Reports emerge that Yoshitha Rajapaksa, son of ex President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is illegally withholding the key to a government-owned residence arranged for ex President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after his resignation.
Located on Stanmore Crescent in Buller’s Lane, Colombo, the official residence was previously used by Mangala Samaraweera during his tenure as a Minister of the government, and was recently used by former President Mahinda Rajapaska due to several repairs in his official residence on Wijerama Road, Colombo 07.
There had reportedly been an initial agreement to hand over the residence on Stanmore Crescent to Gotabaya, who at the time had left the country due to the turmoil awakened by the ‘Aragalaya’ people’s protest, after the repairs in his brother’s official residence on Wijerama Road, paving the way for the ex President’s privilege to claim an official residence. However, the key to this official residence has not yet been handed over to the relevant authorities, even though it has been two months since Mahinda had left the premises.
Sources claim that it is Yoshitha Rajapaksa who is deliberately withholding the key to the residence on Stanmore Crescent, in negligence over the instructions by both his father Mahinda Rajapaksa and elder brother Namal Rajapaksa to do otherwise.
Yoshitha Rajapaksa served as Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Chief of Staff during his tenure as the Prime Minister, making him one of the most privileged persons in the government. But now that neither of the Rajapaksas are on the authoritative level of the government, Yoshitha, by observation, is committing felony by withholding government property, and as to why no legal actions are being taken to date would also be a serious question the Ranil Wickremesinghe regime has to answer.
It could have happened. It had to happen. It happened, earlier. Later
Wislawa Szymborska (Could Have)
Once upon a time, a tryst was announced for angry masses to inundate Colombo and boot the government out. “We will occupy public places and begin the great satyagraha to send this government home,” an organiser proclaimed. “We will come home after we’ve installed our government again.”
No that was not April, May or July 9, 2022. That was September 5, 2018. The battle-cry belonged not to an Aragalaya activist but to parliamentarian Pavithra Wanniarachchi. The event was not Gota-go-home, but Rajapaksa-led Joint Opposition’s Janabalaya Colombata (Peoples Power to Colombo). Fearing street battles between millions of Rajapaksa supporters and the police, Colombo shut-down early. “Peoples’ Power has started the Colombo invasion,” a pro-Rajapaksa website crowed.
The Government, though worried, decided to do nothing. No curfews, judicial orders, riot police, tear gas, or water cannon; no arrests, no one injured, no lives lost. The protestors were given a free run. Instead of millions, a few thousand turned up. Having created more work for CMC/Abans cleaning crews, those who were bussed to Colombo left at nightfall. Organisers were compelled to cancel plans to ‘occupy’ downtown Colombo till whenever.
Mass upheavals often take revolutionary parties, organisations, and activists by surprise. That is the lesson from French and Russian revolutions to Arab Spring and Lanka’s recent Aragalaya. When people reach the breaking point, when they bypass politicians and take politics into their angry hands, they cannot be stopped, not without a bloodbath. But the breaking point must be reached and felt, all hope of better times gone. Had Gotabaya Rajapaksa introduced the QR system in May 2020, he would still be president. If Ranil Wickremesinghe didn’t end the fuel queues, he would’ve been out by December.
President Wickremesinghe’s real departures from democratic governance lie not in the ham-handed sabotaging of local government elections, but in his zero-tolerance attitude towards peaceful political dissent. Other leaders too postponed non-national elections without eroding democracy. And in 2020, the opposition supported the postponement of parliamentary elections, citing, correctly, the risk posed by the pandemic. Writing to the Election Commission, the SJB insisted that a date should not be set until the last COVID patient has recovered and accused the Rajapaksas of hurrying elections to win a two-thirds majority. The Rajapaksas mocked the opposition for fearing elections.
As Mahinda Rajapaksa said last week, the Rajapaksas always held elections. Untimely, unnecessary, and over-frequent elections were as much of a staple of Rajapaksa rule as brutal and murderous stifling of dissent. Every year was an election year, literally. The siblings would dissolve some elected body before time and hold elections on an auspicious day. Every state asset, every state official was utilised openly for the governing party’s campaign. Violence was rife and deaths of opposition supporters not uncommon.
