June 23, Colombo (LNW): Rail services on the Up-country Line have been restored after approximately nine hours of disruption caused by fallen trees, according to reports.
The interruption occurred due to several trees falling onto the tracks between Inguru Oya and Galabada railway stations early this morning (23).
In response, the Department of Railways temporarily restricted train services on the Up-country Line.
June 24, Colombo (LNW): President Ranil Wickremesinghe reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s firm stance on the Gaza Strip conflict, emphasising the country’s commitment to supporting the establishment of a Palestinian state within five years.
The President made these remarks during a special service held today (23rd) at the New Kathankudy Grand Jummah Mosque for those affected by the Gaza conflict. The service was led by Maulavi Harith.
In a notable act of solidarity, the New Kathankudy Grand Jummah Mosque donated ten million seven hundred and sixty-nine thousand four hundred and seventeen rupees (Rs. 10,769,417) to the “Children of Gaza” Fund, which was established under the President’s directives to support children impacted by the conflict in Gaza.
The trustees of the mosque presented the donation cheque to the President during the ceremony.
President Wickremesinghe also engaged with the devotees attending the special service, participating in friendly conversations and posing for several selfies, which fostered a warm and inclusive atmosphere.
By: Staff Writer
June 23, Colombo (LNW): New service terminal entitled “Gold Route” at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) for high income earning passengers has now become very popular and it is estimated to attract over 2500 passengers by the end of this year, aviation ministry sources disclosed.
There is a similar VIP terminal at the BIA, which is afforded to Government officials and politicians, at no cost.
Passengers coming in will have to pay USD $200 and the service can be pre-booked on http://Www.airport.lk
It will be achieving a significant growth and revenue milestones by providing a premium airport experience for passengers travelling through the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA).
High official of the Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Pvt) Limited (AASL) said the total number of passengers using the ‘Gold Route’ fast track service is expected to exceed 2,500 by the end of 2024.
The ‘Gold Route’ service was launched in August 2022 to provide a premium airport experience for passengers travelling through the BIA and it has reported remarkable success generating a total income of over USD 400,000 (Over Rs.124 Million).
International aircraft movements have also increased by around 24.52% and cargo movements have increased by around 28.29% during the same period.
In August 2022, the Gold Route service has served over 1,900 passengers who looked for luxury in their travel through the BIA.
Accordingly, the data reveals a clear upward trend in passenger movements, starting with a modest 165 in 2022, surging to 1,078 in 2023, and already recording over 600 movements in the first five months of 2024.
This strong start to the year suggests the potential to surpass the previous year’s total by the end of 2024.
According to many researches conducted to explore the factors affecting luxury travel, increased affluence, rise of the millennial travel, the travellers’ desire for experiences, the growth of online platforms, travel to exotic destinations, etc. could be highlighted.
The revenue continues to grow in 2024 and it has recorded over 30% growth in the first five months of 2024 in comparison with 2023 showcasing a robust upward trajectory.
Monthly trends indicate significant growth, with peaks in December and January, and a notable surge in late summer, particularly in August.
These patterns are crucial for planning and resource allocation for the service uplift for the passengers who seek luxury in their journey.
Further, the Gold Route service has served many high-end international travellers including top business professionals, entrepreneurs, celebrities, sportsmen, etc. fulfilling their unique needs.
Meanwhile, the aviation industry in Sri Lanka has seen a significant increase in international passenger movements, with a growth of 29.42% from 2023 to the first five months of 2024.
By: Staff Writer
June 23, Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka is used to repay in instalments tos settle around US $2.2bn in Asian Clearing Union ACU credit and $400mn swap to India, via the two countries’ central bank.
According to IMF staff report on the first review of the EFF program has revealed that these two will be combined into one $2.6bn bilateral swap and repaid to RBI in tranches through 2023-2026.
Given that these two facilities were initially provided in early-2022 as short-term instruments, this is essentially a de-facto restructuring, several economic analysts said.
Earlier in the year Indian emergency financing facilities to Sri Lanka in 2022 amounted to about $4bn, of which about $3.3bn was utilized in 2022.
The biggest portion of this financing came through $2bn in Asian Clearing Union (ACU) trade liabilities. A further $400mn swap was provided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Sri Lanka’s central bank has repaid 225 million US dollars to the Reserve Bank of India in the first quarter of 2024, on top of earlier repayments, official data shows.
