A special meeting attended by the Party leaders and members of the Committee on Parliamentary Business to discuss the draft bill for the establishment of the Budget Office of the Parliament was held yesterday (10) in Parliament under the chairmanship of Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena and the participation of Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.
The MPs who were present had a lengthy discussion on the draft bill related to the establishment of the budget office of the parliament. Also, it was decided to meet again in two weeks after further study of this bill.
Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapakse, Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, Leader of the House, Susil Premajayantha, Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella, Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva, Mahinda Amaraweera, Ali Sabry, Douglas Devananda, and MPs Johnston Fernando, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Gamini Lokage, Rohitha Abeygunawardena, Dayasiri Jayasekara, Kabir Hashim, Kumara Welgama, Sagara Kariyavasam, Shan Vijayalal de Silva, Wimal Weerawansa, Harsha De Silva, Weerasumana Weerasinghe, V. Radhakrishnan and A.L.M. Ataullah were present at the meeting.
• Officers are rarely prosecuted for misconduct, including the brutal use of force on citizens. In rare cases, officers found guilty are given minor disciplinary punishments or given warnings.
• The NPC received a total of Rs.127, 764, 000 budgetary allocation in 2018 which was more than double what it had received in the year 2015 — Rs.47, 030, 000. However, statistics indicate that the commission has failed to fulfil one of the complementary functions — transforming the Sri Lanka Police into an efficient, transparent, and responsive service that upholds Human Rights, ensures public accountability, and adheres to the Rule of Law.
• According to information obtained through an RTI by the writer, the rate of complaints at NPC being stuck with no progress has been increasing over the last five years. From the 2017 to June 30, 2022 time period, the total numbers of unsolved complaints were 5, 21, 96, 276, 1344, and 713, respectively. When asked about the delay, the NPC blamed the Covid-19 pandemic.
• It revealed that mechanisms to hold State actors to account for their actions have been eroded; checks on the arbitrary use of power have been diluted, if not dissolved; and even institutions to protect the Independence of the Judiciary have been eviscerated.
Police breaking up a protest at the Parliament roundabout in July, 2021. Pic by Kithsiri de Mel
Nine Thousand Two Hundred Ninety Five (9295). That is the number of public complaints that have been lodged against Sri Lanka Police with the National Police Commission (NPC) during the last five years. These complaints include cases of unlawful arrest, false charges, assault, torture, partiality, abuse of power, as well as Police inaction.
This number on record is small compared to the actual number of incidents taking place on the streets of Sri Lanka daily. Even with this high number of reported cases of Police violence and misconduct, one would expect the conviction rate and solving of complaints to be high as well, since there is a dedicated oversight body named the National Police Commission (NPC) that is responsible for ensuring that the Police are accountable for their acts of violence.
However, officers are rarely prosecuted for misconduct, including the brutal use of force on citizens. In rare cases, officers found guilty are given minor disciplinary punishments or given warnings. “Police officers don’t believe that they are ever going to be held accountable for what they do on the streets,” Basil Fernando, Director for Policy and Programme, Asian Human Rights Commission, said.
Increasing rate of unsolved cases
Although armed with the power of the State and empowered to use force against ordinary citizens, Police is accountable like any organization or any ordinary citizen. According to the Police Media Spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa, Sri Lanka Police also does have an internal system to hear complaints against cops. In fact, internal management mechanisms if well implemented can be a powerful way of holding police officers to account. But is it enough? Has the internal system ever commanded the full confidence of the public?
The National Police Commission was established under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in October 2015 with a mission to safeguard the public from unlawful action and/or inaction by the Police. Annually more and more public money is being spent to maintain the operations of the NPC only to see the performance of the Commission becoming more questionable over the years.
According to its Annual Expenditure Reports, the NPC received a total of Rs.127,764,000 budgetary allocation in 2018 which was more than double what it had received in the year 2015 — Rs.47, 030,000. However, statistics indicate that the commission has failed to fulfil one of the complementary functions — transforming the Sri Lanka Police into an efficient, transparent, and responsive service that upholds Human Rights, ensures public accountability, and adheres to the Rule of Law.
According to information obtained through an RTI by the writer, the rate of complaints at NPC being stuck with no progress has been increasing over the last five years. From the 2017 to June 30, 2022 time period, the total numbers of unsolved complaints were 5, 21, 96, 276, 1344, and 713, respectively. When asked about the delay, the NPC blamed the Covid-19 pandemic.