The postponement of LG polls, in and of itself, does not signify democracy’s death. The real danger is creeping authoritarianism. The vengeful persecution of Aragalaya activists continues, Prof. Ajantha Perera and Achala Seneviratne being the latest targets. The law is being abused to stifle dissent, the attempt to jail YouTuber Dharshana Handungoda and the arrest of activist Chirantha Amarasinghe being cases in point. Using ICCRPP to muffle criticism of Sinhala-Buddhism and the presidential comments on Saliya Peiris signify an intolerance heralding an illiberal democracy. The attacks on SJB and JVP demonstrations are even more worrying developments. Only uninformed paranoia would see in those events the danger of a new July 9. The result was the tragic death of a JVP/NPP activist.
The opposition’s own attitude of subsuming everything to LG polls is equally myopic. Their manifestos are fudgy at best on the economy, especially on the thorny issue of taxation. Their stance on devolution is even worse. The JVP has rejected the 13th Amendment. The SJB is silent. Without unpopular decisions, the economy cannot be saved. Without devolution democracy would be incomplete. Opportunism and cowardice will only make bad worse.
What the 13 did
The 13th Amendment is unnecessary, Mahinda Rajapaksa said last week.
He should know. Without the 13th Amendment, the Rajapaksa attempt to disembowel democracy from within and occupy the Lankan state would have worked.
In 2011 the Siblings introduced the Sacred Areas Act. Amend the Town and Country Planning Ordinance and institute municipal corporations empowered to “acquire lands for economic, social, historical, environmental and religious purposes… According to the bill, it is possible for the authorities concerned to declare land areas as conservation areas, protection areas, architectural and historical areas and sacred areas… In the acquisition…will not be considered whether there are buildings within them or not” (Daily Mirror – 8.11.2011). Gotabaya Rajapaksa was to oversee this arbitrary expropriation.
Also in 2011 was the Jana Sabha Bill. Elected provincial councils and LG authorities were to be placed under unelected Jana Sabhas controlled by Basil Rajapaksa. According to Wimal Weerawansa, the “objective was to make the Jana Sabhas as the strongest institution responsible for development work” (The Sunday Times – 20.3.2011).
In 2012 came the Divineguma Bill. A mega-entity called the Divineguma Department was to be set up under the sole suzerainty of Basil Rajapaksa with a budget of Rs. 80 billion (In the same year, education was allocated Rs. 65.8 billion and post-conflict resettlement a paltry Rs. 437 million). Opponents of the Bill were trying to achieve what the Tigers failed, Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed.
All these anti-democratic, family-empowering attempts floundered mainly because of the safeguards in the 13th Amendment. For example, since land was a devolved subject, Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s land-grabbing Act needed the approval of all provincial councils, the Supreme Court ruled. Three councils refused approval effectively killing the Act. Without the 13th Amendment, the plan to turn Lankan state into a Rajapaksa estate would have worked. And we would be living in a much worse future.
Devolution in general and the 13th Amendment in particular helped save Lankan democracy at a critical time. When Ranil Wickremesinghe adopts a zero-tolerance attitude towards peaceful protests, he is being more anti-democratic than the opposition. But when the opposition fails to defend or oppose the full implementation of the 13th Amendment, it is being more anti-democratic than the President.
By rejecting the 13th Amendment, Sunil Handunnetti demonstrated that NPP/JVP is really JVP/NPP. Whenever there is a real conflict of ideas or policies, the JVP’s antediluvian attitudes would prevail over the NPP’s more modernist notions. The NPP’s manifesto is silent on devolution. The JVP is in the driving seat taking the NPP for a ride.
The SJB is trying to sidestep the devolution controversy – an attitude of cowardly opportunism akin to its run-with-the-hare-hunt-with-the-hounds stance on direct taxation. Perhaps a key reason is the SJB-JVP squabble to win the bigger chunk of the disenchanted Rajapaksa voters. The goal is understandable. The problem is when policies are changed or fudged to accommodate the racism and irrationality of these voters, instead of explaining to them how Rajapaksa racism and irrationality led to the current disaster. This is appeasement of the worst kind.