In October 2023 the Sri Lanka gave a Treasury guarantee to cover a 2,601.43 million dollar credit from RBI to Sri Lanka’s central bank.
Sri Lanka’s got deferred payments due to India via the Asian Clearing Union during the worst currency crisis triggered by rate cuts since the creation of the central bank.
According to official data the outstanding debt due to the Reserve Bank of India fell to 2,226.43 million US dollars by end March 2024 from 2,451.43 million dollars in December.
From October the central bank had repaid 375 million dollars to India.Sri Lanka has repaid debt and also collected reserves by avoiding precipitate rate cuts.
Repaying foreign debt or collecting foreign reserves requires interest rates to be kept a little higher to crowd out domestic credit and investments.
However, if rates are cut, claiming historical inflation was low, and the blow market rates are enforced with open market operations, forex shortages will develop and reserves will be run down.
Analysts have said that RBI loans and swaps, which were used to intervene in forex markets, also led to their sterilization with new money effectively re-financing private sector credit and delaying a correction the balance of payments.
Through the repayment extension to 2026, the RBI has contributed implicitly to a limited extent to debt relief in the near term and increased the CBSL’s space to maneuver in terms of foreign currency and reserves in 2024.
Especially to meet the IMF expectation of raising gross reserves from $3.6bn at end-Nov to $3.8bn at end-2023 and further to $5.3bn at end-2024.
June 23, Colombo (LNW): The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka has declined to grant approval for the allocation of the 484 MW wind power plant in Mannar and Pooneryn to Adani Green Energy SL Ltd. (AGESL).
The decision came as the Commission found that the information provided by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) was insufficient to assess the project’s cost-effectiveness and technical suitability.
In a communication addressed to the Acting General Manager of the CEB, the PUCSL highlighted several crucial gaps in the submission:
The PUCSL’s correspondence urged the CEB to furnish additional details, including the aforementioned documents and findings from an interconnection and operational evaluation.
The Commission stipulated that its approval hinged on the CEB’s provision of these particulars and justifications.
June 23, Colombo (LNW): The Ministry of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment has confirmed an increase in the allowance for preschool teachers, starting this month.
Secretary Yamuna Perera stated that Divisional Secretariats have been notified of this change.
This update was communicated through an extraordinary gazette notification.
Currently, preschool teachers receive an allowance of Rs. 2,500, but recent cabinet approval has raised this amount to Rs. 5,000.
June 23, Colombo (LNW): The Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team’s (SLCERT) Senior Information Security Engineer, Charuka Damunupola, has highlighted a surge in complaints regarding theft of personal data via social media scams promising free cellular data.
Damunupola urged the public to refrain from opening or forwarding these messages, citing a circulating WhatsApp message promising free data that could compromise sensitive personal information, including biometric data.
He also noted instances of financial theft linked to these scams.
By: Staff Writer
June 23, Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka’s public procurement process tainted with tender malpractices and rigging by a selected group of suppliers in connivance with some corrupt officials have been causing a massive economic loss says former finance minister Ravi Karunanayake
Fair and open competition is the best and the most transparent way to overcome the delay in Sri Lanka’s public procurement from tendering to contract of intent and award of final purchase order for all high value tenders, he pointed out
Competition among suppliers helps the government to obtain the best value for money for the procurement of the goods and services.
On the other hand, when competition is curtailed, suppliers get an opportunity to engage in bid rigging in tender procedure leading to the wastage of taxpayers’ money as government pays more than a fair price for goods and services procure.
The major weaknesses noticeable in the procurement system are the extensive delays in contract awards and non-compliance to rules and regulations.
This has been aggravated by frequently changing, inconsistent guidelines, poor monitoring, inadequate knowledge and skills of officials, and institutional support at present despite the policy decisions taken at the highest level, he claimed.
Non-availability of standard contract documents and specifications, weak contract administration etc., resulting in huge cost and time over-run in many development projects.
The complexity and technicalities characteristic in public procurement in Sri Lanka create an opportunity for agents or middlemen, as there is possibility for those acquainted with the complicated process to assist bidders in piloting the process, Mr Karunnyake disclosed.
Although the proposed public procurement law scheduled to be introduced in December this year there is an absence of a proper legal framework at present where procedure, accountability, transparency and remedies are prominent, he added.