Even the resolved cases are not technically resolved. A source at the NPC revealed that a considerable number of resolved cases are those in which the aggrieved parties stopped contributing to the inquiry “for reasons best known to them.” When the complainant no longer participates in the inquiry, the NPC stops pursuing such cases due to a “lack of evidence”. These numbers show that Sri Lanka not only inherited the culture of Police brutality from the past but also the acceptance of this kind of unfair behaviour because the Police are not held accountable for their illegal actions.
“The National Police Commission is an eyewash.
When a person’s lungs fail due to respiratory disease, they try to get oxygen from an external machine, which is a temporary method to keep the person alive. The NPC is also like an external oxygen machine. The root cause of the problems with Police in the country—a lack of strong work culture. I have been observing the performance of NPC since its inception. There is nothing we can say we are happy about this institution. It only has paper power. The Sri Lanka Police is a very powerful institution. What NPC is doing is just public relations work for the Police.”
Are independent commissions really independent?
Renowned academic Professor Siri Hettige, who had been appointed to the post of the Chairman of the National Police Commission in 2016, didn’t stay in his post for over a year. In January 2017, he resigned, citing an academic commitment. Speaking to the media, Prof. Hettige compared the attempt to overhaul an institution to “similar to rehabilitating an alcoholic.”
When he was working, he had initiated a series of joint action plans in order to address outstanding issues, including the elimination of corruption and impunity within the NPC. In a brief interview with the Daily Mirror, Prof. Hettige talked about how most of Sri Lanka’s democratic institutions have become less independent and less effective over time. “This decline in the independence and effectiveness of the democratic institutions, including the Police and the Public Service, has made these institutions obsolete.”
“When I was Chair, I tried to make a few changes. In fact, I did some initial things which didn’t see the light of the day. Then I resigned,” Prof. Hettige said. He went on to say that there is no point in talking about these Independent Commissions now because they are no longer independent.
He criticised that under the present system of governance, the rule of law, transparency, and accountability are no longer visible. “The institutional fabric, which is a very important factor in a country, is severely damaged,” he opined.
Sri Lanka Police lacks a strong work culture
In a report titled “Authority without Accountability: the Crisis of Impunity in Sri Lanka,” the International Commission of Jurists revealed in 2021 that in Sri Lanka, impunity has over the years become institutionalised and systematized. It revealed that mechanisms to hold State actors to account for their actions have been eroded; checks on the arbitrary use of power have been diluted, if not dissolved; and even institutions to protect the Independence of the Judiciary have been eviscerated.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Director for Policy and Programme, Asian Human Rights Commission Attorney at Law, Basil Fernando, said, like other experts in the use of force, minimum force is the first principle. “This is a very important principle to follow because Police officers hold people’s lives in their hands. Their duty is to protect lives, not to take them,” he said.
“The root cause of the problems with Police in the country—a lack of strong work culture. I have been observing the performance of NPC since its inception. There is nothing we can say we are happy about this institution. It only has paper power. The Sri Lanka Police is a very powerful institution. What NPC is doing is just public relations work for the Police.”
Attorney Basil Fernando underlined that the NPC lacked the kind of independence to do its job purely in the way the law requires. “The National Police Commission is an eyewash. When a person’s lungs fail due to respiratory disease, they try to get oxygen from an external machine, which is a temporary method to keep the person alive. The NPC is also like an external oxygen machine,” he said.
He believes that the actual number of Police misconduct cases is nothing compared to the reported cases as victims have no confidence in the NPC to investigate their complaints and take necessary legal action against law-breaking Police officers.
“If you lodge complaints and see that nothing happens for years, you feel like giving up. Then the NPC says the number of public complaints is lower. In recent times, after the Aragalaya started, a large number of illegal arrests have been taking place in the country. The numbers should be higher than in many previous years.”
A programme has been initiated to rectify the recent delay in payment of retirement gratuity and a Cabinet paper has also been presented in this regard, after which arrangements will be made to make these payments in compliance, said Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena at the Ministerial Consultative Committee held three days ago (08).
Accordingly, these payments will be made in two parts after obtaining the approval of the Treasury, Gunawardena noted.
The Director General of Pensions said that as a result of the delay in the release of money by the Treasury due to the economic crisis in the country, a large number of people are on the waiting list expecting the retirement gratuity. He said that all payments up to January 2022 have been made.