How can either party bring about economic recovery and political stability if they gain power by conceding to the lunatic fringe, be it no-devolution monks or no-tax professionals and state sector trade unions? Would they even have the guts to publicly oppose the GMOA’s stated plan to paralyse all government hospitals (while continuing to ply their lucrative medical trade in private), thereby depriving the only healthcare available to 35% of Lankans who are missing meals and missing schools? (Incidentally, by aligning himself with these retrogressive forces, Sajith Premadasa is departing from his father. Sinhala poor and minorities formed the bedrock of Ranasinghe Premadasa’s victorious electoral block).
Still their country
The first Rajapaksa presidency marked many turning points. Making Sinhala-Buddhist supremacism politically dominant and societally fashionable was one.
The project of recreating Lanka as a Sinhala-Buddhist supremacist country commenced openly in 1956. Soon majoritarian racism became the new commonsense, a transformation best symbolised by the acceptance of Sinhala Only by the UNP and the traditional left (the JVP was Sinhala Only at birth). It would take a massive shock in the form of Indian intervention for this paradigm to end abruptly and violently. Provincial devolution, linguistic parity, citizenship to plantation Tamils, none of these were granted willingly. They were extracted painfully from the Sinhala polity by India.
Post 1989, as the deadly limits of rampant racism sank in, a different commonsense began to evolve. Racism became outdated, Sinhala supremacists were confined to the lunatic fringe, the need for a political solution going beyond the 13th was accepted, and federalism ceased being an F-word. Had the Tigers been a different animal, a new power-sharing arrangement along Indian lines (perhaps more) could have happened. The LTTE’s own maximalism killed that potential and returned Sinhala maximalism to power and vogue via Mahinda Rajapaksa. The nihilist narrative which claimed that Tamils have no specific grievances and thus require no political solution became official and dominant post-2005.
Mahinda Rajapaksa is gone from office, perhaps never to return. But the racist commonsense he enabled and represented is alive and well. This was evident in the visceral reaction to Ranil Wickremesinghe’s proposal to fully implement the 13th Amendment, something he is constitutionally obliged to do as president. The usual cohort of political monks started screaming Separation! They even insisted that 13th should not be implemented because the chief prelates are opposed to it. If a government’s right to policymaking ends on the edge of an upraised saffron robe, why bother with elections or parliament?
In a subsequent interview with a YouTube channel, two organisers of the anti-13 demonstration outside parliament, Ulapane Sumangala thero and Akmeemana Dayaratne thero reiterated this saffron veto-power theory, stating that monks won’t permit the implementation of the 13th Amendment even if all parliamentarians support it. Ignoring this saffron fatwa would turn Lanka into a lake of blood, they said. Clearly we are living in a Sinhala-Buddhist Iran with saffron-robed Ayatollahs deciding how we live.
There is no ethnic problem, Dayaratne thero insisted, so need for devolution. Sumangala thero called parliamentarian CV Wigneswaran a kallathoniya (a derogatory Sinhala term meaning illegal and inimical migrant from Tamil Nadu). Mr. Wigneswaran, he elaborated, is a kallathoniya because he talks about the North though he “has no Jathiya-janmaya (nationality-birthland), lives in Colombo 7, went to Royal College, and his children are married to Sinhalese.” This statement is reveals true nature of these political monks. They are racist; any Tamil is a kallathoniya by birth since only Sinhalese are the true owners of the country. They deem education at Royal, residency in Colombo 7, and mixed marriages anti-national. This blood-and-faith cohort is determined to decide Lanka’s future just as they decided independent Lanka’s past.
Had something akin to the 13th Amendment been the law in 1956, the Sinhala Only Act would have been stillborn, like the Sacred Areas Act and Jana Sabha Bill. If Sinhala politicians didn’t succumb to saffron-pressure, Banda-Chelva or Dudley-Chelva Act would have passed. Either way, we would have been spared the long Eelam War. Political monks played a key role in creating new Tamil grievances and scuttling attempts to settle them.
