The Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Melbourne conducted a mobile consular service for the Sri Lankan community on 02 April 2023, during a Sri Lankan New Year Festival held in Dandenong, Victoria.

During the festival, which was organized by the Sri Lanka German Technical Training Institute OBA (SLGTTIOBA), the consulate set up a booth to provide several consular services to the large numbers of visitors to the event.

During the full-day service, the Consulate staff helped members of the public who wanted to submit applications for new passports, dual citizenships, birth registrations and driving license verifications. The Consulate processed over 20 applications for the above, assisting applicants by reviewing the applications and supporting documents and advising on any gaps or corrections. To ensure a full service, the Consulate also provided on-site payment facilities and an online appointment facility, for those who wished to follow up with appointments to the Consulate. In addition, the staff also certified “life certificates” for pensioners and other documents.

Apart from these services, the staff fielded inquiries from over 600 visitors to the stall, on all consular matters, guiding people on applications, checklists of documents, fees, and next steps in the process.

Visitors to the booth commended the Consulate for this initiative, saying that it was very convenient for those who found it difficult to come to the Melbourne CBD, and many requested that the Consulate carry out similar services in the future.

Consul General Sandith Samarasinghe, also participated as a special guest in the official ceremonies of the New Year celebrations. During the opening ceremony in the morning, he participated in the flag raising ceremony, and conveyed the best wishes of President Ranil Wickremesinghe for the success of the event.

At the official ceremony in the afternoon, the Consul General congratulated the SLGTTIOBA for the successful New Year celebrations, which the association has been holding for over twenty years, and which was now recognized as the largest Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations in the world, outside of Sri Lanka. He appreciated the tireless efforts of the organizers in helping to keep alive Sri Lankan traditions and culture amongst the Sri Lankan community in Australia, and thanked the organizers for inviting the Consulate to be part of the event. He assured that the Consulate was committed to continuing to build strong connections with the Sri Lankan community, within the overall environment of the rich Australian multiculturalism.

During the event, Consul General Samarasinghe met with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, and other key Australian leaders, including federal MPs, State MPs, Mayors and Councillors. During his meeting with the Victorian Premier, the Consul General reiterated the strong ties between Sri Lanka and Australia, and the Consulate’s commitment to continue to strengthen these bilateral ties. The Consul General also met with key leaders in the Sri Lanka community, and interacted with members of the Sri Lankan business community, associations and the general public, expressing the Consulate’s commitment to continuously engage with the community.

Consulate General of Sri Lanka

Melbourne

Colombo (LNW): 15 persons were seriously injured in a vehicle accident in Galwanguwa, Hingura Ara, Embilipitiya are yesterday (15) at about 4.30 pm, as a cab and a van collided on the road, later to be collided with a motorcycle.

Among the injured are six children, four men and five women and were admitted to Embilipitiya District Hospital.

Embilipitiya Police HQ are conducting further investigations.

Colombo (LNW): High Commissioner of the Republic of Maldives to Sri Lanka Ali Faiz paid a courtesy call on the State Minister of Defence Premitha Bandara Tennakoon at the State Ministry of Defence in Colombo four days ago (12).

Faiz was accorded a warm reception by the Minister upon his arrival at the State Ministry premises and both high officials held a cordial discussion on matters of bilateral importance and mutual relevance.

During the discussion, the State Minister recalled the long held cordial relationship between the two countries and further added that Maldives has always been a friend to Sri Lanka.

The visiting High Commissioner assuring the fullest support to Sri Lanka, also expressed his gratitude to Sri Lanka for being a friend to the Maldives.

The State Minister and the High Commissioner exchanged mementos to symbolise the meeting and as a gesture of goodwill.

Defence Attaché of the Maldivian High Commission Lt. Col. Hassan Amir was also present at the occasion.

CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), which in turn is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC), a majority state-owned enterprise with headquarters in Beijing

Colombo Port City agreement between the government and the CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd will soon be in the public domain following the Right to Information Commission order to release it to the public. 

The PPP agreement raises many questions on environmental and investment issues and the commission referred questions to CHEC Port City Colombo, despite the Chinese company stating that the government is to provide the infrastructure for sewage treatment under the Public Private Partnership that covers the development.

It lso makes the government responsible for water supply, energy supply, waste removal and public transport.According to official estimates Port City  project will result in additional water demand of 39,000 cubic metres per day.