This process is fragmented among three layers in the government: departmental, ministerial, and cabinet levels with no mechanisms for ensuring procedural consistency, efficiency, or integrity
The responsibility for executing procurement is vested with secretaries of respective line ministries. Technical and bid evaluation committees are set up per the delegation of authority at the line ministry and Cabinet level.
The Cabinet Appointed Procurement Committee (CAPC) has to undertake procurements above certain limits and empowers Cabinet to decide on the successful bid based on the CAPC recommendation
Integrity risks in the procurement process are particularly high when executing agencies elect to use non-competitive procedures such as direct contracting to a pre-identified supplier or service provider and, emergency procurement
Public procurement is considered to be a major expenditure in Sri Lankan economy, costing around US$ 4.6 billion, or 24% of total government expenditures and 6.3% of GDP.
This was disbursed through more than 1000 procurement committees assisted by technical evaluation committee’s cabinet appointed procurement committees and public contracting services.
Even under this setup there were delays of one month to 3 years or more in procurement activities of foreign and local funded projects making time lines for award of contracts longer than it is done in any private organisation, he explained.
Classical examples of intermittent delays and irregularities in tender procedures were pharmaceuticals, e national identity cards, e driving licenses, e passports, coal, fuel, gas etc.
There was 10-month delay in the procurement process for health supplies including pharmaceuticals, and the manner in which emergency purchases are made by the health ministry is under investigations.
The State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) procures and supplies medicines to the ministry and to the private sector market through an open competitive tender procedure.
All expenses incurred in the purchases are advanced by the SPC from its own funds and subsequently collected from the ministry.
Awarding mega project or commodity tenders such as fuel and coal without competing bids and a lack of clarity in the government procurement leads to reports of large-scale corruption
It undermines competition and can push up the price of contracts, leading to a waste of scarce public resources, Mr Karunnayake pointed out.
The current reality is that speedy implementation of procurement process means monitoring time lines for award of contracts as it is done in any private organisation, he said.
By: Staff Writer
June 23, Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka expressway cashiers stealing 10 to 20-pct of toll revenue is continuing despite the introduction of electronic toll collection (ETC) system at expressways to help alleviate traffic congestion, reduce delay, fuel consumption, and vehicle emissions, official sources revealed.
A cashier at manual toll collection (MTC) centres in expressways takes around 12 to 15 seconds to collect the toll from a single vehicle and hand back the receipt.
The ETC could reduce this to around six seconds and help the vehicles leaving the expressways faster. This would be very helpful during rush-hours where we usually see lines of vehicles at toll collection centres, a high official of the Road Development Authority(RDA) said.
ETCs are currently installed at the Colombo – Katunayake Expressway and Colombo Southern expressway etc.
Mal practices could be reduced promote this by starting to use pre-paid ETC cards. If we promote the ETC pre-paid card system it could help reduce traffic congestion at inter-changes by allowing drivers to move in and out of toll systems without delay.
Most of these corrupt practices could be solved by transferring expressways can be transferred from the Road Development Authority (RDA) to the State-owned company named Sahasya Investments Ltd (SIL) soon he added.
In a startling revelation cashiers at Sri Lanka’s expressways are found to be stealing up to 20 percent of fees Secretary to the Highways Ranjith Subasinghe told the parliament’s Committee on Public Enterprises.
Members of the committee said highway tolls of the Road Development Authority had surged on the day when the military had operated the booths during a strike by cashiers, raising questions about the collections on other days.
“Based on the day the Army operated the toll booths, there is a minimum of 10 to 20 percent revenue leakage,” Rubasinghe told the COPE according to the broadcast recording of proceedings.
An RDA official said 19 cashiers have so far been identified but there were not enough cashiers to run the toll booths so they have not been interdicted.
The Representative of the Auditor General’s office questioned how officers who have been found to have committed fraud remain in the public service.
RDA officials said there was shortage of cashiers but some who were placed in offices as management assistants and sought an order from the COPE direct them to be placed as cashiers.
There was also a move to hire persons on service contracts until and electronic toll system comes on line next year and place them on the entry booths and not exits.
An RDA officer said several cashiers manning the exit at Athurugiriya was found to have been stealing money, but no action could be taken due to a shortage of cashiers. It was done by shutting off CCTV cameras and cutting wires.