Of course, minorities too are battered by poverty, unemployment, inflation… But they also have a very specific problem. They have been targeted by marauding mobs and punitive laws for being non-Sinhala/non-Buddhist. And as recently as in 2018, when Muslims were attacked for the crimes of a handful of suicide-killers.
When Black July happened, many Tamils who escaped death were sent by ship to the North. The implication was obvious. Tamils could be really safe only in the North and parts of East. Is it any wonder they want some legal guarantees for this safe space? When the minorities hear the political monks spewing their venom, when they see Sinhala leaders hiding behind meaningless platitudes instead of taking racism head on, how can they be certain that another Black July, another Aluthgama will never happen?
So we need devolution as much as we need elections. They are not mutually exclusive because democracy will never be whole or safe without at least the 13th Amendment. Incidentally, the TNA and other Tamil leaders who dismiss President Wickremesinghe’s proposal to fully implement the 13th Amendment should understand how widespread the anti-Tamil/Muslim virus is and how non-resistant most Sinhala leaders are to it. If they fail to throw their weight behind the 13th Amendment, even that pittance might be lost.
In I’m explaining a few things, Pablo Neruda wrote, “See my dead house, look at broken Spain.” He could have been writing about Chile after the 1973 coup. Since scientists have concluded that Neruda might have been poisoned, the murder of this great poet will now be added to the crimes of military rulers who grabbed power to ‘save Chile from chaos’.
Sri Lanka too is a house almost dead, a land almost broken. Yet glimmers of hope remain. Inflation is less, currency more stable, foreign reserves have improved, banking system hasn’t crashed, and the economy is holding together. Should these be thrown into the fire of mayhem for political or personal gain? Should old errors be repeated ad nauseam, be they the racist ones of the Bandaranaikes or the authoritarian ones of JR Jayewardene?
Today, the country is caught between the President’s repressive hammer and the Opposition’s anarchic anvil. If the two sides don’t take a step back and begin talking, the home that is Sri Lanka might perish in a civil conflagration, a military takeover or both.
Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) welcomes the landmark determination of the Court of Appeal this week that affirms the order of the Right to Information Commission to disclose the requested information on the Declarations of Assets and Liabilities of Members of Parliament in Sri Lanka.
In February 2021, the Right to Information (RTI) Commission in the matter of Chamara Sampath vs Parliament of Sri Lanka ordered that the Parliament should release immediately the list of Members of Parliament who have submitted their respective Declarations of Assets and Liabilities from 2010 to 2018. The Commission declared that the information requested is of high public importance and public interest given the need for accountability and transparency of elected representatives. It was also observed that the submission of Declarations of Assets and Liabilities by parliamentarians to the Speaker of the Parliament is a legal duty specially secured by the Declarations of Assets and Liabilities Law of 1975 (DALL), and as such, this information request relates to the carrying out of a legal duty by elected representatives, which must be released. The Parliament of Sri Lanka appealed against this decision of the RTI Commission to the Court of Appeal on 15 grounds, including the fact that the DALL should prevail over the Right to Information Act no. 12 of 2016 (RTI Act). The Court of Appeal has on the 28th of February 2023 determined that the order of the RTI Commission is affirmed.
In a significant finding, the Court of Appeal has unequivocally held that the provisions of the RTI Act override the provisions of the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities law. The court decision further highlights that the purpose of enacting the asset declaration law and the RTI Act is similar in its purpose of combating corruption.
The RTI Act gives effect to the right of access to information enshrined in Article 14A of the Constitution of Sri Lanka in order to enable Sri Lankan citizens to “more fully participate in public life through combating corruption and promoting accountability and good governance”. The DALL also aims at “combating corruption in public life by compelling the persons to whom the Law shall apply to declare their assets and liabilities periodically”. It is emphasized here that the “Members of Parliament are persons who are elected by the people and maintained by the people. They are expected to abide by the laws of the country at all times and provide examples for others to follow…It is therefore important for the public to know whether the relevant authorities have acted as required by law or not. The only way to obtain that information would be by seeking the list of the names of the Members of Parliament who have provided their declarations under the RTI Act.” The decision further underscores that the RTI Act requires the public authority to consider the weight of “public interest” of the requested information, prior to denying access to certain information.
