Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa addressing a meeting held in the Opposition Leader’s Office yesterday (18) urged the government to stop this repressive system leading three-wheeler drivers to suffer in fuel queues 24 hours a day, the people to suffer inside vehicles, to starve, the innocent to die in the queues and by falling from trains and adopt an administration committed to the problems.

The rulers’ continuity of a journey failed to understand the pain and pressure of the people suffering in the queues must be stopped immediately, the Opposition Leader emphasised, calling on the government to allow the parents who are suffering from not being able to feed their children’s hunger and the students who have lost their education at schools and universities to settle in this country.

The government led by the President and the Prime Minister which has delivered frustration and suffering to twenty two million people in this country has repeatedly proved their incompetence and failure, Premadasa noted, suggesting that what the government does on the other hand is taking revenge on the people.

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The Parliamentary Consultative Committee held a meeting on the current situation in Sri Lanka yesterday (18), under the patronage of Indian Foreign Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

Tweeting, the Indian Foreign Affairs Minister noted that a good discussion held in a positive atmosphere on various issues and India’s role.

He added that unanimous support on the need to stand with Sri Lanka in this difficult time.

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Jagath Samantha, a brother of former Minister and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Sanath Nishantha assaulted a person in plain sight yesterday (17), in his latest strike following a number of public assaults committed earlier.

Samantha assaulted a person at a fuel station in Arachchikattuwa waiting for fuel and the event has been caught on a CCTV nearby.

The victim alleged that Samantha assaulted him posing death threats that they will ‘not issue fuel to JVPers.’

The Ruling Party MP’s brother had previously been arrested by the Police on a number of similar occasions.

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A tense situation reportedly occurred near a fuel station at Vishvamadu, Mullaitivu last (18) night, due to a heated exchange between the residents and a group of military men.

To control the situation, the Military opened fired in the air and two people were taken into military custody and later handed over to the Police.

Several people were reportedly injured during the event and the Puthukkudiyiruppu Police are conducting further investigations.

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In an attempt to boost connectivity with each other, neighbours India and Sri Lanka to go ahead with two connectivity proposals which are considered key in enhancing people-to-people connectivity especially between the Northern region of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu.

Sri Lanka, which is going through its worst economic crisis, approved the two proposals this week. According to Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda, , a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on 13 June to resume flights between Jaffna International Airport in Palaly and Tiruchirappalli Airport in Tamil Nadu.

  Meanwhile, a ferry service would be launched between Kankesanthurai, Jaffna in Northern Sri Lanka to Karaikal in Puducherry, a Union Territory in Tamil Nadu, India as the second connectivity project.

The proposal for the ferry service has long been on the cards. Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare of India Mansukh Mandaviya also commented on the project last year. 

Minister Mandaviya in a tweet said he met with officials over the proposal and that it will ensure easy and cheap connectivity, thereby enhancing various economic activities between the two neighbours.

Similarly, Chairman of Jaffna District Development Committee MP Angajan Ramanathan tweeted early last year and said that the MoU was signed between Sagarmala Development Company Limited and INDSRI Ferry Services Pvt Ltd for Passenger Shipping Service from Kankesanthurai or KKS Port to Karaikal Port and the sea connectivity between India and Sri Lanka will strengthen bilateral relations.

However, Minister Douglas Devananda told media after the Cabinet approval was granted to the project this week that the subject minister will study the proposal and then forward it to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. “The process should begin by next month,” he said.

Commenting on the resumption of flights from Jaffna to Puducherry, Minister Devananda said the flights would launch as soon as refurbishment works of the airport are completed, and once the Immigration and Customs services are revived.

While these projects were being implemented, plans were afoot to connect the Northern region with South India as well. However, the project to launch flights from Jaffna to Chennai operated by Alliance Air was not materialised until November 2019, only to be suspended amidst the COVID-19 pandemic that broke out soon after.

Last week, Sri Lankan Premier Wickremesinghe said in Parliament that India was the only country that gives money to Sri Lanka for fuel. “No country is giving us money for fuel and coal. Only India is giving. Our Indian credit line is now nearing its end. We are talking about extending it,” he said.

In late May, Indian High Commissioner in Colombo Gopal Baglay handed over a consignment comprising of 9,000 metric tons of rice, 50 metric tons of milk powder, and over 25 metric tons of drugs and other pharmaceutical supplies to Sri Lanka.

Soon after the economic crisis hit Sri Lanka, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar visited the country and said on March 30 that the Indian system is working “overtime” to expedite its assistance to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka now needs US$ 5 billion  from the international donar countries and agencies  to avert current economic turmoil  and the crisis could have been  avoided if it had gone to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout sooner, the country’s Central Bank Governor said.

Central Bank Governor P Nandalal Weerasinghe noted that  the delay in seeking outside help was a mistake.Sri Lanka defaulted on its foreign debt for the time in its history last month.

“If the government had taken the decision to go to the IMF earlier, and if it  started the debt resettlement process one year before, Sri Lanka could have managed the situation without this kind of suffering in this country,” he said.

His comments came as he is attempting to restore order to Sri Lanka’s economy, which is experiencing extreme fuel shortages, soaring food prices and a lack of medicines.

A recent survey by the United Nations World Food Programme found that around two thirds of Sri Lankan households have been forced to reduce their food intake.

Mr Weerasinghe said Sri Lanka was experiencing its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.

A team from the IMF is due to arrive in Colombo for talks on Monday and Mr Weerasinghe will be a key participant in those meetings.

Yet there is uncertainty about whether Mr Weerasinghe will be reappointed for a full six year term at the end of this month. But he said that he has  expressed his desire to continue.

A complication in the IMF negotiations is Sri Lanka’s substantial borrowing from China, which Mr Weerasinghe said accounts for 15% of the country’s total external debt.

The fund has a policy of not bailing out countries unless all its other creditors have first agreed to write down their loans.

“I’m sure China as a good friend of Sri Lanka [will] offer similar relief that will be offered by other creditors as well,” said Mr Weerasinghe.

Former Sri Lanka central bank staff have written an open letter to the embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa urging him to keep Mr Weerasinghe in the post.

“If anyone is contemplating to remove him from his position as the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, we see it as a highly unpatriotic move with entirely ulterior motives,” they wrote.

The World Bank has warned that as many as 12 other developing countries are at risk of default over the coming year.

Analysts say states such as the Maldives, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Senegal are also all on the financial brink.Egypt, Ghana and Pakistan are also seen as intensely vulnerable. 

It has been decided to close all government and government approved private schools within the Colombo city limits for one week. The decision was taken at a discussion chaired by the Minister of Education today.

Education officials say the move is a temporary solution to the fuel crisis facing the people.

The authorities also state that there is an opportunity to conduct educational activities under the online system even though schools are given leave.

The next week’s education will be decided after a review at a discussion next Saturday (25).

At present, two weeks leave has been announced for government agencies and the method of working from home is to be followed. Meanwhile, the Peradeniya University was also closed today.