He further said that the Treasury has agreed to release the money required for payments from January 2022 up to the remaining period and accordingly, said that the money is expected to be given.
The Director General of Pensions also said that also, due to the reduction of the retirement age to 60 years, it is expected that new applications will be received after December 31 st this year. He said that a special programme has been prepared to provide the basic pension to all of them promptly.
Attention was also directed to solve the problems of employees who have worked for a long time in local government institutions. Accordingly, steps will be taken to appoint a special committee to recommend further measures, State Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government, Janaka Wakkumbura said.
Furthermore, the Prime Minister gave instructions to the authorities of the ministry that the annual reports of the public institutions, which are currently delayed, should be submitted to the Parliament as soon as possible. It was also decided at the meeting to have the other government institutions informed about this for the purpose of getting them to submit the delayed reports on their part to the parliament.
The Prime Minister’s plan to convert a number of Urban Councils into Municipal Councils was also discussed at the meeting held. MP Charles Nirmalanathan complementing the Prime Minister for conduct the same program in the Northern Province in his capacity as the Minister of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government requested to not abolish the making Mannar Paradeshiya Sabha when establishing the Municipal Council.
MP Mano Ganesan made a request to take necessary steps to increase the divisional secretariats in Nuwara Eliya district. The ministry officials agreed to discuss this matter and report the matter to the committee.
State Minister of Home Affairs Ashoka Priyantha, State Ministers Shantha Bandara, Indika Anuruddha, Anupa Pasqual and Committee Members Ranjith Madduma Bandara, J.C. Alawathuwala, Jayantha Ketagoda, Sudath Manjula, MPs Mano Ganesan, Chandima Weerakkody, Yadamini Gunawardena, H.M.M. Harees, Rohana Bandara, Madhura Withanage, Charles Nirmalanathan, Gunathilaka Rajapaksha, officials representing the Ministry and affiliated institutions were also present at this committee meeting held.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe arrived in parliament yesterday (10) to attend the parliamentary session.
The Head of State attended the parliamentary session upon returning to the island has participated in the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Following is the special statement made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in parliament today.
“Hon. Deputy Speaker, the Minister of Justice presented 10 important proposals to Parliament and as such, I am not going to speak on them as they have been debated lengthily here. However, it is a timely requirement to modernize the laws. This task has been entrusted to the Justice Minister and what the Minister of Justice has presented in the House today is a part of developments in the law modernization project. He would present the developments of the project both this year and next year to the Parliament. The Parliament is ready to allocate extra days to debate and pass them if required.
I am on my feet especially to speak on my participation in the COP-27 Conference on Climate Change on Monday and Tuesday in Egypt with the Environment Minister. President’s Advisor on Climate Change Ruwan Wijewardena and former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed who is assisting us participated in the event too.
We have to appreciate former President Mithreepala Sirisena who participated in the COP conference in 2015 and subsequently took steps to limit the construction of Power Stations in the country and no new power stations were built thereafter. Then at the COP 26 conference held in Glasgow presided over by former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, we made a good proposal and agreed to try to keep temperature rises within 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050. We presented the measures we have taken in this regard.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, when we went into COP 27, there had been no progress being made since COP 26. The target of 1.5 degrees Centigrade by 2050 was being raised again even by some of the developed countries and some of the G20 countries. The G20 had not reduced their emissions at all. They had not, in any way, contributed the $100 million that they promised. We had required $350 billion per year and we had not even fulfilled that pledge.
In that sense, we went into COP 27 having a setback to the agreements and achievements of COP 26. Now, if you look at the COP 27 arrangements, we found that none of the developed countries or the G20 was there to have some serious conversations with the others.
Some of the leaders who came, came only for the opening day and though they are supposed to make statements, those statements were not made at the main conference, but on the sidelines of various events that took place. Then they all left. Actually, on the second day, we were left only, on the European side, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who was there taking part in the initiatives that the global shield had initiated, for which we must thank him.
For the G20 leaders, the main position was being taken by the President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa. In that background, I think, Sri Lanka, I and some of the others had to condemn and criticize the stand that had been taken by the G20 countries, the G7 and the developed economies. We cannot go on like this. There are serious issues that the world faces.
If you listen to the speech made by the Secretary General of the UN, I think in the next 20-30 years the situation becomes more serious. We listened to the Pakistan Prime Minister and we studied the situation where the melting of the Himalayas affected Pakistan. But not only that, Nepal says it is going to affect them, it is going to affect India where the Ganges runs and it is going to affect Bangladesh because the Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers both come through Bangladesh. It is going to affect Myanmar because the Irrawaddy River and the San Win rivers come through Myanmar.
