Queen Elizabeth II, who reigned for more than 75 years, died yesterday at the age of 96.

At the moment the Queen died, the throne passed immediately and without ceremony to the heir, Charles, the former Prince of Wales. 

Prince Charles will be formally known as King Charles III upon his accession.

It is reported that former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa has now arrived at Katunayake Airport. That is for departure to the United States of America.

A court order had been issued preventing the former minister from traveling abroad and Basil Rajapaksa’s lawyers reported to the Supreme Court and said that their client wanted to go abroad for medical treatment.

After considering the facts, the court temporarily lifted the foreign travel ban of Mr. Basil Rajapaksa.

Mr. Basil Rajapaksa is scheduled to leave for Dubai on an Emirates flight and will then travel to America from Dubai.

It was recently reported that the State Ministers were to be sworn in for his American trip. Accordingly, yesterday, 37 state ministers were sworn in and the majority of them were members of the Podujana Peramuna.

A story doing the rounds in political circles is that a Chairman of a State Bank ( Peoples Bank or Bank of Ceylon) took a bribe of LKR 150 Million for approving a loan of over 2 billion to a hotel group ( Pearl Grand Hotel Group? ) .

The loan must now be non performing or in a moratorium giving no income to the state bank. We have several times highlighted the Rs 40 Billion of Bad loans in peoples bank given to political cronies. The officers concern have not been reprimanded by Central Bank to date. One such officer was approved by the Central Bank to become a Chairman of a private bank. That is the level of mismanagement that is happening with in the Central Bank. Why waste tax payers money to have a Central Bank if they can’t protect public money ?

We are investigating who the Chairman who collected the Rs 150 million and whether he is still the Chairman or being given a new assignment in another big state enterprise where he can continue his corrupt activities? The country will never come out of the morass if we don’t surgically remove corruption from the public sector.

It was last week we highlighted how a top public official bought a Benz from ill gotten commission allegedly earned from a gas or petroleum deal. We are exposing these allegations in the public interest despite the limited information we have. Corruption must stop at the top levels for the poor man to make a living and come out of poverty.
Adolf.

Photo Caption:

1. Seen here is the new Anthoney’s Meatlery at Koswatte

New Anthoney’s Farms (Private) Ltd, one of the leading producers in the country’s poultry sector announced plans to introduce a chain of retail outlets under Anthoney’s Meatlery as part of its overall expansion strategy, with the first ever outlet unveiled recently in the town of Koswatte at Battaramulla. 

Anthoney’s Meatlery, one of the initiatives among many others in the pipeline, will pursue the concept similar to that of a spacious and modern meat supermarket chain. Customers could buy premium meat products which are sent to the outlet within a 24-hour timeline from its production, reflecting on the brand’s promise and values of offering freshness, safety and quality. 

‘‘We are excited to establish our very first retail outlet offering all our products in an upscale setting to bring an immersive experience to our valued customers. This is a significant milestone in the local context and with time to come we will see Anthoney’s Meatlery evolving into a retail chain with outlets conveniently located across the country,’’ said New Anthoney’s Farms CEO Neil Suraweera.

The outlet will have all the meat products New Anthoney’s Farms offer, such as Haritha Hari, Crizzpys, Chico, Precut, Pet food including the newly added 6-piece part HIT pack in addition to a range of sausages, breaded items, cold cuts, eggs, spices and signature sauces. 

Recently, New Anthoney’s Farms reassured an adequate and uninterrupted supply of its meat range amidst the feed shortages experienced in Sri Lanka. And have instead also expanded its production to cater to the increasing demand in both domestic and international markets, of which the latter has enabled the company to bring in the much-required forex. 

The move to set up its own retail outlet chain is another step in getting closer to its loyal customers who have for years enjoyed the freshest and safest meat that is nutrient-rich, antibiotic-free, and delicious. It also introduced Dorakadapaliya mid last year, a one-of-its-kind online meat shop which also offers free island-wide delivery. 

In addition to the range of chicken meat available at Anthoney’s Meatlery, it also has various pork, mutton and beef products with plans to bring lamb as well. 

During January this year, New Anthoney’s Farms also shifted to 100pct compostable packaging measures in the Haritha Hari chicken range. It is also the only poultry producer in Sri Lanka to be awarded the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Verification Statement from Control Union. With GMP, HACCP, ISO 22000, local and international halal accreditations under its belt, upholding and enhancing quality and hygiene has always been an integral part of its growth including adhering to standards in line with that of the National Chicken Council, USA.

A committee has been appointed by the President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake to review the “Public Forms” printed by the Government Printing Department.

It has been observed that various government agencies are currently using 98 common forms to facilitate government services. Some of them are out of date and it is expected to be revised to suit the present.

Accordingly, the review of all forms currently being printed by the Government Printing Department for the use of the Government will be carried out by this committee.

The other members of the committee were appointed under the chairmanship of H.A. Chandana Kumarasinghe, Director General of Institutions Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government, are Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policy, Additional Director General D.H.S. Pulleperuma, and Prime Minister’s Office Senior Assistant Secretary (Development) U.I.W. Seneviratne.

The tasks of the committee are as follows.

1- Review of all general forms currently printed by the Government Printing Department
2- Use Least Common Formats and identify redundant fields
3- Identifying common forms that can be printed on A4 size paper, currently printed on larger paper sizes
4- Identifying and recommending common forms that do not require printing but should be posted on relevant websites with the facility of downloading
5- Making recommendations regarding outdated public forms, revised forms with proposed form (content and size) and forms to be posted on the websites of the concerned institutions.

Furthermore, it has been instructed to submit the committee’s recommendations to the President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake on or before November 15, 2022 so that they can be presented to the Cabinet.

While Sri Lanka is facing a serious foreign exchange crisis, it is a serious problem that senior foreign service officers who are representing Sri Lanka as ambassadors in foreign countries continue to use luxury houses for their residences in those countries.

It is said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has even issued circulars to go for low-priced houses when getting new houses for the houses that are expiring, but still the relevant officials are insisting on giving high-priced top-class quarters.

In some countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has to spend an amount of Rs.50-70lakh. in Sri Lanka currency for one official for such a house. Apart from this, millions of rupees are spent on official vehicles and other expenses for each senior ambassador.

Even the embassies of the rich countries of the world choose low-cost houses or low-cost houses near the main city for their residence.

In addition to this, allegations have also been made against some foreign service officers who have been receiving fraudulent monthly bills claiming that they are entertainment expenses for many years.