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Fuel supply only for essential services from midnight today

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Fuel supply only for essential services from midnight today

Fuel will be supplied only to vehicles attached to essential services, with effect from midnight today (27), said Minister Bandula Gunawardena.

The restriction will stand in effect till July 10, the Minister noted, speaking to the briefing held in announcing Cabinet decisions today.

Accordingly, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CEYPETCO) will supply diesel and petrol only to essential services such as ports, health sector, essential food distribution, and transportation of agricultural products, he added.

The Minister also noted that the government will implement a mechanism to provide a continuous supply of gas and fuel after July 10.

Inter-provincial transport services will be temporarily halted due to the limited availability of fuel, Gunawardena noted.

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Sri Lanka to face unprecedented fuel and food crisis

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Sri Lanka to face unprecedented fuel and food crisis

Sri Lanka is now facing unprecedented fuel and food  crisis paralysing the whole country and the people will have to starve as a result of the break down in the supply chain with in the next few weeks, traders and  food commodity transporters claimed.

With only  a few container transporters in operation, the food commodity stock  transportation has become stand still due to shortage of diesel  and priority should be given to this sector in providing diesel that is vital in resuming transportation of  food commodity stocks between the port and the export zones as well as key markets countrywide.

The All Island Container Transport Owners Federation Chairman Sanath Manjula noted that for about several weeks there has been an acute shortage of diesel as a result of which only a few 0 of their container transporters are in operation in the Western province specially Colombo  at present.

He noted that currently they are operational only within Colombo since they do not have any fuel available outside of the commercial capital.

Fuel distribution has become stand still except the supply to Ports , Ceylon Electricity Board , SL Army and bus depots .

The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is now not in a position to meet the daily  diesel demand of 6000 MT and 3500 MT of Petrol, official sources confirmed.

The current balance stock of fuel at Kollonnawa and Muthurajawela storage terminals was 10,000 MT of diesel and 1000 MT of 92 octane petrol  and 4000 MT of 95 octane petrol and 11 fuel distribution centres of Ceypetco have been keeping closed.

25 percent of power generation is still being carried out using thermal power generators and the public transportation has become near standstill.

Paddy harvesting of Batticaloa and Ampara paddy fields is ready to commence but harvesting machines  cannot be operated without diesel as there was no supply to these areas up to now, several agrarian officials said.

Attack on Prasanna Ranatunga’s House: Prof. Nedalagamuwe Dhammadinna Thero turns himself in

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Attack on Prasanna Ranatunga’s House: Prof. Nedalagamuwe Dhammadinna Thero turns himself in

Prof. Nedalagamuwe Dhammadinna Thero who is accused of being involved with the attack on former Minister Prasanna Ranatunga’s house during a series of attacks awakened throughout the country on May 09 has turned himself in to the Police.

The Thera is a professor of the University of Kelaniya and was accused of involvement by Ranatunga in Parliament recently.

Upon recording a statement, the Thera will be produced before the Gampaha Magistrate Court, the Gampaha Police said.

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US agrees to provide technical assistance and fiscal management to SL

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US agrees to provide technical assistance and fiscal management to SL

The United States has agreed to provide technical assistance for fiscal management in Sri Lanka.

Kelly Keiderling, Deputy Secretary of State for South and Central Asia at the U.S. State Department, who arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday, held a discussion with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today (27).

The US Diplomatic Group also stated its support for the ongoing talks between the Government of Sri Lanka and the International Monetary Fund.

Robert Kaproth, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Asia in the United States and H.E. Julie Chung, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, also participated in the discussion held at the Prime Minister’s Office.

In addition, Secretary to the Prime Minister Saman Ekanayake and Senior Adviser to the Prime Minister Dr. R.H. Samaratunga was also present.

Prime Minister’s Media Division
27th June 2022

US delegation meets PM Wickremesinghe

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US delegation meets PM Wickremesinghe

The US delegation arrived in Sri Lanka to look into providing assistance to the island nation has commenced discussions with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. These discussions primarily involve the crises befallen the country.

The US delegation includes the country’s Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Asia Robert Caproth and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Kelly Kiederlan.