It is going to affect the Maldives to go underwater and it is going to affect us because part of our Western Coast will go underwater. Even places like Kanyakumari on the tip of South India will go underwater. That is the threat that all of us are facing. But there is no major response on this by the major countries.
So we were discussing among ourselves that the only way out is either to go to COP 28 and lock horns with the G20 on these issues, the 1.5-degree target and 2050. We have to lock horns with them and take them on, which means that we have to be ready to discuss it with like-minded countries, and I am sure that both of our ministers for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Environment can do that. But those countries are waiting and Sri Lanka has to join them. We must, as far as possible, support it, and necessary on some occasions take the leadership on this issue.
The second thing is food security. We have gone through problematic stages and I must thank the country that helped us. We won’t have a major issue with food security during next year, hopefully. But Africa is pretty bad, 20 to 30 million people will be affected. There will be a large number of deaths in the Horn of Africa. There is no aid or assistance. It was not discussed.
Now, in addition to the fact some of them can’t grow food and others can’t get fertilizer to grow food, they haven’t the money, so we have to help them.
Secondly is that they are affected, especially by the fact that most are in debt. So in my view, we should give those countries that are having serious problems with food scarcity, the same terms that the IMF gave to Ukraine. Ukraine was fighting a war with Russia. These people are fighting a war for survival.
Therefore, we should ask the West to give the same support that was given to Ukraine. So these are major issues which will be a part of our foreign policy and environmental policy in the coming era. I am very happy when the Chief Opposition Whip referred to Geneva. Because I think this is the very basic right, the right to live for this generation, the younger people, those who will be 40 to 50 by 2050, whom we are referring to and the unborn.
So if you are going to ignore the rights of the youth, the younger generation and the unborn, that is the worst genocide that can happen. So we hope in time to come, while they (Geneva) are addressing the issues concerning Sri Lanka, that they will also be in a position to address this whole issue of what I call genocide into genocide, and we should raise that.
At the same time as the Chief Opposition Whip spoke on the matter, we declare that we hope to resolve our problems.
The Minister would speak on the three pieces of legislation truth and reconciliation commission, the Counter-Terrorism Act and Corruption. The two ministers would present them in January and February.
Meanwhile, we discussed the issues of the people in the North. Already we have released some of the prisoners who were in prison and there are several others to be released. There is a writer among them who is alleged to have been connected with the Pittala junction incident.
I am getting an assessment done on the renewable energy potential in the North and the possibility of having green hydrogen. Now if you get green hydrogen on a competitive basis, the whole Northern economy goes up.
Therefore, we have to look into this because the bulk of our renewable energy will be from about Puttlam down to Trincomalee. There are other developments. The Trincomalee development which you started down into the east for tourism. So there’s a fair number of developments we want to look at, we want to settle this and that all of us are Sri Lankans. So, therefore, let us all get together and make it a point that we would solve this problem by our 75th independence Anniversary. We don’t need others to intervene in our country’s matters. We can solve our issues and that’s what we are attempting to accomplish.
As MP Lakshman Kiriella spoke on the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, I would like to say that the 17th Amendment 19th and the 21 Amendments were passed by both the government side and the opposition. We have to set up the Constitutional Council. There is seemingly one issue which is not an issue about the appointment of Civil members to the Constitutional Council.
They are nominated by the Prime Minister, and the Opposition Leader and attested by the Speaker. How could the Parliament oppose them? If they opposed it, the Prime Minister and the Opposition leader have no support of the government side and the opposition side respectively and the Speaker has no support of the entire Parliament. It is a scenario in which all three should resign. It was the same practice in the 19th amendment. It’s a procedural event. So let us have their names. I told the Prime Minister also. Let’s talk it over with the speaker and get three names.
If the Tamil parties nominate after identifying those who are not members of the SJB, we could solve the issue of the Civil nominees. Last time we made appointments out of the Tamils as well as Women. This time we could make representation from Muslims and if there are no such candidates, we can allow a female again. After that, all the commissions could be appointed soon which could continue smoothly. Therefore, I request all to assist in this endeavour.
When I went to COP 27, I met IMF Managing Director and discussed where she promised to assist us. So do not worry about it. Therefore, we have only got to discuss with China and India. China asked us to commence talks after their party convention. Now talks have commenced. I request both countries to finalise it by the end of December.
