The Assistant Superintendent of Police in charge of Colombo Central II Division has sent a letter to Hirunika Premachandra, the former Member of Parliament of Samagi Jana Balavega, informing that it is not possible to grant permission for the march and protest to be held in Colombo today (02) with the participation of political parties, trade unions and civil organizations.
Accordingly, it has been informed in the letter that legal action will be taken against the participants if there is a roadblock due to the march scheduled to start today from near Elphinstone Theater in Maradana.
Below are some of the political parties and organizations that have officially announced that they will participate in the anti-repression march that will be held in Colombo today (02), and have signed the joint statement. Organizers say that many other organizations have announced that they will join.
1 Samagi Jana Blawegaya 2 Tamil National Alliance 3 Socialist Party 4 Sri Lanka Freedom Party 5 Nidahas Janata Sabhawa 6 43 Division 7 United Socialist Party 8 Tamil Progressive Alliance 9 New Democratic Marxist-Leninist Party 10 The team including Anura Priyadarshana Chandima Weerakkodi 11 Sri Lanka Muslim Congress 12 Agila Ilangai Muslim Congress 13 Socialist Party
Organizations/Associations
1 Ceylon Teachers Association 2 Inter-University Board 3 Ceylon Bank Employees Union 4 Young Lawyers Association 5 Sri Lanka Young Journalists Association 6 Center for Labor Struggle 7 United Labor Federation 8 Samagi Kantha Balawegaya 9 Federation of Media Workers Trade Unions 10 Galle Face Protestors 11 Ceylon Estate Services Association 12 Postal and Telecommunications Officers Association 13 Yuthukama Lanka 14 Faxis Collective 15 Janata trade Centre 16 Frotect Organization 17 Pragati Teachers Union 18 Integrated Development Officer Centre 19 All Telecommunication Employees Union 20 Samagi Trade Union Wing 21 Government Family Health Services Association 22 United Health Workers Union 23 Amalgamated Teachers Service Association 24 Confederation of State and Provincial Public Management Service Officers 25 Federation of Trade Unions 26 Amalgamated Engineering Corporation Employees Union 27 Union of Printers
In addition to the signed organizations, nearly 150 other organizations and trade unions have said that they will join on November 2nd.
This march is scheduled to start from Maradana Elphinstone Theater today at 03.00 pm and reach Colombo Fort.
Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera says Sri Lanka is struggling to procure country’s requirement of fuel: data shows procurement now limited to about 60% of usage in March 22: suppliers demand upfront payments after debt default.
Police Sergeant attached to the Kebithigollewa Police who was assaulted by residents of Rambakepuwewa village whike investigating the death of a person killed by an elephant attack, succumbs to his injuries.
Cabinet requests Finance Ministry’s Public Enterprise Restructuring Unit to submit recommendations for restructuring SriLankan Airlines and its subsidiaries.
President Ranil Wickremasinghe says Sri Lanka unlikely to finalise IMF deal by December as originally expected: cites delays in dealing with China and India which are out of the Paris Club: by December, it will be 9-1/2 months since seeking IMF help: since then, all bilateral lenders have withdrawn funding to Sri Lanka.
Analysts say Sri Lanka Rupee has been “fixed” around Rs.365 per USD for more than 5-1/2 months since 12th May 2022: IMF pressure to release the “peg” likely before an IMF programme commences: a wave of price increases and inflation to result.
SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella warns worsening economic hardships of the middle class paves way for social disturbances and violence: laments the middle class can’t cope with increased taxes and tariffs.
JVP Political Bureau Member K D Lal Kantha says the National People’s Power is not prepared to carry out any struggle with the SJB.
Several business chambers request all parties to call off protests that could undermine the resolution of the current economic crisis with the support of the international community: previously, many businesses had actively supported the Galle Face protests.
Reports emerge that Booker Prize winner Shehan Karunatilaka has substantially plagiarized his book from Rajpal Abeynayake, newspaper editor and Attorney at Law.
Sri Lanka win ICC T20 WC, Group 1 match against Afghanistan by 6 wickets: AFG – 144/8 (20 overs): SL – 148/4 (18.3 overs).
The Consumer Affairs Authority has issued a special gazette notification regarding the maximum retail price of several types of imported goods.
The gazette notice mandates that at the point of entry of the goods – such as Confectionery (including chewing gum), chocolate, biscuits, cakes and scented soaps – into the island, the declared maximum retail price, the importer’s name and the registered letter submitted by the relevant importer to the Consumer Affairs Authority must be clearly written in English.
Borelle Sirisumana Thero, a Buddhist Monk whose name not very long ago swarmed across Social Media making headlines due to his self-proclamation of being a disciple possessing ‘a higher self’ (margaphala) in the path to ‘enlightenment’, has been arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in connection with the probe into Thilini Priyamali.
According to Police Spokesman Nihal Thalduwa, the Thera was arrested based on findings of the probe into Priyamali, a businesswoman who was arrested in connection with a grand financial scandal.
Conservationists have welcomed an announcement by MSC, the world’s biggest container shipping line, that its ships will detour around a key feeding and nursing ground for blue whales off Sri Lanka’s southern coast.
