The Opposition has formed a National Assembly to address the problems faced by the people of Sri Lanka and provide solutions.
The National Assembly was formed at the Opposition Leader’s Office in Colombo this morning (25) and was endorsed by many multi-people unions, trade unions and civil movements.
The Assembly was formed under the instructions of Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, in the aim of presenting the progressive proposals to Parliament.
MIAP
The Cabinet has concluded to table an amended budget in Parliament next month. The decision was announced by Cabinet Spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardena during the briefing held in announcing Cabinet decisions today (25).
The budgets of all the ministries have been revised and completed by now and the revised budget will be prepared and tabled in Parliament very soon, Gunawardena said.
MIAP
The first assault on the democratic struggle of the people of this country was launched on May 09, 2022 through state-sponsored violence, leading to the forcible stepping down of the then Prime Minister and the chain of events led to the expulsion of the President from the country thereafter, said Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, addressing a meeting of the National Reform Movement at the Opposition Leader’s Office in Colombo yesterday (25).
The event was held to collect positive ideas and suggestions for creating a more progressive country and was attended by a number of political party leaders, public representatives in Parliament and professionals of various fields.
Addressing the meeting, Opposition Leader Premadasa emphasised that all those who were hoping for a new journey had to experience state-sponsored violence and the same violence has now been enforced on a magnified scale against the protesters.
An appointed dictatorship must not be allowed to violate democracy and spread barbarism and the rulers should set an example of unity and fairness, he added.
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The Ministry of Health urged the public to wear masks again following a reemerging threat of the Covid-19 pandemic.
There is an increase in the spread of the virus in Sri Lanka and the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr. Asela Gunawardena, accordingly, has recommended that people should continue to wear masks in domestic premises, public transport and public places where people gather.
MIAP
President Ranil Wickremesinghe will soon leave for China on an official tour, sources said. Wickremesinghe’s departure has also been hinted by Sri Lankan Ambassador to China Palitha Kohona during an interview with Reuters.
The SL Ambassador has requested the Chinese government to provide continuous support in the fields of trade investment and tourism and encourage Chinese companies to buy products such as Sri Lankan tea, spices, garments and gems.
Every predecessor regimes led by the Rajapaksas followed a pro-China agenda in their foreign policies and analysts argue that the policy will remain unchanged under Wickremesinghe’s regime.
MIAP
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Education Minister Susil Premajayantha is to be appointed as the Leader of the House, as the predecessor Dinesh Gunawardena is now serving as the Prime Minister, sources disclosed.
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President Ranil Wickremesinghe has issued an extraordinary gazette declaring the scopes and functions of the Ministries including the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stability and National Policies, the Ministry of Technology and the Ministry of Investment Promotion.
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The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) yesterday (25) informed the Colombo Magistrate Court that it will be withdrawing a case filed against former Minister Rajitha Senaratne over the allegation of delivering eight ships from a Chinese company to Sri Lanka and leasing the Modara fishing port to a foreign company during his tenure as the Minister of Fisheries.
The charges will be dropped in the event that the Commission to Investigate Allegation of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has already lodged a case against the former Minister under the offence ‘corruption,’ the CID told the Court.
Accordingly, the Colombo Magistrate Court allowed the case to be dropped.
MIAP
Several airlines are contemplating on suspending their operations to Sri Lanka threatening tourism industry’s recovery, which depends on air connectivity as no credible solution to resolve the jet fuel shortage and the fund repatriation issues faced by the country’s aviation industry.
The Cabinet of Ministers last month approved a joint proposal to allow the importation, supply and sale of Jet A-1 aviation fuel by bunker holders registered with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) in order to sustain aviation services.
This decision has been taken after Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), which holds the fuel supply monopoly, failed to import the required jet fuel due to the foreign exchange crisis.
However, bunker fuel license holders are yet to act on the proposal due to several issues, a leading bunker fuel licence holderclaimed.