I thank the Chief Opposition Whip for stating that they would boycott the debate if they do not know these matters. So the Government side and the Opposition could pass it.”
The low-pressure area in the vicinity of the island is likely to move northwest ward and gradually move towards the Tamil Nadu area near the northern coast of Sri Lanka and therefore, rainy conditions over Northern, North-Central and North western provinces and Trincomalee district will expect to continue further, the Department of Meteorology said in a statement today (11).
Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in Northern, North-Central and North western provinces and in Trincomalee district. Heavy showers above 100 mm can be expected at some places.
Showers or thundershowers will occur elsewhere during the afternoon or night.
Heavy showers above 50 mm can be expected at some places.
Fairly strong winds about (40-50) kmph can be expected at times in the Northern, North Central and North western provinces.
General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimise damages caused by temporary localised strong winds and lightning during thundershowers
Marine Weather:
The low-pressure area in the vicinity of the island is likely to move northwest ward and gradually move towards the Tamil Nadu area near the northern coast of Sri Lanka.Naval and fishing communities are advised not to venture into the deep and shallow sea areas off the coast extending fromTrincomalee to Puttalam via Kankasanturai and Mannar.
Condition of Rain:
Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in the sea areas off the coast extending from Trincomalee to Puttalam via Kankasanturai and Mannar. Showers or thundershowers will occur other sea areas around the island during afternoon or night.
Winds:
Winds will be North-easterly or variable in direction. Wind speed will be (20-30) kmph. Wind speed may increase up to (50-60) kmph at times in the sea areas off the coast extending from Trincomalee to Puttalam via Kankasanturai and Mannar.
State of Sea:
The sea areas off the coast extending from Trincomalee to Puttalam via Kankasanturai and Mannar will be rough. The other sea areas around the island will be fairly rough at times. There is a possibility that near shore sea areas off the coast extending from Trincomalee to Mannar via Kankasanturai may experience surges due to the effect of swell waves with (2.0-2.5) m height.Temporarily strong gusty winds and very rough seas can be expected during thundershowers.
Colombo (AFP) – Dozens of state-owned Sri Lankan companies employing tens of thousands of people could be restructured or closed as part of an IMF bailout of the bankrupt country, with the country’s airline top of the list for reform.
With nearly 6,000 staff, SriLankan Airlines is the biggest and most expensive of the cash-haemorrhaging, sclerotic companies that have drained the budget and compounded the worst financial crisis in national history.
According to treasury figures, the carrier was losing $4.50 for every dollar it earned at the start of this year. It has not turned a profit since 2008, when its chief executive was sacked for offending the country’s then-leader.
“Even those who have never stepped into a Sri Lankan aircraft are paying to subsidise the airline,” government spokesman Manusha Nanayakkara told reporters this month.
“We can’t continue like this.”
Sri Lanka defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt in April and is now neck-deep in the arduous process of renegotiating its obligations with creditors.
Its 22 million people suffered through months of food and fuel shortages, and at the peak of the crisis, a furious mob stormed government buildings and chased Sri Lanka’s former president into exile.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has given preliminary approval to a $2.9 billion bailout, and the government hopes to be able to access the first tranche by the end of the year.
Terms of the deal have yet to be released, but IMF cash is usually conditional on painful reforms, such as tax hikes, removing consumer subsidies, and privatising or closing underperforming state firms.
The country has more than 300 state enterprises, ranging from nut farms to fuel retailers, and the top 52 firms lost nearly $2.4 billion between January and April — around $140 million a week.
SriLankan Airline’s future is the most urgent priority, and the government last month instructed the finance ministry to begin its restructuring, ideally by attracting outside investment.
With almost 6,000 employees, SriLankan Airlines is the biggest of the island nation’s money-losing state firms Ishara S. KODIKARA AFP
But finding a company willing to pour money into the airline will be immensely challenging, analysts say, given its history of interference, mismanagement and turbulent partnerships.
‘It’s even more difficult now’
In 1998, Emirates bought a minority stake in the carrier and took over its management.
It stayed in the black for most of the next decade, although one of its most profitable years was — ironically — 2001, when the Tamil Tigers separatist movement attacked the country’s main international airport.
Several of the airline’s planes were destroyed in the July attack, but insurance payouts and the removal of excess capacity offset a downturn in ticket sales.