As Sri Lanka celebrates six years since its RTI Act was operationalized, TISL welcomes this decision of the Court of Appeal as the first of its kind in Sri Lanka which sets a significant precedent in terms of information disclosure in the public interest and the transparency in declarations of assets and liabilities of public representatives to combat corruption in Sri Lanka.
Kandy (LNW): 10 suspects were arrested during a special raid carried out in Kandy – Bogambara area.
Among the arrestees are six men of age between 26 and 52 living in Heeressagala, Suduhumpola, Mahaiyawa, Kandy and Digana, and four women of age between 24 and 49 living in Katugasthota and Rohal Patumaga.
About 39 grams and 265 milligrams of heroin were recovered from their possession.
The raid was carried out as a joint operation by the Kandy Police and the Police Official Canine Unit.
The Central Bank (CBSL) yesterday further expanded the trading band of USD /LKR.
CBSL Governor. Nandalal Weerasinghe directed banks to use Rs. 353.65 as the middle spot Exchange rate of USD/LKR inter bank transactions and the variation margin of Rs. 7.50 on either side (+/-) of the middle spot exchange rate.
He also said rates applicable to other currency transactions against the Sri Lanka Rupee should also be derived based on the new USD/LKR middle spot exchange rate and the variation margin.
Previously on 27 February, the CBSL expanded the daily trading band to +/- Rs. 5.00 of the middle spot exchange rate. Prior to that revision, the variation margin was +/- Rs. 2.60.
Yesterday the CBSL quoted USD telegraphic transfers rate as Rs. 343.97 (buying) and Rs. 356.73 (selling). On Wednesday they were Rs. 351.72 and Rs. 362.95 respectively.
Wealth Trust Securities said the USD/LKR on cash to spot contracts were traded within the range of Rs. 346.15 to Rs. 347.00 while the middle rate for USD/LKR spot contracts appreciated further to Rs. 353.6543 against its previous days of Rs. 358.4593.
The foreign news agencies reported that the US dollar stood at 136.40 yen in Asian trade yesterday, against 136.17 yen in New York on Wednesday.
It said talk of more aggressive US rate hikes boosted the dollar on Thursday.
There is a growing expectation rates would top out around 5.5%, though some commentators are tipping 6%, from the current 4.5-4.75%.The rise of Rupee comes amidst a rebounding US Dollar.
The dollar has risen nearly 4% from its recent lows and stands near a seven-week high against a basket of other major currencies , driven by bets the Federal Reserve will need to raise rates higher than many investors had previously forecast to cool inflation, several economic experts said.
The U.S. currency remains some 8% below the twenty-year high it attained last year.
Yet its rebound, along with a surge in Treasury yields, has already complicated the outlook for a range of trades that prospered as the dollar tumbled in the latter half of 2022.
A stronger dollar tends to tighten global financial conditions while diminishing appetite for risk-taking and weakening global trade, the Bank for International Settlements said in a report in November.
It also makes it more difficult for countries that borrowed in the U.S. currency to service their debt, a problem often acutely felt by emerging market economies.
Erich Maria Remarque was invalided out of the army in 1917, but used his experiences to portray the life of a young soldier throughout the war, up to its end, when he portrayed the German army as retreating. Berger’s remake, however, goes out of its way to emphasise that the German army was holding the same lines of four years previously and, in case we hadn’t noticed it, tells us the same in a closing caption.
There were doubtless places where this held true, but it does not reflect the general military situation in the autumn of 1918, when the German army retreated from much occupied territory.
Few in Britain or Ireland would have needed reminding in 1928 – or in 1930 when the Hollywood version was released – that British troops had liberated the city of Lille in France.
Alas, in this country we have favoured monuments to much more questionable colonial victories, and so remembrance is left to fictional creations.
