Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry says that a truth-seeking mechanism will be established to investigate allegations of human rights violations. The minister mentioned this while addressing an internet forum yesterday (05).

Sabri expresses confidence that this mechanism will be operational before March next year.

Last year, former President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa appointed a commission of inquiry headed by Supreme Court Justice A.H.M.D. Nawaz to evaluate the findings of the previous commissions and committees and the way forward regarding human rights and truth-seeking activities. The commission’s investigations have now reached the final stage and the final report is scheduled to be released this month.

The commission’s first report was handed over to then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in July 2021.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs says that the commission’s final report will propose to investigate, report, or take necessary action based on previous commissions or committees appointed to investigate human rights violations, serious violations of international humanitarian law, and other such offenses.

The minister also mentions that the truth-seeking mechanism will be established based on that report.

1. Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa says former President Maithripala Sirisena asked him to take up the post of PM on 71 occasions: 10 times before 26 October 2018, and 61 times the following year.
   
2. SJB MP Kabir Hashim elected unanimously as Chairman of Committee on Public Accounts: SLPP MP S B Dissanayake proposes and SJB MP Niroshan Perera seconds.
   
3. The government decides not to proceed with the recommendations of the final report of the “One Country, One Law” Presidential Task Force: its Chairman Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera claims the report does not contain recommendations that target any race or religion, and it’s the Government’s responsibility to implement it.
   
4. President Ranil Wickremesinghe declared the supply of electricity and the supply or distribution of petroleum products and fuel as essential public services.
   
5. Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe appoints new National Sports Selection Committee: says the responsibility has been entrusted to persons who love sports and have practical knowledge.
   
6. Speculation rife that more Cabinet and State Ministers are to be appointed: Cabinet Spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardena says present Ministers are overwhelmed with work: and explains that it is therefore good to have a separate Minister for each portfolio.
   
7. A core group led by “friendly” countries, USA, UK, Canada & Germany together with 30 other countries co-sponsor resolution against Sri Lanka at UNHCR: Foreign Minister Ali Sabry says Sri Lanka will oppose it: resolution likely to be carried.
   
8. Telecom companies revise charges with the introduction of the Social Security Levy: all pre-paid and post-paid packages, including the Pay TV services increased, with the addition of the new tax of 2.5%.
   
9. Treasury Bill rates continue at their astronomical levels at auction on 5th October: Rs.76.4 bn for 91 days @ 32.3%: Rs.4.2 bn for 182 days @ 30.6%: Rs.4.3 bn for 364 days @ 29.7%.
   
10. Wanindu Hasaranga moves to 3rd place in the ICC Men’s Player T20 bowling rankings: 4th in the all-rounder list.

A special fuel pass has been introduced for foreign tourists and those involved in the tourism industry.

This special fuel permit has been in effect since yesterday (05) and it is possible to get fuel from more than 300 fuel stations across the island without the quota system.

Minister of Tourism and Lands Harin Fernando stated that this special program was prepared together with the Ministry of Energy so that the foreign tourists coming to Sri Lanka can carry out their tourism activities more easily without hindrance.

President Ranil Wickramasinghe is scheduled to make a special statement today (06).

Accordingly, he will present this special statement in Parliament.

It is said that the President will present facts regarding the current economic situation of the country and international support.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) has revised down its tourism arrival projections for 2022 for the third time this year, due to the current crisis in the country which has negatively impacted tourist arrivals to the country.

However, the authorities have now set two targets based on two scenarios. SLTDA official stated that considering the current crisis situation in the country, SLTDA had decided to revise their tourist arrival projections for 2022.

“It has considered two scenarios and developed our projections accordingly. The first scenario is if the current situation prevails, whereupon the anticipated tourist arrival for the year 2022 is 650,000.

The second scenario is if the situation improves, whereupon the projected tourist arrivals for the year 2022 will be around 850,000,” SLTDA official noted.

He further added that if Sri Lanka had a good winter season, tourist arrivals in 2022 may reach one million.