But the partnership was terminated and the chief executive sacked by then-president Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2008 after the carrier refused to bump fare-paying passengers to make room for members of his family returning from a jaunt in London.
The leader packed SriLankan’s management with relatives and loyalists, several of whom now face corruption charges, and the airline has bled cash since.
Rajapaksa even started a rival state-owned airline named after himself, a colossal failure that was eventually merged into SriLankan — along with its accumulated losses.
Authorities tried to sell a 49 percent stake in SriLankan back in 2017 when the island nation’s tourism market was booming, but even then private equity firm TPG eventually withdrew its bid after deciding it was not a viable operation.
Airlines are “generally not that attractive” to investors, Singapore-based aviation analyst Brendan Sobie told AFP, “particularly airlines that are government owned and have a lot of legacy issues, have a lot of debt, like SriLankan does”.
“There’s not many foreign airlines, particularly in this post-Covid environment, that are even looking or considering buying stakes in airlines overseas,” he added, and the track record for strategic investments in the sector was “very bad”.
“It’s very difficult,” he said.
‘We are a bankrupt country’
SriLankan chairman Ashok Pathirage acknowledges the airline’s current balance sheet is not an attractive proposition.
“If you try to privatise the whole thing, people will come and ask the government to take half of the debt,” Pathirage told AFP.
But he said SriLankan could settle about half of its liabilities by splitting off and selling profitable business arms, including its virtual monopoly on catering and ground handling at Colombo airport.
Trade union leaders and employees support a restructuring along those lines, on the condition that no jobs are cut.
“The airline is losing money not because of the staff, but expensive leases and poor financial structures,” a cabin crew member, who requested anonymity, told AFP.
But selling off the airline’s profitable divisions would leave the rump operations generating even bigger losses for the government.
Former state finance minister Eran Wickramaratne told AFP that if authorities could not find an investor, the airline should be grounded permanently before it could burden the public further.
“We are a bankrupt country,” he said. “We have not been able to service our debt and that reality has struck home.”
President Ranil Wickremesinghe invites all Tamil political parties to discuss issues facing the Tamils: urges the resolution of these issues amicably without outside interference: asks that it be done prior to the 75th independence celebrations.
State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya says Welfare Programme “Leave No One Behind” has attracted nearly 4 million applications: also says those will be screened and applicants who do not meet the eligibility criteria will be eliminated.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa castigates government on failure to implement National Action Plan on Persons with disabilities: raises concerns about accessibility issues at state institutions for nearly 1.7 mn such persons.
Central Bank says Sri Lankan economy has “shown signs of stability in the 2nd half of the year”: also says economy will “transition onto the path to recovery from the latter part of 2023”: attributes recovery to “progress so far in relation to IMF-EFF programme, debt restructuring negotiations, & reforms already undertaken”.
Activist and wife of missing journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda, Sandya Ekneligoda complains to Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya that she has not been allowed to enter Court premises since 2020 following the Covid outbreak: seeks permission to attend hearings in relation to her husband’s disappearance.
Labour and Foreign Employment Ministry says Saudi Arabia has agreed to recruit more Sri Lankans for the construction and health sectors and to increase the minimum wage of domestic workers.
Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe says a Sports university will be a reality soon: its site to be the Diyagama Sports Complex.
Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella repeatedly calls for the government’s staff level agreement with the IMF: President Ranil Wickremasinghe says IMF has said not to release details of the agreement reached with them so far, till the current round of negotiations is completed.
IGP orders that complaints regarding ragging incidents in universities be investigated by the CID.
Reports emerge that the Australian “dating app” woman accusing cricketer Dhanushka Gunathilake of sexual assault has demanded AUD 100,000 to “settle” the incident, and later reduced the demand to AUD 25,000: also reports that Gunathilaka has decided to deal with it through “legal” means.
The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Tehran, in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and the Association of Air Transport and Tourist Agencies in Iran, organized a Tourism Promotion Programme “Visit to the Amazing Sri Lanka during the NOWRUZ Season-2023 (Persian New Year)” in its Chancery premises on 07 November, 2022. Objectives of the event were to create awareness of Sri Lanka as a potential tourist destination among Iran travelers and encourage all tourism stakeholders in Iran to facilitate the Iranian tourists to visit Sri Lanka during their Persian New Year.