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Container carriers warn of strike if fuel not provided

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Container carriers warn of strike if fuel not provided

Due to the lack of fuel to transport containers carrying essential food items from the Port to the country, the distribution has been limited to the Western Province only, revealed President of the All Ceylon Port Container Carriers’ Forum, Sanath Manjula, speaking to a YouTube channel.

Accordingly, should the Ports Minister and the authorities fail to provide fuel by any means necessary, the launching of a continuous strike action would be inevitable, he pointed out.

The Forum leader further said that there was already a shortage of food items in all parts of the country except the Western Province, warning that there may be a severe shortage of food items in the country this week, have they agreed to launch such a strike action.

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China resolutely holds back loans and aid to Sri Lanka

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China resolutely holds back loans and aid to Sri Lanka

In a devastating move against the island nation, China has resolutely held back its assistance to avert the man-made economic crisis , despite being Sri Lanka’s single biggest bilateral investor and a consistent and unreserved supporter in the UN Human Rights Council.

China’s humanitarian aid of $76 million during the current crisis turns into insignificance in comparison with India’s humanitarian aid.

Sri Lanka urgently needs foreign exchange support and material aid, but China has been advising Sri Lanka to follow an “independent” foreign policy, by which it means that it should break off from India, the IMF and the West, and hitch its wagon to China.

The Chinese have also been insisting that Sri Lanka should set its economic house in order and make it more hospitable to Chinese investments.

Sri Lanka should also use the infrastructure built with Chinese loans and enter into a Free Trade Agreement with China.

. In March 2022, Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong said that Beijing is considering a fresh loan of $1 billion and a credit line of $1.5 billion in lieu of rescheduling repayment of the existing loans.

However, the promised loan and buyers’ credit did not materialise . They are apparently tied to the signing of the FTA which has been pending since 2015. But FTAs have been anathema for Sri Lankan governments.

China has suspended this US$1.5 loan and credit line as the country’s foreign reserves has dropped to$1.92 billion which is very much less than 3 months of imports, one of the main conditions in the the loan agreement.

China has not given consent to Sri Lanka’s rerquest to change the loan condition.

Reflecting Wang Yi’s view, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijiang, said on June 8 that Sri Lanka should “boost its own effort, protect the stability and credibility of the investment and financing partners and ensure the stability and credibility of the investment and financing partners and ensure the stability and credibility of its investment and financing environment.

But what Sri Lanka urgently needs is not advice on how to run the economy, but financial and material aid to meet the basic needs of the people. But this has not been forthcoming. President Gotabaya says China has lost interest in South Asia and is concentrating on South East Asia and Africa.

But Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe differs and says that Beijing has significant stakes in Lanka and that efforts are being made to make China amend the conditions attached to its loans.

Meanwhile, the IMF is expecting Beijing to join in its efforts to get Lanka’s loan repayment schedule restructured because China is a major lender.

According to Finance Ministry statistics, China’s Public and Publicly Guaranteed loans to Sri Lanka at the end of 2021 constituted 19.9% of the total PPG loans. And the debt service on that debt stock was 20% of the total PPG debt service.

It has been observed that when Sri Lanka suspended the repayment of foreign loans totalling $26.4 billion on April 12 this year, the Chinese component amounted to $7.1 billion

Govt to slash fuel distribution amidst dwindling oil reserves

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Govt to slash fuel distribution amidst dwindling oil reserves

With the increase of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) fuel prices, the government will be compelled to control fuel distribution as oil reserves are currently dwindling .

According to CPC sources only 10 or so filling stations might have fuel and there was only around 1,500 metric tons of Petrol in the country.

This 1,500 MT can only be distributed to 200 filling stations, he said.He further stated that even the Diesel stocks in the country has come down to 8,000 to 9,000 metric tons.

However , the CPC will gain a profit of Rs. 68.61 from a litre of Octane 95 petrol and Rs. 15.57 on Octane 92 and also it gains Rs. 20.27 from super diesel.

However, the CPC incurs a loss of Rs. 8.52 from a litre of auto diesel and Rs. 334 per litre of kerosene

Sri Lanka has decided to implement a token system dedicated for filling stations to supply fuel for motorists waiting in line to obtain Petrol & Diesel.

Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera said the program will come into effect from Monday (27) and the assistance of Sri Lanka Police and Sri Lanka Army, Navy, and Air Force will be obtained to ensure the process is carried out smoothly.