He said jet fuel (jet A1) trade involves a different supply chain, which requires finding new suppliers, who are willing to provide jet fuel on a minimum 30-day credit basis.
One solution is that four or more bunker fuel license holders should form a consortium and move ahead with imports.
In addition, they also need to secure a line of credit from suppliers for a minimum 30-day period.
So, they can refuel aircraft, collect payments in US$ and pay up the suppliers. Otherwise, I don’t believe that anyone is in a position to make upfront payments in US$,” he elaborated.
However, he suggested that the government should instead focus on bringing another player into the jet fuel trade or a third player into overall fuel business by setting up a mechanism, which would ensure an uninterrupted supply of jet fuel to aircraft.
BIA officials said currently there are no moves to bring in jet fuel either via CPC or any other alternative method.
“There are potential mechanisms and models, but nothing has been done yet. Airlines are diverting their flights to other airports.
As of now, some airlines have already pulled out and some airlines are talking about pulling out. Once they pull out, it would be quite hard to get them back,” a BIA official said.
The situation has been exacerbated with local airline representatives failing to remit about US$ 200 million worth funds collected via ticket sales owed to their principles through banking channels over the past 6-7 months.
As a result, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have been moved to IATA’s ‘blocked funds’ list from the ‘watchlist’ recently.
“There is no mechanism to remit these funds. So, obviously, airlines are increasing airfares in order to mitigate foreign exchange losses. Airfares have doubled compared to 2-3 months ago, it’s a direct result of these issues, “a local airline representative said.
According to industry officials, airlines have cut seat capacity to Sri Lanka by 53 percent over the past couple of months.
“The usual legacy carriers continue to operate, but with less frequencies. However, it’s mostly SriLankan Airlines that makes tech stops in South Indian airports incurring additional costs.
Most other carriers fly to Colombo with a full tank and go back. This limits the payload of each flight, which means they can’t carry intended passenger and cargo capacities. Even for a narrow-body aircraft coming from northern India, it needs to be refueled here” he noted.
According to Aviation Worldwide Limited’s airline frequency and capacity trend statistics report, air seat capacity to Sri Lanka declined by 27.6 percent year-on-year in both June and July to-date.
Sri Lanka’s tea industry has survived world wars and global depressions – but now it’s really in jeopardy as its production down 22.7 percent in June 2022 from a year earlier to 18.5 million kilograms while the total output for the first six months dipped 17.8 percent from the previous year, official data shows.
If the tea industry goes to the wilderness, it will be another calamity in a season of catastrophes unraveling Sri Lanka’s failing economy
Fertilizer can be used again after lifting import restrictions but has gone up twenty times in price not least because of the war in Ukraine. Herbicide and pesticide are also hard to come by.
Making matters worse, demand has declined too as overseas markets tip toward recession, Ministry of plantation industry sources said.
In June high grown teas were down 31.6 percent to 3.7 million kilograms, medium grown was fell 31.6 percent to 2.5 million kilograms and low-grown were down 16.2 percent to 12.3 million kilograms, industry data published by Forbes and Walkers Tea Brokers showed.
“Elevation-wise analysis shows that for the month of June 2022 High, Medium & Low Growns show a decrease of –1.87Mn/Kg, -1.55 Mn/Kg & -2.49Mn/Kg respectively when compared to the same month last year,” industry data revealed.
Low-grown teas, mostly grown by smallholders and exported to the Middle East and Central Asia, are now the most sought-after and expensive Ceylon Teas.
The national average tea price in the month of May was 3.46 dollars or 1,245.22 in rupees.
Sri Lankan tea has been earning higher prices for tea exports in rupees after the currency was depreciated in March against the USA dollar in 2022.
However, the industry had previously predicted the tea output to dip following a fertiliser ban imposed from April to November 2021.
The ban was imposed on fertilizer and agrochemicals after money printing created forex shortages and health concerns.
. Sri Lanka’s June tea exports too dipped 12.6 per cent to 23.58 million kilograms