The cabinet has decided to limit the foreign travel of cabinet and state ministers only for essential work. President Ranil Wickramasinghe has presented the related cabinet paper.
Considering the difficult economic situation the country is facing, this decision has been reached with the aim of reducing public expenditure.
In his cabinet paper, the President has also suggested that a minimum number of officials should be involved in carrying out essential visits.
Foreign ambassadors have assured the President that they will provide full support to Sri Lanka to get assistance from the International Monetary Fund to recover from the economic crisis.
They mentioned this in the discussion held at the President’s Office yesterday afternoon (22) chaired by President Ranil Wickramasinghe to inform foreign ambassadors about debt restructuring and getting support from the International Monetary Fund.
Ambassadors from the Paris Club and 23 countries that are not members of the Paris Club were present for this discussion.
The foreign ambassadors who mentioned that they will give their full support to Sri Lanka to get out of this situation, also expressed confidence that Sri Lanka will be able to get out of this crisis soon.
President Ranil Wickramasinghe, who spoke here, stated that the only challenge facing Sri Lanka is this economic crisis, and it is his hope to overcome it for the sake of future generations.
The president also said that he hopes to complete the discussions regarding debt restructuring by the end of this year.
President Ranil Wickramasinghe, who thanked the foreign ambassadors, further stated that the government works with transparency and equality at all times.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Mahinda Siriwardena and the Governor of the Central Bank, Nandalal Weerasinghe presented a background report on the current economic situation and debt restructuring in Sri Lanka.
Ministers of State Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, Tharaka Balasuriya, Shehan Semasinghe, Presidential Senior Adviser on National Security, Chief of Presidential Staff Sagala Ratnayake, Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aruni Jayawardena and government officials attended the event.
Janaka Ratnayake, chairman of the Public Utilities Commission, has warned that if coal is not imported into Sri Lanka as soon as possible, there will be a 10-12 hour power cut by the last week of October.
“Currently, we have about 250,000 metric tons of coal reserves. That’s about 50 days of reserves. If we do not import coal today and tomorrow, we will have to disable all the power generators in Norochchole after October 28. The main reason for that is that some party has gone to court saying that fundamental rights were violated in awarding the coal to the company called Black Sands Commodities, which submitted the lowest bid during the call for tenders. Also, a third party not involved in this tender is taking big action to disrupt the coal procurement process and get the coal order. By the last week of October, when we run out of coal, if we have to shut down these three generators without coal, we will have to go through a power cut of at least 10-12 hours. The reason for that is that 35%-40% of our electricity is produced from coal.
Janaka Ratnayake said this while addressing a press conference held yesterday (22).
The Kataragama Pradeshiya Sabha has been dissolved as per the decision of the Governor of the Uva Province, following the findings of an investigation into corruption allegedly committed under the current regime.
The Kataragama Pradeshiya Sabha ruled by the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) was accused of committing serious corruption and a committee head by a retired judge was appointed to probe these allegations.
The allegations are substantiated with the findings detailed in the investigative report, proving that the Pradeshiya Sabha, in fact, is corrupt.
In addition, budget resolutions tabled by the Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman were defeated on two occasions.
In the backdrop, the Governor has decided to dissolve the Kataragama Pradeshiya Sabha and have it under the administration of a special commissioner.
MIAP
A power cut of 02 hours and 20 minutes will occur tomorrow (23) and the day after (24) as approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL).
Accordingly, a power cut of one hour will occur at daytime and another of one hour and twenty minutes at night.
Earlier, the daily power cuts were limited to one hour, and thereafter added twenty minutes.
MIAP
A special discussion on raising awareness on debt restructuring as proposed and agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) among ambassadors appointed for Sri Lanka representing various countries has commenced today (22) under the patronage of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The event is attended 16 delegates in Colombo and six more via online from New Delhi, India, and is demonstrating the bailout programme offered by the IMF to resolve the country’s economic crisis.
The discussion today would be very critical to Sri Lanka given that the creditors’ agreement for debt restructuring is set to be obtained tomorrow (23).
MIAP
The occurrence of a shortage of eggs in the country may be possible given the decline in production efficiency, warned Ajith Gunasekara, President of the All Ceylon Poultry Businessmen’s Association, speaking to a briefing today (22).
The shortage of raw materials has heavily contributed to the decline in production efficiency, he revealed, adding that as a result, the supply may not meet the demand in the future.
He also confessed that in the backdrop, the price of eggs being surged may also be inevitable.
MIAP
To the government’s much aggravation, it does not receive enough revenue to settle the salaries of the public servants, said Minister Bandula Gunawardena, responding to a query expecting vocal response.
The Minister added that earlier it was possible to settle the public servants’ paychecks via the issuance of treasury bills, but the staff-level agreement reached with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) prevents such action.
MIAP
The Centre for GENDER Studies of the University of Kelaniya organized their 1st National Conference on Gender 22’ for Undergraduates in Sri Lankan Universities.
The Conference commenced at 10.30 am on the 21 of September 2022, at the Boardroom of the Faculty of Science.
The Chief Guest of the conference was Cadre Chair & Senior Prof. Nilanthi De Silva, Vice Chancellor – University of Kelaniya while the Keynote Speaker was Dr. Huma Masood, South Asian Gender Consultant – UNESCO Region. Senior Prof. Sudath Kalingamudali, Dean – Faculty of Science, Heads of the Departments, representatives of the Women & Child Bureau, police officers from the National Police Academy, representatives of FISD, NGOs, and the LGBTQ Community and other respective Invitees were present at the occasion.
Dr. Anusha Edirisinghe Director of the Centre for Gender Studies handed over a Conference Proceeding Abstract Volume to the Vice-Chancellor. Ms. M. I. F. Sharfa won the award for the Best Presenter among the 35 who presented their research at the conference.
The 2nd Phase of the Conference was a Policy Forum. It was held from 3.30 pm at the Boardroom of the Faculty of Science. The purpose of this Policy Forum was to discuss how Gender Sensitive State policies can be implemented. The panelists were Prof. Subhangi Herath – Gender Specialist, University of Colombo, Chair prof. Anuruddhi Edirisinghe, Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Professor Avinash Jha, University of Pataliputra, Patna, Bihar, India, and Amila Sampath, Alumni of the University of Kelaniya & President of the LGBTQ Sri Lankan community in the USA.
Senior Prof. Sudath Kalingamudali, Dean – Faculty of Science, Heads of Departments, representatives of the Women & Child Bureau, Police officers from the National Police Academy, representatives of FISD, NGOs, and the LGBTQ Community and other respective Invitees were present at the Forum.