The developer has said the increased demand will be met by the state water authority and that it is encouraging its private partners to recycle wastewater.

Some environmental activists and citizens question whether authorities have the plan or budget for the significant investment required to accommodate PCC, given Colombo’s over-stressed public infrastructure and the abject state of Sri Lanka’s public finances.

CHEC Port City Colombo said a new multi-lane motorway known as the “Outer Circular Highway (OCH)” will meet the development’s transport needs and it will seek to “promote a more pedestrian form of commuting with many sheltered walkways and green canopies”.

While CHEC Port City Colombo has argued that PCC has already generated “significant interest in the international community foreign firms may be deterred from investing in the project if it does not allow them to meet internal sustainability targets for reducing carbon emissions, waste and water use, and protecting the marine environment.

Many residents in Colombo also express concerns that Chinese investors could take a bigger stake in PCC if the project fails, although there has been no suggestion of such a possibility by either the government or the developer.

The Right to Information Commission has ordered the release of the Tripartite Agreement signed between the Government of Sri Lanka and the CHEC Port City Colombo and warned that the failure to release the information could result in the prosecution of the relevant officials.

The order came following two appeals by M.F.A. Mansoor from Puwakwatta Estate in Kotadeniyawa and the Center for Environmental Justice in Colombo.

The appeals were taken up before Commission Chairman retired Justice Upali Abeyrathne, and Commissioners retired Justice Rohini Walgama, Attorney-at-Law Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena, Attorney-at-Law Jagath Liyana Arachchi and A.M Nahiya.

The two Appeals in issue were taken up together given the commonality of the information requests in question — the Tripartite Agreement – between the Megapolis Ministry, the Urban Development Authority and the CHEC Port City Colombo — signed on August 12, 2016, for the development of a new international financial city.

Japan, India and France have agreed to a common platform for talks among bilateral creditors to coordinate restructuring of Sri Lanka’s debt, amidt SriLanka President Ranil Wickremasighe’s assurence of engaging all creditors in a transparent manner based on the principle of comparable treatment.

Speaking at the launch of the Debt Restructuring Negotiation Process on Sri Lanka by India, Japan, and France, President Ranil Wickremesinghe via zoom, he said the event marks the beginning of a coordinated effort of official bilateral presentation to make swift progress in resolving Sri Lanka’s distress.

He disclosed that Sri Lanka has made a series of critical policy adjustments in accordance with the extended arrangement under the EFF and the IMF economic reform program will be presented in parliament for aooroval soon.   .

However, the President said that domestic policy efforts in this context are insufficient to resolve the deep imbalances in Sri Lanka’s economy.

India’s Union Minister for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister of Japan Suzuki Shunichi and Emmanuel Moulin, Director General of the Treasury, France, and Shehan Semasinghe, State Minister of Finance, Sri Lanka, were present in the meeting. 

India says close coordination between Sri Lanka and all its creditors will be critical to expediting a debt treatment that will restore debt sustainability in the country.

Indian Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman said that collaboration among creditors is important to ensure transparency and equality in treatment of all creditors in the debt restructuring discussions.

The purpose of the event was to demonstrate the multilateral cooperation regarding the debt restructuring process among the creditors, together with Sri Lanka.

It remains uncertain, however, whether Sri Lanka’s biggest bilateral creditor – China – will join the initiative launched by Japan, this year’s G7 chair, with the aim of kicking off a series of meetings among Sri Lanka’s creditors.

“To be able to launch this negotiation process gathering such a broad-based group of creditors is a historical outcome,” Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki told a briefing.

“This committee is open to all creditors,” he said, voicing hope China will join in the effort.French Director General of the Treasury Emmanuel Moulin told the briefing that the group was ready to hold the first round of talks “as soon as possible.”

Sri Lanka owes $7.1 billion to bilateral creditors, according to official data from its government, with $3 billion owed to China, followed by $2.4 billion to the Paris Club and $1.6 billion to India.

The government also needs to renegotiate more than $12 billion of debt in eurobonds with overseas private creditors, and $2.7 billion on other commercial loans.

Sri Lanka kicked off talks to rework part of its domestic debt this month and aims to finalise the deal by May.

The World Bank, International Monetary Fund and India, current president of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies, issued a joint statement after the first full-fledged meeting of the new Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable, held during the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington.

The statement, however, did not include mentions of any commitments by China, the world’s largest bilateral creditor, to speed the restructuring process.

