In response to media queries regarding Indian companies taking over visa issuance at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Colombo, a spokesman for the Indian High Commission said any reference to India is unwarranted as companies referred to do not belong to India.

“We have seen reports and comments including in social media regarding Indian companies taking over visa issuance at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Colombo.

The companies referred to in these reports are not India based or Indian and are headquartered elsewhere,” the spokesman said .

Apart from organizing a debate between Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and NPP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, let us publicly reassure the Sinhalese people, perhaps in a solemn ceremony, that they will not allow the Northern and Eastern regions to gain the right to self-determination, Lanka Private Bus Owners’ Association (LPBOA) Chairman Gemunu Wijerathne urged today.

Addressing the media, he said certain political parties attempting to violate the sovereignty of the country, but that the association has an issue with the President for not revealing this to the country.

“The way the government and the Ministers are heading to is not correct. No decision was taken during the past one-and-a-half years by the subject Minister for the development of the public transport sector of the country. The President too does not interfere with the development of the transport sector.

“We know that the President is not working in violation of the sovereignty of the country. But we have a serious problem with some political party leaders. We love our country,” Wijerathne said.

The cabinet will present a paper for the state to pay five billion rupees in pending Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees’ Trust Fund (ETF) to employees of state-sector plantation companies, an official said.

State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said employees of state-owned plantation companies have not paid EPF and ETF to their employees for 20 years.

“Some did not have the money to buy medicine and died. There are 2,000 court cases filed by these people. Some are still waiting,” he said, speaking at an event on Sunday April 28.

“A cabinet paper will be submitted this Monday to pay this entire amount by the government this year,” he said.

Meanwhile, the government is also working on a new management authority for the plantation sector.

“We’re also looking to build a management authority to better manage the work of plantations,” said Siyambalapitiya.

The state minister also said that the state-managed EPF will pay a 13 percent return to all its member in 2023.

The government has decided to pay the return from the earnings the fund made in 2023, he said.

It was higher than the 9.0 percent return the EPF had paid in recent years, Siyambalapitiya said.

The EPF was at the centre of a controversy a few months earlier with opposition parties and activists claiming that the fund would be negatively impacted by Sri Lanka’s domestic debt restructuring efforts.

However, the Central Bank, which oversees the fund, said the claims were exaggerated if not logically unsound.

Sri Lanka re-structured the debt of the EPF, extending maturities and initially raising the coupon the 12 percent, after the central bank busted the currency from 200 to 370 destroying its real value and pushing inflation to 70 percent.

However, over the past year, the central bank has appreciated the currency, recouping the fund some of its losses.

According the Central Bank, the inflation generating state enterprise that manages the fund, liability to members went up by 12.9 percent to 3,817.9 billion rupees in 2023, while the total value of the fund went up 11.5 percent to 3,857.4 billion rupees.

There has been hardly any inflation (as measured by the most widely watched Colombo Consumer Prince Index) since September 2022, when monetary stability was restored.

Former Norwegian peace negotiator Erik Solheim returned to Jaffna after over 20 years and said that the struggle for Tamil rights will continue.

Solheim, who negotiated peace talks between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Government during the war, said that his return to Jaffna was very emotional for him.

“I came numerous times during the war in Sri Lanka. So many of my good friends and colleagues were killed, both Singhala and Tamil. Huge human suffering! This is first time I am back to Jaffna and Kilinochchi. It was great too visit today with my friend Norwegian MP Himanshu Gulati and Kavin Kumar Kandasamy from ProClime,” he said on X (Twitter).

Solheim said that he was also happy to discuss the latest political developments with the new leader of the Illangai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) S Shritharan.

He said he also touched base with his old friend from the peace process Jay Maheswaran who is running a spiritual center.

“I wish to thank Governor PSM Charles for inviting us! Northern Sri Lanka is at peace and that is wonderful. Security is good. No one want to go back to the war days,” he said.

However, Solheim said that several Tamil aspirations are yet to be fullfilled and thousands of families are still in the dark on what happened to their loved ones who disappeared during the war.

“Land is not fully restored to old owners. Disputes over historic religious sites and temples must find peaceful settlement. Northern Sri Lanka needs jobs and prosperity. The Sri Lankan state will have to devolve power. The struggle for Tamil rights will continue, but with non violent means,” he said.

Solheim earlier had talks with President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) in Colombo.

Chief of Staff of the President, Sagala Ratnayake said the proposed land bridge with India will benefit both countries.

Making his remarks at the UNP May Day rally, he said it is economical for India to use the Sri Lankan ports to unload India-bound containers and then transport them by road to their destinations.

“It will reduce their costs. More than that, Sri Lanka will benefit in the whole economic process,” he said.

He said the country will benefit even further in terms of power grid and pipeline connectivities.