Ship strikes are a leading cause of death for the large whales that frequent the waters around Sri Lanka, which also include to a lesser extent sperm whales and Bryde’s whales.
Marine conservationist Asha de Vos says other shipping lines should follow MSC’s lead, and has also called on the Sri Lankan government to propose making the shipping lane change permanent.
She also says whale deaths from ship strikes may be up to 10 times higher than recorded, given that current and wind conditions are more likely to wash carcasses out to sea than toward shore, making them less likely to be detected.
COLOMBO — When some of the biggest machines ever made meet the largest animals to ever live, it often doesn’t work out well for the latter. In March 2012, a container ship sailed into the port of Colombo, Sri Lanka, with the body of a blue whale snagged across its bow. Less than two weeks later, another blue whale carcass was found floating off the country’s southern coast, its tail almost severed in what could only have been a ship strike.
The waters off southern Sri Lanka are a rich feeding and nursing area for blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus). But they’re also an important shipping lane, which makes them a “collision hotspot,” according to Ranil Nanayakkara from the conservation outfit Biodiversity Education and Research (BEAR).
That could be about to change, however, thanks to an announcement in September by the Mediterranean Shipping Company, the world’s biggest container carrier, that it has begun ordering its ships to skirt the area and slow down. The new course runs 15 nautical miles (28 kilometers) further south, and the vessels will slow to a speed of 10 knots (18.5 km/h), MSC said in a statement.
A whale swims close to a whale-watching boat. Image courtesy of Ranil Nanayakkara.
The figure of 15 nautical miles is what experts have previously recommended. A 2015 study showed that this detour would slash the risk of blue whales being hit by ships by 95%.
That would be a huge win for the species, according to Nanayakkara, whose own study in 2017 showed that nearly half of all large whale deaths recorded in Sri Lankan water were from ship strikes. The study documented 14 such deaths between 2010 and 2014, after investigating more than 30 whale carcasses that washed up on beaches. These consisted of nine blue whales, two sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), one Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera brydei), one Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) and two unidentified baleen whales.
All 14 were assessed as victims of collision based on external or internal injuries, Nanayakkara told Mongabay.
A blue whale. Image courtesy of Oceanswell.
Bid for permanent shipping lane change
Asha de Vos, a marine biologist with the conservation and research outfit Oceanswell, who has studied the blue whales off southern Sri Lanka for more than a decade, has long campaigned for getting the shipping lane shifted permanently. She said MSC’s announcement marks a step in the right direction.
“We welcome the voluntary shifting of the MSC shipping [lane] but want the government to make the adjustment permanently,” de Vos told Mongabay, adding that other shipping lines should also follow MSC’s lead.
De Vos has also raised the issue with the International Whaling Commission. “In 2016, the IWC Scientific Committee agreed that the combined results of studies would support a proposal to the International Maritime Organization to move the shipping lanes should Sri Lanka wish to do so, but the Sri Lankan Government should initiate the process,” she said.
The IMO confirmed separately that Sri Lanka has not yet made a formal proposal to reroute the sea lane.
For the Sri Lankan government, currently mired in the worst economic crisis in the country’s history, keeping the sea lane where it is, about 5 nautical miles (9 km) off the whale-watching port of Mirissa, is an economic decision.
A whale dives near a busy shipping lane off southern Sri Lanka. Image courtesy of Oceanswell.
Maritime expert Ayesh Ranawaka said sending ships on a detour would have an immediate economic impact. The prospect of ships having to sail a longer distance will make it less likely that they will choose to dock in Sri Lanka for refueling and other services, he told Mongabay. And the revenue that ports like Hambantota would be missing out on wouldn’t be compensated for by the growth of the whale-watching industry in Mirissa, Ranawaka said.
He said there are other ways to prevent ship strikes, such as marking out on maritime charts the areas where whales are likely to occur, which would give crews time to slow down. Ranawaka also suggested the use of acoustic deterrent devices to keep whales away from ships, noting their use in other countries.
A blue whale lies dead, snagged on the bow of the CMA CGM Quartz container ship at the port of Colombo in March 2012. Image courtesy by Sopaka Karunasundara.
’10 times higher than observed’
The first formally documented ship strike in Sri Lanka was that of a sperm whale that washed ashore in Mannar district, on the island’s northwest coast, in 1889. But it wasn’t until 2004, when a container ship docked at the Colombo port with a Bryde’s whale draped across its bow, that most Sri Lankans became aware of this specific threat to the whales, Nanayakkara said.
Getting detailed records of whale-vessel collisions is difficult for several reasons. Crews often aren’t aware when their ship hits a whale, and when they are, they don’t always report it. Whales in Sri Lankan waters typically make short, shallow dives and spend a relatively high proportion of their time feeding, socializing and resting at the surface, making them more susceptible to ship strikes, Nanayakkara said.
The 15-nautical-mile (28-kilometer) detour that MSC has ordered its ships to take to avoid the areas frequented by whales. Image courtesy of the Mediterranean Shipping Company.
