It has been decided to submit the budget document for the year 2023 to the Parliament on 14 November 2022.

This decision has been taken by the Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.

1. TNA MP M A Sumanthiran refutes allegations that some of the party’s MPs hold dual citizenship: asserts that the allegations are “absolute nonsense”.
2. Chancellor of University of Ruhuna, Ven. Dr. Akkuretiye Nanda Thera says the Buddhist Nikayas must intervene to protect the rights of novice monks (Samanera) in temples: also says those below 12 years should not be ordained.
3. SJB MP Dr Harsha de
   Silva says Sri Lanka will not get IMF Board approval for a programme by end-2022 if the Government does not finalise agreements with creditors in the next 2 to 3 weeks: it’s already 7-1/2 months since seeking IMF assistance and not a single dollar has been received from IMF or any bilateral funding source, so far.
4. Only Rs.69 bn Treasury bills sold after offering Rs.80 bn: bulk raised from 3-month T-bills, aggravating the future “bunching” of settlements: yields – 3-month @ 33.05%, 6-month @ 32.53%: analysts say huge debt crisis looming.
5. College of Medical Laboratory Science states there is a shortage of 120 essential drugs: also says more than 40 tests done at the Medical Research Institute are not done as a result: Health Ministry insists the shortages are not severe.
6. CB Governor Dr Nandalal Weerasinghe says those earning above Rs.100,000 are less affected by the tax hike, than those under the poverty-line who are more affected by inflation: adds “there’s an urgent need for the Government to collect more revenue somehow”.
7. Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardene says political will and readiness to take unpopular decisions are essential to find proper solutions to the current economic crisis: significant crises emerge in several industries as a result of over Rs.200 bn government’s unpaid bills.
8. President’s Counsel Sampath Mendis appearing for former CB Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal in a private plaint filed by NGO activist Keerthi Tennekoon in the Colombo Magistrate’s Court says the complainant has misled Court by failing to reveal that the same cause of action complained by him against Cabraal had been previously dismissed by the Court of Appeal.
9. Secretary, Ministry of Public Security S. Hettiarachchi says the request to the UK Police would be “review the reports pertaining to the investigations already conducted in relation to the Easter Sunday terror attacks”, and not for a fresh investigation.
10. An official of Sri Lanka Squash says Sri Lanka will not field a team at the next week’s Asian Squash Championship as the Ministry of Sports does not have funds.

It is reported that the generation activities of Kelanitissa power plant have been stopped by now.

AGU Nishantha, Chairman of the Association of Technical Engineers and Superintendents of Ceylon Electricity Board, said that due to damage to the bearing system of the power plant, the generation activities have been stopped.

However, Dhammika Wimalaratne, a member of the Executive Board of the Electricity Board’s Engineer’s Association, had stated to the media that due to the lack of naphtha fuel required for the Kelanitissa power plant, its generation activities have been temporarily stopped.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has issued an extraordinary gazette announcement revising the scopes and functions of several ministries.

Accordingly, the National Building Research Organization under the Ministry of Defense and the Company Register Department under the Ministry of Finance have been removed from those ministries.

Also, the Ceylon Phosphate Company under the Ministry of Agriculture and the Center of Excellence for Robotics under the Ministry of Industry have also been removed from those ministries.

The company register department and Ceylon Phosphate Company which were thus removed have been placed under the Ministry of Industry through the new gazette notification.

Also, the Sri Lanka Telecommunication Regulatory Commission and the Center of Excellence for Robotics have been gazetted under the Ministry of Technology.

The full gazette notification can be accessed here…

Recently (21), the Committee on Government Accounts (COPA) advised the Ministry of Foreign Employment and the Bureau of Foreign Employment to prepare a plan with a more efficient program to send more trained workers to foreign jobs in good coordination with vocational training institutions.

These instructions were given when the Committee on Public Accounts met recently under the chairmanship of Kabir Hashim to examine the performance audit report on the evaluation of the role to be played for the quality development of the foreign employment sector.

Accordingly, the committee chairman said that those institutions will be called before the COPA committee again in the future.

The chairman of the committee pointed out that although there is a great demand for skilled workers for foreign jobs, it is a serious problem that it is not possible to send skilled workers who meet the demand from the country and in 2021 this figure has reached as low as 33%.

The committee pointed out that this is due to the lack of proper coordination between the relevant responsible institutions.

Thus, the committee emphasized the need for the Ministry of Foreign Employment, the Foreign Employment Bureau to implement an efficient program with a new plan to train workers in the relevant fields with constant attention to the new job markets in the world, together with the vocational training institutes of the country.

The committee also drew attention to the fact that a national migrant labor policy had been prepared but was not implemented based on this. Thus, the committee emphasized that these policies should be updated periodically. Although the officials said that the work has been started, it appears that there is a delay and the committee pointed out the need to operate with a specific plan and purpose as the basic arrangement related to sending foreign workers is in these policies.

According to an agreement between the United States of America and the Sri Lankan government in 2016, although there is space for qualified nurses in the country, it was revealed that out of a group of 425 nurses who had applied, three nurses passed the relevant language proficiency test.

According to the agreements between the governments of countries like Japan, Korea and Israel, although there is scope for sending trained workers, it was revealed that the number of trained workers going abroad from this country is decreasing due to the decrease in the number of people with language proficiency and professional skills in the respective countries. Here, the committee pointed out at length that these institutions including the Foreign Employment Bureau should operate to open job opportunities through the relevant ambassadorial relations and to train workers with professional skills.

At a time when the country is in an economic crisis, the committee pointed out at length the need to identify and promote these foreign employment sectors as a source of foreign exchange earnings. For that, the committee emphasized the need for the research department within the Foreign Employment Bureau to operate more efficiently.

State Ministers Dr. Suren Raghavan, Mohan Priyadarshan Silva, Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Diana Gamage Members of Parliament Tissa Attanayake, Niroshan Perera, Dr. Sudarshani Fernandopulle, J.C. Alawathwala, Isuru Dodangoda, Prof. Charita Herath, Wasantha Yapa Bandara and Weerasumana Weerasinghe were present on this occasion. Also, a group of government officials including Ananda Wimalaweera, Secretary of the Ministry of Labor and Foreign Employment, Mahendra Kumarasinghe, Chairman of the Foreign Employment Bureau, were also present on this occasion.