Jagath Perera, Chairperson of Lanka Coal Company, has reportedly resigned from his post. His letter of resignation has been submitted to Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara.
Despite the tender to procure coal being legitimately and transparently put forward, external parties continued to level criticism and exert pressure against the purchase, and the intolerance of such response has hence led to the resignation, Perera told the Minister.
He further claimed that certain parties wish to sabotage the importation of coal.
Perera’s resignation has been acknowledged by Minister Wijesekara, but no person has yet succeeded the vacant post at the Company.
Wasantha Mudalige, Convener of the Inter-University Students Federation (IUSF), who is being interrogated by the Police under a 90-day detention order, has recently been taken to a house in Malwana, which is commonly known as the ‘Malwana Mansion.’
The house, allegedly and by speculation belonging to former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, is also subjugated to a trial at Court. The Police denied answering questions related to the matter, particularly on the subject of why Mudalige was taken to the residence.
Police Spokesman, Senior Superintendent of Police Nihal Thalduwa said as to why the IUSF Convener was taken to the said house cannot be disclosed.
Possibilities are being looked into for the imposition of sanctions against Sri Lanka’s current and ex military heads including the Chief of Defence Staff and the former Army Commander, General Shavendra Silva, based on allegations of war crimes levelled against the Sri Lankan Security Forces, UK’s Minister in Charge of Foreign and Commonwealth Development Jesse Norman has informed the British Parliament, in response to a query by the British Labour Party MP Beth Winter.
The British Minister’s comments on Sri Lankan Security Forces come in in the midst of a strong resolution against Sri Lanka being tabled at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland, pending a vote and backed by many human rights groups.
The British Government is closely monitoring the situation in Sri Lanka, including those of human rights and accountability, and will consider how to use diplomatic tools including the imposition of sanctions, he said.
Sri Lanka’s whole Energy Sector is believed to be under the microscope of R.M. Manivannan, the country envoy to the Dubai-based energy giant ‘Coral Energy’ which currently serves as the main fuel supplier to Sri Lanka, for his unorthodox involvement in the decision-making level at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CEYPETCO) in a dangerous bid to jeopardise the authority, sources told LNW.
Manivannan’s name is well-known among Sri Lankans for his infamous ties to the ‘Satellite Saga‘ of Rohitha Rajapaksa, the youngest son of Mahinda Rajapaksa, who claimed that he had sent a Sri Lankan satellite into space during the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime. Manivannan then served as the Owner of ‘Supreme Sat,’ with which the youngest Rajapaksa son had claimed to have launched a satellite into space.
The pieces being put together, the public may have an understanding as to why the current fuel affairs in Sri Lanka are at the centre of a dispute and who is pulling the strings behind the curtain.
Sources on the condition of anonymity told LNW that Manivannan attends the internal meetings of the CEYPETCO and even scolds its Chairperson and higher officials at any given moment in which they disagree with his decisions.
Despite current Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara being very vocal about the fuel crisis in Sri Lanka and his keenness to overcome it on and off the camera, the real question is, who is the actual authority of the country’s Energy Sector? Is it Wijesekara himself as the Minister in Charge, or Manivannan, who thinks he is above everyone else?
LNW earlier divulged a large-scale scandal committed via crude oil imports, where shipments carried a crude oil type inconsistent with the ‘Sapugaskanda’ Oil Refinery, incurring a disastrous loss to the country, and the involvement of a politician in the process.
Accordingly, our readers may understand which political family turned the country’s crude oil affairs into ‘heinous deals.’
In the backdrop, President Wickremesinghe maintaining a silent policy over these events would be another unsolved mystery.
Ambassador of the United States to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung says Sri Lanka needs to improve its business environment and investment framework environment in order to tap into foreign direct investment.
Addressing the 2022 Annual General Meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce. The event was attended also by Governor of Central Bank, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe.
“It is important to reduce red tape and make sure that there are no unreasonable obstacles to investors as they look for opportunities in Sri Lanka and bring in the foreign capital that the country desperately needs.”
She noted that concerns about consistency and transparency in government decision-making, and above all, a lack of predictability, are the primary reasons American firms give as to why foreign direct investment has not grown faster.
“What our companies want is a level playing field, a good regulatory framework, and trust that their arbitration and their contracts will be honored. When you have that kind of strong investment climate, then companies will want to come.”
The US ambassador said the work on these critical reforms must start immediately and the results need to address the root causes of this crisis so that the country finally enshrines international standards of good governance and transparency for the benefit of all Sri Lankans.
“Similarly, there should be swift action to establish and convene the Parliamentary Committee on Ways and Means, National Debt Management Agency, National Agency for Public Private Partnership, and the other committees and agencies laid out in the president’s speech. We support these efforts,” she continued.