This film, as Barber observes, sets up the “stab-in-the-back [by civilians] myth” in a way that would have delighted the National Socialists, and would have appalled Remarque, who had to flee the Nazis. Roger Macy London
• Nicholas Barber has provided a valid critique of Edward Berger’s recent film adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front. One other key omission in the film was Paul Bäumer’s return home, and the alienation he felt when confronted by a total lack of insight by civilians into the realities of trench warfare.
Lewis Milestone’s 1930 film version went one step further, depicting a speechless Paul in front of a class of eager youngsters when encouraged by his old teacher to describe daring action in the trenches. The remake added nothing to the novel or the original cinematic version.
The People’s Convention for Good Governance was held at the BMICH in the midst of an exclusive audience, all of them invited and registered by the organizers on 25 February at the BMICH.
The Convener of this national initiative Richard de Zoysa set the tone for the day out lined that the four forums that were to be the hub of the program, would speak on how we have reached this perilous predicament, what exactly is the situation we are at present and how we should work to overcome the challenges.
Maithri Gunaratne PC, former Governor of Central and Uva Province, noted that the present situation where the Constitution does not always enforce the will of the people was also crafted during his fromer President JR Jayawardena’s tenure. Gunaratne summed up by stating that the Rajapaksa Government, though ending the separatist war, failed to reconcile the country and plunged it into bankruptcy, together with the governments that followed.
Omar Khan, a US national of Pakistani heritage, having come to Sri Lanka in 1993 and a well-known motivational speaker, headlined his address a ‘Visionary Catalyst’, and spoke of the importance of following up on decisions made, if a country is to progress.
Murtaza Jaferjee the Chairman of the Advocata Institute delivered a flawless speech on Economic Recovery with a presentation of facts that had the audience captivated. Prof. Arjuna Parakrama moderated the Education Reforms panel that included Dr. Tara de Mel, Prof. Harendra de Silva and Nile Anandappa.
Shehara Parakrama and Sharhan Muhseen, a top rung investment banker and an expert in mergers and acquisitions, exchanged thoughts on the Production and Services forum.
Dr. Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu moderated an interesting panel on Ethnicity which included Selvi Sachithanandam, Ishan Jalill, Jeremy Liyanage, and Arun Siddarth who had a thought-provoking discussion on the minorities.
Arun Siddarth was candid about the caste problem that is still preventing him from entering certain facilities that are reserved for the upper caste Tamils. He also declared that it was the politicians who created the rift between the Sinhalese and the Tamils.
The Guest of Honour Dr. Walter Jayasinghe who lives in California, and does an enormous amount of social work for the underprivileged, declared open the Empowering Lanka website that will be a fully transparent fundraising platform with the inflow and outflow clearly visible.
Primarily to help alleviate poverty and develop districts that lack basic infrastructure needs, the first Directors Dr. Walter Jayasinghe and Richard de Zoysa will source funds from both international and local donors.
The funds raised will be disbursed to those who conform to a predetermined criteria laid down by the Board of Directors of the company limited by guarantee.
Once commissioned officially, funds will be used to develop District by District monthly as planned by Dr. Sarath Seneviratne who mooted this concept 15 years ago.
Sri Lanka’s public administration sector, including divisional secretariats, is set to accept the challenge of becoming more efficient and productive and efficient, willingly enhancing businesses and investments in the island.
The Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) that looks into enhancing the ease of doing business has asked the Sri Lanka Administrative Services Association (SLASA) recently to submit a proposal towards this end.
Public administration sector including divisional secretariats has been directed to increase productivity and efficiency, when starting businesses and investments in Sri Lanka.
A group of officials representing Sri Lanka Administrative Services Association, Sri Lanka Accountancy Services Association, Sri Lanka Planning Services Association were summoned to the Select Committee of Parliament to study the practical problems and difficulties.
These issues have arisen in relation to enhancing the rank in the Ease of Doing Business Index in Sri Lanka and public officials make its proposals and recommendations when they met recently under the chairmanship of Member of Parliament Madhura Withanage.
Increasing the efficiency of the public administration sector and process in starting new businesses and investment opportunities in Sri Lanka was discussed at length at the meeting.
The committee pointed out that many investment and business opportunities are lost to the country as the process to be carried out to start investment or business in the current administrative structure is not efficient.