With the increase of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) fuel prices from early this morning, the estimated cost of imported refined petroleum products was released by the Power and Energy Minister.

Accordingly, the Ceylon Petroleum Corparation (CPC) will gain a profit of Rs. 68.61 from a litre of Octane 95 petrol and Rs. 15.57 on Octane 92 and also it gains Rs. 20.27 from super diesel.

However, the CPC incurs a loss of Rs. 8.52 from a litre of auto diesel and Rs. 334 per litre of kerosene

Two ministers will fly to Russia on Monday (27) for discussion on fuel imports and related matters, said Minister Kanchana Wijesekera during the media briefing.

The Minister said that bunker suppliers have been granted permission to deliver fuel for industries that deal in US currency established in Sri Lanka.

The Minister said that overseas fuel companies based in countries that produce fuel will be invited to set up business in Sri Lanka, and CPC filling stations will be provided as the CPC alone cannot undertake the burden of importing fuel to Sri Lanka.

He said the CPC will become a more service-provider based institution, to facilitate fuel imports.

If there is no foreseeable date for a ship carrying fuel to arrive in the country, in order to sustain the transport sector, fuel can only be provided to about ten filling stations from tomorrow (27) at most, trade union leader Annada Palitha mentioned.

These filling stations may receive this limited fuel if they make deals with close friends and relatives in power, who will undoubtedly make use of this fuel. Palitha said that crude oil for refineries are missing as well.

Commenting on power outages, the TU member mentioned that Kelanitissa alone needs 1,500 metric tons to function.“If we continue to give 1,500 MT fuel to power stations, the country will stop functioning in two days,” he added.

All hospitals in Galle District to operate only essential services from tomorrow due to fuel crisis: GMOA

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All hospitals in Galle District to operate only essential services from tomorrow due to fuel crisis: GMOA

Due to fuel not being provided to the health sector including the medical staff and the doctors as promised by the government, all hospitals and health institutions in the Galle District including the Karapitiya Hospital will operate only the essential services from Tuesday (28) and other services will not be able to continue, the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) said in a statement.

The four stations declared for fuel supply in the Galle District on Friday (24) issued fuel not only to health workers but also other vehicles in general, the GMOA revealed, adding that the health staff including medical officers, therefore, had to wait in queues for 12 – 14 hours, in what the Union alleged to be poor and unorganised programmes of the District Secretary and the Health Administration.

As a result, not even 20 per cent of the health staff was able to collect fuel that day, the GMOA pointed out.

In the backdrop, the health staff is unable to continue normal operations, it added.

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SLTDA takes every possible step to revive hospitality industry

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SLTDA takes every possible step to revive hospitality industry

Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority is taking “everything possible”step while exploring all avenues to pull the tourism sector towards the positive growth trajectory, an effort that is becoming increasingly challenging as economic conditions worsen in the country.

The locals are faced with the worst possible living conditions experienced in history. However, tourism sector stakeholders are stretching themselves to ensure the experiences are not witnessed by the few international tourists coming into the island nation, said Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairman Priantha Fernando.

“The tourists are not inconvenienced in any way due to the economic crisis that is taking place at present. The sector stakeholders, across all levels are doing the maximum to ensure the few international travellers coming in are cushioned from the crisis.

“We want to make sure they go back with a positive message, and they go back with a memorable experience despite the ongoing issues in the country. That is our priority at present,” Mr Fernando said .

The SLTDA chief stressed that it is critical for Sri Lanka to not lose its credibility and image on the international stage, for which the reality of the country should not be hidden.

“The message we need to deliver to source markets is that despite the difficulties faced, destination Sri Lanka continues to cater to its visitors, ensuring they have a positive experience. We need to speak the truth and get the facts right,” he stressed.

The ongoing ODI series between Australia and Sri Lanka is a definite positive for Sri Lanka Tourism, Fernando said, as it provides the opportunity for the sector stakeholders to showcase their potential during the crisis.

Further, while acknowledging that the government has no room to extend support to the struggling tourism sector, the SLTDA head said the industry should also not be forgotten for support measures that could be rolled out going forward.

Reason being, the industry is a foreign income earner to the country and is currently in need of assistance to sustain.

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