However, he admitted that such a development would rely heavily upon the improvement of the current unfavorable conditions in the country.

He also noted that the revenue generated from tourism had contracted due to the recent developments in the country because the duration of tourist stays had decreased.

This is reflected by the fact that the average duration of a tourist stay has contracted from 10.23 days during the period of January to March this year, to around 9.8 days at present.

Nevertheless, He anticipated that the revenue may have decreased simultaneously due to the duration of the stay being shortened amidst the crisis.

Sri Lanka witnessed its lowest monthly tourist arrivals in September, with the number of international visitors entering recorded at 29,802.The arrivals for the month are even lower than that of May, which saw 30,207 tourists entering the country.

In May, the political and economic crisis in the country escalated, severely crippling the tourism sector that was well on its way towards revival from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The low rate of tourist arrivals in September brings the total number of visitors that entered the country from January 01 to September 30 to 526,232. The weekly tourist arrival averaged 7,450, whereas the daily arrivals averaged 993 for the month of September.

India, the UK and Australia emerged as the top three source markets in September, accounting for 6,493, 2,872 and 2,309 arrivals, respectively. For the January-September period, India, the UK and Russian Federation were the top three tourist traffic generators for the country, bringing in 86,625, 68,527 and 51,300 international visitors, respectively.

Although the recent months have seen lower tourist arrivals to the country, the industry stakeholders have expressed confidence in the numbers picking up towards the latter part of the year, leading to the winter season.

Sri Lanka is still to fall under the ‘green’ category of the travel traffic light system, which indicates travelers to exercise ‘normal’ precautions. Sri Lanka aims to attract a total of one million tourists and generate an income of US $ 1.7 billion for this year.

The prices of all types of mobile phones and accessories would go up again soon after the introduction of the Social Security Contribution Tax, All Ceylon Communication Owners’ Association (ACCOA) said.

ACCOA further stated that the tax was imposed on major importers whose annual income is more than Rs. 10 million.

“The major importers used to add the tax when selling the products to retailers. In turn, the retailers increase the prices with added taxes when selling their products to customers,” Perera said.

He said the government announced the Social Security Contribution Tax at 2%, but when the product reaches the customer, it will be nearly 5%. As a result, the prices of mobile phones and accessories will definitely go up again.

He said the country’s economy is in a chaotic status now. The government can only increase the taxes and tariffs, but it cannot restore the national economy, Perera said.

A significant increase in the price of mobile phone accessories has been reported in Sri Lanka at present owing to import restrictions , the Sri Lanka Mobile Phone Importers and Sellers Association has revealed.

Association President Samitha Senarath told the media that there is a shortage of mobile phones in the country currently.

Stating that the purchasing of new mobile phones by the public has also drastically reduced, he said, however, prices of spare parts and mobile phone accessories have seen a significant increase.

“A battery that generally costs around Rs. 450 is now being sold at Rs. 1500 due to the current importation ban and current situation,” he added.

Mobile phone theft and smuggling of phones are rapidly increasing day by day making it difficult for the law enforcement authorities and Sri Lanka to crack down on robbers and smugglers.

Ineed online system developed to help the lost mobile phone owners has become a time consuming affair due to the lack of coordination between the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) ,the Police and service providers in updating the system to locate the lost mobile phones.

Most of these thieves are used to sell stolen mobiles to underground operating centres engaged in dismantling phones to remove parts to re-sell them to phone repair shops at high prices, officials said.

The delay in the detection of lost phone locations has become an impetus to these robbers , they said.

A mobile phone dealer said, well-known brands such as Samsung, MI, and vivo do not come direct from China, but through Dubai.

The phones that are imported through Dubai are much better than the ones that are directly imported from China, he said. He added that Dubai’s standards are very high. However, business has now come to a standstill.

He said, prices have soared over the past couple of months like he has never seen before. He added that a mobile phone which used to cost around Rs 23,000, now costs around Rs 47,000. Not only the mobile phones, but also the covers, batteries, earphones, and chargers cost more.