She stated that United States is still Sri Lanka’s largest single country export market and thus a key and unparalleled element to the island nation’s prosperity and that the two countries’ bilateral trade amounts to about three percent of Sri Lanka’s GDP and supports at least 180,000 Sri Lankan jobs.
The US ambassador noted that Sri Lanka, with the help of American Chamber of Commerce, can expand on the economic relationship between the United States and Sri Lanka and grow its exports and investments in the United States.
“This is a defining moment in Sri Lankan history, and a time when we all must come together: government, private sector, civil society, and the international community. We must do whatever each of us can constructively do to solve the problems of the day,” she added.
The US envoy reiterated that the United States continues to stand by Sri Lanka during these challenging times.
Sri Lanka’s state-run hospitals are running out of life-saving medicines due to a shortage of dollars needed to import essentials as the country reels from a dire economic crisis, officials said
Teaching Hospital Peradeniya which serves a population of 2.4 million people in the Central province said it was suspending all routine surgeries and was out of anesthetic drugs and other essentials for operations.
A surgeon at the main National Hospital in Colombo said they were short of many vital medicines and patients requiring human insulin were told to bring their own.
“The situation is very grave and we need a disaster management initiative to deal with the worsening situation,” said Ravi Kumudesh, the head of the Medical Laboratory Technologists Association (MLTA).
He said they were unable to carry out diagnostics as most chemicals and solutions needed for their tests were not freely available at state hospitals.
Meanwhile, the government said it allowed suppliers — hit by higher costs — to hike by 30% prices of all medical devices, including stents for heart patients.
Doctors across Sri Lanka say hospitals are running out of medicines and essential supplies as the country’s economic crisis worsens. They fear a health catastrophe if international help doesn’t arrive soon
Under this set up the US has stepped in to provide medical aid to Sri Lanka helping the island nation to overcome the shortage of medicines.
Another consignment of medical aid worth USD 2.74 million donated by Hope Worldwide, an American humanitarian donor organization, and is due in Sri Lanka in the first week of October, the Embassy of Sri Lanka to the United States said.
The Embassy of Sri Lanka to the United States, working in collaboration with renowned American humanitarian donor organizations, has achieved a significant milestone in provision of free medicines and medical supplies to Sri Lanka from July to October 2022.
Three consignments have already been sent to the Ministry of Health and a fourth is expected to land on 02 October.
The total value of the 4 consignments is over US Dollars 12,645,150. At today’s exchange rate, this is worth approximately SL Rupees 4.6 billion.
Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the United States, Mahinda Samarasinghe, who reached out to US donor organizations earlier this year, has conveyed his heartfelt gratitude to the three donors
Heart to Heart International, Hope Worldwide and Americares has proved timely and potentially lifesaving for hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans in dire need.
Commencing in July 2022, Heart to Heart International has sent two consignments worth US$ 9.131 million. The consignment from Americares arrived in Colombo earlier in September and is valued at over USD 773,000.
The last consignment from Hope Worldwide is worth over USD 2.74 million and is due in Sri Lanka in the first week of October.
The Ministry of Health which takes charge of the shipments will provide detailed distribution reports to the donors specifying the recipients and local destinations for these medicines and medical supplies, the Embassy said in a statement.
Showery condition is expected to enhance some extent in the south-western part of the Island.
Showers will occur at times in Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts. Fairly heavy rainfalls about 75 mm may occur at some places, the Department of Meteorology said in a statement.
Several spells of showers will occur in North-Western province.
Showers or thundershowers will occur at a few places in Uva province and in Ampara district during the evening or night.
Strong winds about 50 kmph can be expected at times over the western slopes of the Central hills, Northern, North-Central and Southern provinces and in Trincomalee district.
General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimise damages caused by temporary localised strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
Marine Weather
Condition of Rain:
Showers will occur at times in the sea area off the coast extending from Puttalam to Matara via Colombo.
Winds:
Winds will be south-westerly and wind speed will be (30-40) kmph. Wind speed may increase up to (50-60) kmph at timesin the sea areas off the coast extending from Puttalam to Kankasanturai via Mannar and up to (60-70) kmph from Galle to Pottuvil via Hambantota. Wind speed may increase up to 50 kmph at timesin the other sea areas around the Island.
State of Sea:
The sea areas off the coast extending from Puttalam to Kankasanturai via Mannar will be rough and from Galle to Pottuvil via Hambantota will be very rough. The other sea areas around the Island will be rough at times. There is a possibility to increase swell waves (about 2.0 – 2.5 m) in the sea areas off the coast extending from Galle to Pottuvil via Hambantota. Therefore, the naval and fishing communities are requested to be vigilant, during the naval and fishing activities in the sea areas off the coast extending from Galle to Pottuvil via Hambantota.
