The Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says that the government has changed the monopoly on the importation of petroleum and now any company has been given the opportunity to import fuel into the country.
The Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe stated this at a discussion held with the media chiefs yesterday (29).
Sajith Premadasa, the leader of the opposition, says that at a time when there is a huge crisis in the country, we strongly condemn the attempt made by this government led by the Rajapaksa family to sell the Kolonnawa oil refinery, which is a valuable resource of the country, to foreign countries under the guise of that crisis.
Kolonnawa Oil Refinery in full operation can provide 100% kerosene requirement, 50% aviation oil and 100% Nakta requirement, 30% diesel, 14% gas, 8% gas and between 75-100% furnace oil. The leader of the opposition said that due to the collapse of the country’s short-sighted and inefficient governance, this national resource is being auctioned off for looting.
The leader of the opposition also mentioned that he would like to thank all the employees including petroleum trade unions who came forward to protect this state resource.
Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa said this yesterday (28) during a discussion with a trade union delegation at the office of the opposition leader in Colombo.
Minister of Investment Promotion Dhammika Perera has taken steps to provide the people with daily information on the Tourism Industry as they hold high hopes on the industry amidst the economic crisis befallen the country.
Accordingly, the Minister has instructed the relevant parties to publish daily tweets on the number of tourists arriving in the island from Monday (04).
From next Monday, the number of tourists who arrived in Sri Lanka the day before will be announced at 9 am everyday on the official Twitter account of the Department of Immigration and Emigration.
MIAP
The one-day passport issuance service will be expanded to three more districts from July 04, in a latest move by Minister of Investment Promotion Dhammika Perera.
Accordingly, the one-day passport service can be accessed from the offices of the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Matara, Kandy and Vavuniya from next Monday, revealed the Minister.
MIAP
A ship carrying a consignment of petrol will arrive in Sri Lanka on July 22, revealed Prime Minister’s Advisor Sagala Ratnayake.
He added that the government had been trying to obtain fuel shipments earlier, but the details cannot be revealed until they were confirmed.
MIAP
Following reports that the forex inflow via the ‘Golden Paradise’ long-term visa scheme, which is being implemented as per a proposal submitted to the Sri Lankan government by Dhammika Perera prior to his appointment as the Minister of Investment Promotion, is still being delayed, the ex business mogul has pledged that he will provide an immediate solution to the problem by holding discussions with the officials of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
The reported delay is due to the fact that the CBSL has not yet approved local commercial banks to accept deposits pertaining to the Golden Paradise visa scheme.
MIAP
A group led by President of the United Self-Employed Union Pradeep Charles staged a protest on the road leading to the President’s House in Colombo demanding fuel.
The protesters stopped the vehicles on the road climbed up the road blocks on the site, and four persons, including Charles, were arrested by the Fort Police.
The arrestees were taken to the Port Police. Their vehicles were also taken into custody.
MIAP
The one year-visa validity granted to foreigners married to Sri Lankans will be extended up to five years in a move by Minister of Investment Promotion Dhammika Perera.
Accordingly, the decision will be implemented on Spouse Visa from next Monday (04), the Minister noted.
MIAP
Minister of Investment Promotion Dhammika Perera has invested his private earnings amounting to Rs. 900,000 to rent a server to the Department of Immigration and Emigration to upload photographs of passport recipients, as a temporary solution to the recent complications occurred in the photo uploading process in the department server.
Approved photographs obtained from passport recipients should be uploaded to the dept’s database to complete the issuance of passports, but lately a certain complication occurred in the system due to the database being busy upon a large number of photographs being sent between 10 am and 01 pm, making the server vulnerable to process.
Accordingly, Minister Perera had visited the Department of Immigration and Emigration this morning (29) to look into the matter and provided the aforesaid solution until a long-term solution is implemented.
MIAP
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Trade unions and mass organisations today (29) staged a protest demanding relief over skyrocketing commodity prices and travelling fares.
The protest was held in front of the Colombo Fort Railway Station.
The protesters then marched towards the World Trade Centre.