De Vos said the true scale of whale deaths is likely higher than what’s been documented.
“Vessel strike mortality in baleen whales may be 10 times higher than observed, as it is expected that most struck individuals go undetected and/or sink offshore without being documented,” she said. “For much of the year, surface currents and offshore winds are also likely to carry floating carcasses offshore [away from] southern Sri Lanka. This leaves a big chance that many carcasses go undetected.”
Citations:
Priyadarshana, T., Randage, S. M., Alling, A., Calderan, S., Gordon, J., Leaper, R., & Porter, L. (2016). Distribution patterns of blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) and shipping off southern Sri Lanka. Regional Studies in Marine Science, 3, 181-188. doi:10.1016/j.rsma.2015.08.002
Nanayakkara, R. P., & Herath, H. M. (2017). Report on 14 large whales that died due to ship strikes off the coast of Sri Lanka, 2010-2014. Journal of Marine Biology, 2017, 1-7. doi:10.1155/2017/6235398
The State-Owned Enterprises Restructuring Unit, established under the Ministry of Finance will be assigned to study the methodology of restructuring the national carrier SriLankan Airlines and make recommendations to the Cabinet of Ministers.
This action has been taken following a revelation made by President Ranil Wickremasunghe that the Government was looking at raising $ 3-4 billion via sale of certain State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to boost foreign reserves.
He told the AGM of the Sri Lanka Tea Factory Owners Association on Sunday that a big public sector did not help Sri Lanka to grow fast, and the Government was looking at restructuring SOEs. .
The new unit, established under the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization & National Policies, will be assigned to study the methodology of restructuring the national carrier SriLankan Airlines and make recommendations to the Cabinet of Ministers, the government said .
At its meeting held on Monday (Oct. 31), the Cabinet of Ministers decided to handover the responsibility of studying the methodology of restructuring SriLankan Airlines and making recommendations to the said unit.
The decision was reached after taking into consideration the resolutions furnished by the Minister of Port, Shipping & Aviation.
The government stated that it has recognized the need to restructure SriLankan Airlines and its subsidiary companies by handing over a considerable amount of shares and the management of the entity of SriLankan Airlines to investors selected through a transparent procurement process.
In an attempt to improve the overall performance of the State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), action has been taken to towards the establishment of a new unit to restructure troubled Government-operated agencies.
The move was an immediate realization of a proposal from the recently approved mini-Budget, for which the Government allocated a total of Rs. 200 million for the implementation of it.
It was proposed to re-activate the Statement of Corporate Intent (SCI) process for 50 key SOEs, excluding the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), and the national carrier— SriLankan Airlines, as they are under different efforts to restructure to closely monitor the set targets.
The objective of the new unit is to help to identify ways to reduce the financial burden on the Treasury and to provide necessary guidance and support in the restructuring process of the SOEs.
“The performance of State-owned commercial enterprises has not been satisfactory for a long time and some SOEs are incurring losses due to various reasons,” a statement of weekly Cabinet Decisions issued by the Government Information Department noted.
It also added that this situation has led to severe pressure on the Treasury, and thus an alternative mechanism should be introduced for the efficient and effective functioning of Government-operated businesses
The government is taking prompt action to pay the money owed to the public construction contractors in several phases Minister of Urban Development and Housing, Prasanna Ranatunga revealed.
Accordingly, before the end of this year, an amount of 20 billion rupees is expected to be given for that purpose. Mr. Ranatunga also says that the government is currently working to pay all the remaining arrears in the first quarter of next year.
In addition, a committee headed by the Secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing has also been appointed to look into the possibility of providing concessions to those in the construction industry. The Minister also said that the committee will meet soon and discuss the future measures at length.
Sri Lankan government construction contractors numbering around 3000 are in an urgent need of funding for their survival as they have to recover Rs. 150 billion outstanding payment for the work completed in public construction projects including buildings and infrastructure facilities.
This has resulted in widespread unemployment at present due to closing down of small and medium scale construction companies and if the delay in outstanding payments continues, it could affect the livelihoods of about 1.2 million people in the sector, Ministry of Housing and Development sources said.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Finance Minister has directed the Department of Treasury Operations to explore the possibility of making a payment of Rs.50 billion considering the dire straits of government contractors.
The Ministry has already suspended the development project work and the repayment of dues to contractors but it is making arrangements to pay at least Rs. 20 billion out of the total amount to them by the end of this year in accordance with cash availability, a senior Treasury official disclosed.
It is also considering releasing at least Rs. 500 million from the outstanding payments to the Provincial and District level projects, to provide some relief to small- and medium-scale construction companies.
The Ministry is to formally request for funding from the Central Bank by raising the relevant cash through Treasury bills and Treasury bonds to meet any urgent financial requirements, he said.
Some of these contractors have obtained loans by mortgaging their house and property to carry out the construction work and they are now in danger of losing their homes and assets to banks, several contractors complained.
In addition, the fuel shortages and power outages have affected the efficient production process of the industry, affecting all the stakeholders, from small and medium enterprises to the self-employed.