The statement said participants “focused on the actions that can be taken now to accelerate debt restructuring processes and make them more efficient, including under the G20 Common Framework.”

At a time when the Sri Lanka government is taking action claiming damages for the Xpress Pearl Vessel disaster  in the country’s  territorial waters , a new allegation of taking a massive bribe relating to compensation issues  has  come up in the public domain. 

Compensation due to Sri Lanka by the company that owned the ill-fated X-Press Pearl cargo ship that caught fire and sank to the bottom of the ocean, has been revealed by Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe. 

The X-Press Pearl disaster is considered one of the worst maritime disasters in recent history.

Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has requested the country’s Police Chief to investigate the solicitation of a bribe, while Sri Lankan authorities were in talks to secure compensation for the destruction caused to the Sea of Sri Lanka.

Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said that he was informed that a certain party had solicited a bribe of USD 250 Million and the money had been directed to a bank account in the UK.

A report prepared by the expert committee appointed by the Marine Environment Protection Authority revealed that Sri Lanka must secure USD 6.2 Billion as compensation from the owners of the X-Press Pearl, for the destruction caused to the marine environment in the Sea of Sri Lanka.

The reports to secure compensation were already directed to the Attorney General’s Department, and the Cabinet also gave the green light to file a case against the owners of the X-Press Pearl in Singapore.

However, experts have raised certain concerns with regard to heading to Singapore to file a case to secure compensation.

Attorney (Dr) Dan Malika Gunasekera, a Specialist in Admiralty, Maritime, Shipping and Law of the Sea said if a local court delivers a ruling, Sri Lanka can take action against the Insurance Company of the vessel and can thereafter secure the compensation

The Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) says it has taken all the necessary steps to take legal action against the owners of the Xpress Pearl Vessel and its operators or local agents. Issuing a press release after environmentalists raised concerns on claiming damages for the marine disaster, the MEPA said the Attorney General’s Department has already filed criminal action before the courts. 

The MEPA said it provided the AG’s department with the requisite information.According to the MEPA a second environment impact assessment report was also submitted by the expert committee appointed for the purpose to the AG’s department in January this year. 

The MEPA also revealed that a key meeting was held on April 6 with the participation of the AG’s department, officials of the MEPA and experts in the field on the concerns raised by various groups on the compensation claim for the disaster. 

The MEPA said at the meeting the AG’s department revealed the Australian legal firm assisting Sri Lanka in initiating legal action has confirmed the case can be filed in Singapore and it has the requisite jurisdiction to hear the case as the owners and operators of the vessel are based in Singapore. 

The department had also said Singapore is a more important maritime hub than Sri Lanka could be more favourable in obtaining compensation. It also said it plans to challenge the limitation for compensations obtained through a court order obtained by the ship owners.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has scheduled a meeting of all political party leaders in Parliament at 11:00 a.m. on 20 April. This meeting will be the first gathering after the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, and all party leaders have reportedly been informed to attend.

The upcoming Parliamentary session on 25 April will be the first one after the festive season, and the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill is expected to be taken up during this session. However, a final decision regarding the matter will be made at the party leader’s meeting scheduled prior to the session.

The proposed Bill, which was initially supposed to be tabled in Parliament on 04 April, has faced opposition from several parties. As such, preparations have been made for the upcoming meeting to discuss the matter and reach a consensus.

The meeting is anticipated to provide a platform for party leaders to deliberate on critical national issues and make informed decisions for the betterment of the country.

In light of the ongoing festive season, Gemunu Wijeratne, the President of the Private Bus Owners’ Association, has confirmed that special buses will be available for individuals who had traveled to their hometowns and need to return to Colombo.

Wijeratne revealed that only 25% of the buses were operational on April 15, but expects the number to increase to nearly 50% by April 16. This initiative is expected to ease the travel burden on individuals who had gone to celebrate the festival with their families and friends.

Furthermore, the Sri Lanka Railways Department has also announced the operation of special trains for long-distance journeys from April 15. The General Manager of the Sri Lanka Railways stated that several trains will be in operation from outstation areas to Colombo, including two trains from Galle and Badulla, which will start operating from tomorrow morning. Additionally, a special train from Anuradhapura to Beliaththa is also scheduled to be in operation.

However, the police have also expressed concerns over the increasing number of road accidents during the festive season. To ensure the safety of individuals traveling during this period, they have implemented a special safety program. Thus, travelers are advised to exercise caution and follow all necessary safety measures while traveling.