During his opening remarks, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Iran G.M.V. Wishwanath Aponsu introduced Sri Lanka as a country of natural wonders, historical momentous, unique lifestyles with more delicious typical cuisine, friendly people and safe & secure destination. Highlighting the recent growth of Iranian tourists’ floor to Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan envoy appreciated the significant role of tour operators, travel agencies, airlines and relevant others for achieving the present progress of tourist arrivals. Further, he made an open and friendly request to all represented tourism stakeholders in the Promotion Programme to encourage the friendly people of Iran to continue visiting Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan tourism is ready to welcome them with their required facilities with great hospitality.
During the productive discussion of the Programme which was contributed by the four panelists, Deputy President for International Affairs, Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines & Agriculture Dr. Alireza Yavari, Expert of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran Mohammad Deldari, Airline Specialist Majid Singhand Former Secretary General of the Air Transport and Tourist Agencies Faramarz Saeedi highlighted Sri Lanka as unique and affordable tourist destination. Several suggestions including the need of operating direct air link between Iran and Sri Lanka, conducting regular tourism awareness programmes, convening B2B meetings between the both Chambers, introducing reasonable tour packages, initiating FAM tour campaigns, providing publicity through electronic and print media and facilitating for bilateral instruments were also discussed.
In response, Ambassador Wishwanath Aponsu pointed out that the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Tehran is in the process of working on some proposals in coordination with the concerned authorities of Sri Lanka and Iran with a focus on expanding two-way tourism floor between the two countries. In this scenario, he emphasized all tourism-related stakeholders of both countries have a significant role to proceed the proposals and expressed that reaching for rapid growth expected in tourism is “leave no one behind”. On behalf of the Iran Tourist Association, Saeedi thanked the Sri Lanka Embassy for timely organizing the tourism event and assured his Association fullest support to expand two-way tourism.
The event was attended by over 65 participants working in Iran tourism industry, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Foreign Ministry, airlines, media personnel and prominent business people. The invitees were treated to a reception with several Sri Lankan typical food items with Ceylon tea taste.
September 2022 saw US $ 1.28 billion in imports, down from $ 1.48 billion in the previous month and 16% year on year. However, the June 2022 figure at $ 1.22 billion remains the lowest so far this year suggesting there is room for further decline given the foreign exchange crisis.
The lowest import figure was in May 2020 at $ 994 million as an immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Central Bank said import expenditure declined for the seventh consecutive month, on a year-on-year basis. In the first nine months imports were down by 5.7% to $ 14 billion.
CBSL said a decline in import expenditure in September was observed in investment goods (-54% to $ 169 million) and non-food consumer goods (by 60% to $ 80 million) mainly resulting from the measures to compress imports.
However, an increase was recorded in imports of intermediate goods (7.7% to $ 913 million) and food and beverages by 11% to $ 121 million.
Expenditure on the importation of consumer goods declined by 35.3% to $ 201 million in September 2022, compared to September 2021, led by lower expenditure on non-food consumer goods.
The decline in import expenditure on non-food consumer goods was observed in all subcategories, with a notable drop in imports of medical and pharmaceuticals (mainly, the higher base in expenditure on vaccines), telecommunication devices (mainly, mobile telephones) and home appliances (mainly, televisions).
Expenditure on the importation of food and beverages increased by 10.7% to $ 121 million in September 2022 (y-o-y), mainly with an increase in import volumes of sugar and cereals and milling industry products (primarily, rice).
Further, imports of spices and beverages also improved to some extent. In contrast, expenditure on dairy products (mainly, milk powder), oils and fats (mainly, coconut oil), seafood (mainly, dried fish), fruits and vegetables declined in September 2022, compared to September 2021, which was mostly led by lower import volumes.
Expenditure on the importation of intermediate goods increased by 7.7% in September 2022, compared to September 2021, with a substantial share of increase contributed by fuel imports.
Expenditure on fuel, which comprises crude oil, refined petroleum and coal, increased by 87.3% to $ 376.4 million in September 2022, due to the increases of import volumes and prices of refined petroleum products, compared to September 2021.
Import volumes of coal continued to remain at marginal levels from June 2022.
Further, import expenditure on diamonds and precious stones and metals (primarily, industrial diamonds) and fertilizer (primarily, urea), also recorded an increase during September 2022, compared to September 2021.
Meanwhile, many other types of intermediate goods recorded a notable decline, including base metals (mainly, iron and steel), textiles and textile articles (mainly, fabrics), vehicle and machinery parts (mainly, motor vehicle parts), food preparation (mainly, fat and oil), wheat and maize, etc.
