakh rupees. If the school had a bus like that, how much would the parents of these school students have reduced for the work of these school children? How much relief will it be for those parents? If that happened, the teachers could have used the school’s funds for another educational purpose.
It is easy to pretend to be education experts and berate opponents. But it is a difficult task to go around the country to find out about the practical problems in the country’s education sector and find solutions to them in the best possible way even if there is no government power. The opposition leader is currently doing that difficult task.
On the other hand, if someone does something good, no matter what the politics is, one should be able to appreciate that good thing as a human being. A politics without that “humanity” will not be good for anyone.
*Adapted from original article “පාසල්වලට බස් රථ ඕනෑ ඇයි ?” published on 28.12.2022
Embassy of Sri Lanka in Brazil networks with Brazilian media to promote Sri Lankan Tourism, Cuisine and Ceylon Tea
The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Brazil had a networking session with Brasilia based Printed and Electronic Media Journalists to promote Sri Lankan Tourism, Food and Ceylon Tea as part of the Trade and Tourism promotion initiatives of the Embassy, at its premises on 21 December, 2022.
In his address to the journalists, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Brazil, Sumith Dassanayake stated that currently Sri Lanka has reached the stability level of the pre-pandemic era and the country is ready to receive large number of tourists from across the world. He invited the gathering to promote Sri Lanka as a Trade and Tourist destination amongst other in the country. Responding to journalists at the Q & A session, Ambassador Sumith Dassanayake spoke of the possibility of arranging a familiarization tour to a group of Brazilian journalists to visit Sri Lanka, in due course.
The Minister Counsellor (Commercial) of the Embassy conducted a workshop on Ceylon Tea, highlighting the history, the process of bringing tea leaves to the cup and unique characteristics of Ceylon Teas. The event concluded with a Sri Lankan Dinner and tea tasting which allowed invitees to sample different varieties of Ceylon teas. The guests shared live updates of the event on their social media platforms, reaching out to their large number of subscribers and followers.
Embassy of Sri Lanka
Brazil
27 December 2022
President appoints new secretaries to 08 ministries, extends the term of three
President appoints new secretaries to 08 ministries, extends the term of three
President Ranil Wickremesinghe has reshuffled the secretaries of eight ministries with effect from January 01st 2023 and extended the tenure of the secretaries of three ministries for a further year.
Accordingly, the Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils &Local Government Mr M.M.P.K. Mayadunne has been transferred to the Minister of Transport and Highways while Mr H.K.D.W.M.N.B. Hapuhinne who served as the Secretary to the Ministry of Women Child Affairs & Social Empowerment has been transferred to the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils & Local Government with effect from 01-01-2023.
Meanwhile, the Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment Mrs M. Yamuna Perera has been appointed to the post of Secretary to the Ministry of Women Child Affairs & Social Empowerment, Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils & Local Government Mr M.M. Naimuddin has been appointed as the Secretary to the Ministry of Investment Promotion and Mr R.M.W.S. Samaradivakara, Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture has been appointed as the Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism and Lands.
Mr A.M.P.M. B. Atapattu, Senior Secretary to the President has been appointed as the Secretary to the Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Food Security, the Commissioner General of the Department for Registration of Persons Mr. P.V. Gunatillake has been appointed to the Ministry of Public Security and Jaffna District Secretary Mr K. Mahesan has been appointed as the Secretary to the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs.
Further, the tenure of the Secretary to the Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reform Mrs Wasantha Perera, the Secretary to the Ministry of Education Mr M.N. Ranasinghe and the Secretary to the Ministry of Irrigation Mr U.D.C. Jayalal was extended for one year.
These new appointments will be effective from 01st January 2023.
President’s Media Division (PMD)
SRI LANKA ORIGINAL NARRATIVE SUMMARY: 28/12
- Ceylon Institute of Builders President Rohan Karunaratne says over 500,000 construction workers laid off and 70% of the industry is on hold: also says turnover is down 65%: laments private developers are reluctant to start projects now: asserts Rs.209bn is due to the contractors from Govt, but only Rs.25 bn is to be released by the year-end.
- Govt revenue for the first 9 months this year rises, compared to last year’s levels as a result of the hike in the indirect taxes including VAT: however, data shows the Govt’s interest cost increase has been much higher than the revenue generated by such tax increase: entire tax increase fully negated, as a result.
- Ceylon Petroleum Corporation says current reduction in daily fuel consumption by half is due to fuel rationing and end of hoarding of fuel: data shows Sri Lanka spent an average of USD 467mn per month on fuel between January and March 2022, but less than USD 250mn per month, thereafter.
- CID interrogates murdered Janashakthi Director Dinesh Schaffter’s mother-in-law: also question his wife for the 4th time: investigations into the murder continue.
- Thilini Priyamali, who was in remand prison for alleged financial fraud, released from prison after receiving bail: says the media has already made her the culprit, done her a huge injustice and crucified her.
- Number of dual citizenship applications in 2021 to the Immigration Department was 5,401: from Australia – 1,621: from UK – 885: from US – 795: from Canada – 371:. applications also submitted from Sri Lankans living in Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, New Zealand, France and Denmark.
- Two members involved in the “Aragalaya”, Dhanish Ali and Anuruddha Bandara interrogated by the CID for about 6 hours in connection with the arson attack on President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence at 5th Lane, Kollupitiya.
- Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara says all religious places of worship will be provided with a 5KW solar power unit, free of charge, under an Indian credit facility within 3 months.
- Former President of the Peradeniya Students Union Anuradha Widanage and current President Chamod Sathsara suspended from the University over the assault on former Vice Chancellor Professor Athula Senaratna.
- Tourism Minister Harin Fernando says number of tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka from 1st to 31st December has increased to 73,314: total arrivals so far this year increased to 701,331.