The committee emphasized that the management principles of the administrative sector including district secretariats and divisional secretariats should be changed accordingly.
Thus, the need to formulate new and permanent policies in this regard was emphasized in the formulation of public policies.
It was discussed that there are currently 332 divisional secretariats in Sri Lanka and the lack of a proper system to monitor their functioning is a major shortcoming.
For the convenience of the investors, it was proposed to establish a separate ‘Investment Cell’ for each district secretariat to facilitate investors and provide prompt service. The need for proper training programs for those public officials was also discussed here.
Sri Lanka Administrative Services Association pointed out the need to carry out reforms in the state administrative sector, and it was also suggested to take steps to establish a separate ministry for administrative reforms in the future.
It was also suggested to call all the divisional secretaries and hold an awareness program for them.
It was also discussed about the difficulty in obtaining land required for investments through the Divisional Secretariats.
It was discussed that land irregularities are taking place on a large scale especially in the northern and eastern provinces and the need for immediate intervention.
The Eastern and Northern Coastline of Sri Lanka have been made into a busy work site via mineral explorations at present with at least two UK and Western Australian companies have resumed activities, official sources said.
Capital Metals PLC, a UK mineral resources company listed on the London Stock Exchange, is ready to commence development of its high grade mineral sands project in the Eastern Province.
The extensive studies completed by the local Sri Lankan subsidiary, Damsila Exports Ltd. indicated the availability of commercial quantities of high grade mineral sands in this region.
Most importantly, Capital Metal’s pioneering project will, no doubt, open up a new industry in mining heavy mineral sands and other valuable mineral resources in the country and pave the way for similar projects in the future, opening up a much-needed new export industry.
Further Western Australia-headquartered Titanium Sands has announced that it is proceeding with the formal mining licence application process for its Mannar Island project, in Sri Lanka.
The company says final exploration resource work over its five main licences all exceed the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) minimum exploration requirements and confirm a significant heavy mineral sands project.
However Capital Metals PLC, a UK mineral resources company listed on the London Stock Exchange, is ready to commence development of its high grade mineral sands project in the Eastern Province.
The extensive studies completed by the local Sri Lankan subsidiary, Damsila Exports Ltd., indicated the availability of commercial quantities of high grade mineral sands in this region.
Local investment company, Keynes Investments Ltd., was recently brought in to hold 60% of Damsila. Keynes is principally held by Dinal Peiris, who is also the Chairman of Lanka Aluminium Industries PLC Group and several other well-known companies in Sri Lanka.
The project commenced in 2015 with Capital Metals, a specialized mineral resource exploration and development company with significant international experience, acquiring ownership of Damsila which held the initial exploration licenses.
With investment from Capital Metals, Damsila completed numerous studies and obtained approval from the Department of Coast Conservation and Coastal Resources Management for its environmental impact studies following extensive local community and governmental consultation.
With total expenditure to date of over $ 11 million, Damsila is now awaiting final approval to commence development.
Key advantages of the planned operations are that no blasting or chemicals are required and there will be continuous cleaning and restoration of the mined areas to remove the black mineral sands leaving the golden sands in place.
This project will also help to position Sri Lanka as a strategic and responsible source for these critical minerals in the global marketplace,” said Capital Metals CEO and Director Michael Frayne.
The project requires a total investment of over us $ 80 million and will bring a multitude of benefits to Sri Lanka and its people as it will generate much needed foreign exchange from export income, significantly upgraded infrastructure, employment and skills transfer, as well as various programmes to support local communities.
It is estimated that over 300 new direct jobs will be created and the Sri Lankan Government will receive over $ 100 million in royalties and taxes.
Colombo (LNW): The World Bank has agreed to release an aid of US$ 1.5 billion for Sri Lanka, days after the International Finance Corporation (IFC), one of the WB subsidiaries, released a forex facility of US$ 400 million for three private banks in the island nation amidst the worst economic crisis it suffers from.
The US$ 1.5 billion aid is set to be released for the next two years under several stages, and its first stage is believed to be released after Sri Lanka enters an agreement for a programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