The announcement of members of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (CoPE) and the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts (CoPA) will be made Monday (03), reports said.
These announcements will be made by Ruling Party member Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena in his capacity as the Speaker of Parliament.
Despite continuous demands by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) to hand the chairmanships of the two committees over to the Opposition, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) which still owns the majority power in Parliament, strongly expresses its objection.
Accordingly, the decision on the appointment of chairpersons to both the CoPE and the CoPA will be made after convening the two committees, subsequent to the announcement of their members on Monday.
Following the ousting of the President-Prime Minister-Finance Minister trio due to the people’s struggle ‘Aragalaya,’ the SLPP Leaders wished to appoint a person who does their bidding as the President, said Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, divulging that the Pohottu Party invited him to accept the Premiership of the country in a plot to shut down his political career by tabling a no-confidence motion the very next day.
The Opposition Leader made this disclosure addressing an occasion held in Beralihela, Tissamaharama yesterday (30), where the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) donated agri equipment to the farming community living in the area.
The Opposition Leader emphasised that he is not politically immature to be blind before such ‘sugarplum’ plots. The government has proven that it is incapable of serving the country and the only demand ought to be made before such a regime would be the holding of an election, Premadasa pointed out.
As their own Finance Minister, Prime Minister and President had to go home due to the people’s struggle, the SLPP strategically appointed its crony, who is the current President, he added.
In the midst of a hard-hitting economic crisis deepened by an acute shortage of foreign reserves, Sri Lanka’s renewable energy sector is grappling to survive due to non-payment of their dues for the supply of power to the national grid.
The Federation of Renewable Energy raised concerns of a concerted effort to scuttle the progress of the sector to boost profitability of the Ceylon Electricity Board.(CEB).
The CEB owes 137.9 billion rupees to independent power producers and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation amid sudden cost rises which were not compensated by a rise in revenue, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said.
The CEB owes renewable independent power producers 28.5 billion rupees, other thermal power producers 76.8 billion rupees, rooftop power owners around 1 billion rupees, Minister Wijesekera disclosed. .
Federation representatives remarked that on the back of an unfavourable tariff structure its membership has not received payments for 10 months and warned of a prolonged more intense power crisis should the Government and authorities continue to ignore the prospects of renewable energy.
Had Sri Lanka’s energy authorities not suspended connecting new mini hydro projects to the grid in 2015, and expanded solar and other renewable energy sources to 25% of grid capacity, the country would not face a massive power crisis as it does today, the Federation stated.
But no Government paid attention to this matter, whilst certain officials have provided wrong advice for vested reasons, they said.
The renewable energy sector provides over 1,300 MW in energy to the national grid through mini hydro, wind, solar and bio mass projects. This constitutes 14% of the current national energy mix that consumes over 17,000 GWh annually.
Small hydro plants provide 426 MW of power, whilst roof-mounted solar contributes 627 MW and another 121 MW from ground solar systems.
“We continue to engage all segments of Government to encourage them to expand interest and investment in the renewable energy sector, and to recover our payments. We have connected 1,300 MW. Despite non-payment by the CEB, we are not disconnecting our supply.
“This has been taken for granted. If we discontinue our supply, all segments of Sri Lankans and industry will suffer and power cuts will become longer, but we won’t do that. We don’t want to make things worse. But they are not paying us in a timely fashion because we are keeping it connected,” said Lakmal Fernando.
The Federation says renewable energy offers the best and speediest solution to the country’s burgeoning energy crisis, and the decision by the CEB to halt the expansion of mini hydro and other renewable sources is costing the country over $ 800 million annually due to dependency on fuel and coal powered plants.
It costs Rs. 17 per unit to generate a unit of electricity via renewable sources, whilst the costs spikes to Rs. 37.50 and Rs. 106 for coal and fuel respectively. The renewable energy bill is currently only 5% of the CEB’s total expenditure for generation, but they still continue to hold payments lamented the Federation.
The industry body also pointed out that due to non-payment by the CEB some service providers have been forced to borrow at exorbitant rates to maintain operations.
It added that banks have begun to list the renewable energy sector as a high-risk segment, and this would augur badly to attracting new investments in the area.
They said over 150 MW of small hydro projects are awaiting clearance, whilst there lies potential for 700 MW of rooftop solar systems.
Despite the Ministry of Power calling for Expressions of Interest for projects above 50 MW and receiving 6,000 MW worth of applications, very little progress has been made in the matter.
