Author: TELO Admin

A Gazette notification has been issued by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, to carry out a census of population and housing in Sri Lanka for 2023 and 2024.

The President, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies, has directed that a Census of Population and Housing of Sri Lanka be taken in the years of 2023 and 2024, by the powers vested in him by Section 2 of the Census Ordinance (Chapter 143).

The Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) had planned to conduct the 15th population and housing census of the country in the year 2021.

However, the government had taken steps to postpone it due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation.

The first population and housing census in Sri Lanka was conducted in 1871 and the last population and housing census was conducted in 2012.

A population and housing census is usually conducted every ten years.

The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has decided to support President Ranil Wickremesinghe over the next two years, an SLPP senior said amid speculation that there is division within the party over continued support for the president.

SLPP legislator Mahindananda Aluthgamage told reporters on Sunday July 09 that President Wickremesinghe has so far not said anything about dissolving parliament to call an election.

“As a party, we have decided to support the president in the next two years to rebuild this country,” said Aluthgamage.

The MP, who was Agriculture Minister in ex-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s cabinet, said the party made the best decision available to them at the time when it decided to back Wickremesinghe’s bid for the presidency in July 2022.

He added that his personal opinion is that politicians must make sacrifices at a time when the people are making sacrifices in the wake of the country’s worst financial crisis in decades.

“I’m of the position that now is not the time for cabinet portfolios. If people are making sacrifices, so should we,” he said, fielding questions from journalists at a press conference on Sunday.

“Now that debt is being restructured, fuel prices have come down and the country is coming to the right place. So until public confidence rises, we too must make some sacrifices, is my feeling.”

Aluthgamage’s comment comes amid reports that a number of SLPP stalwarts are disappointed that cabinet positions continue to evade them. This is in addition to at least two prominent members of the party being absent from a crucial parliamentary vote on Sri Lanka’s domestic debt restructuring (DDR) programme.

Meanwhile, the United National Party (UNP) headed by President Wickremesinghe, seems quietly confident of a return to form after being nearly annihilated at the last parliamentary election in 2020.

UNP assistant leader Akila Viraj Kariyawasam told a gathering on Sunday that political parties will rally behind Wickremsinghe as part of a UNP-led coalition.

“The dark curse that had fallen on the country is gradually being lifted. Political parties are not coming as one party anymore. They’ll be a UNP-led party,” he said.

Kariyawasam had previously said that Sri Lanka’s next election will likely be a presidential poll, which is due in November 2024, though an early presidential poll has not been ruled out.

Main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa has already welcomed an early presidential election. Premadasa told the SJB Working Committee on May 16 that he intends to form an SJB-led alliance of opposition parties in the event of an early presidential poll, which will require a constitutional amendment.

The SLPP, meanwhile, has seen some fragmentation since the ouster of former president Rajapaksa, with these splinter groups largely ready to throw its weight behind opposition leader Sajith Premadasa.

Sri Lanka’s opposition parties must rally behind a leader they can all agree to support at a future presidential election with the next favourite agreeing to be prime minister in a common workable arrangement, a member of one of the SLPP’s breakaway factions said in June.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K Stalin wrote to Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar asking for his immediate intervention in getting 15 Tamil Nadu fishermen released from Sri Lanka.

“Through diplomatic channels we can reach an amicable resolution that respects the rights and livelihoods of our fishermen even when maintaining friendly bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka,” Chief Minister’s wrote.

On Sunday, 15 fishermen along with their mechanised boats were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy from Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu.

The Chief Minister wrote that several hundred fishermen are dependent on fishing in deep seas for livelihood and the arrest of these fishermen and confiscating their equipment is creating major difficulties in the coastal areas of the state.

Pertinently, fishermen associations have written letters to the Union government and state government asking to take steps for the release of mechanised fishing boats that are in the custody of the Sri Lankan Navy.

The fishermen associations had in their earlier representations stated that the mechanised boats, which are in Sri Lankan custody, are the main bread winner for the fishermen in the coastal areas of the state.

(IANS)

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has decided not to renew the money changing permits of 15 money changers (MCs) in the country for the year 2023.

Issuing a statement in this regard, the CBSL explained that the relevant decision was taken due to the non-compliance with a condition of the permits issued for the year 2022.

Thus, the matter was communicated to the respective MCs on 22 June, and they are thereby no longer permitted to engage in money changing activities, including the buying, selling and exchanging of foreign currency.

CBSL further warned that engaging in such activities with said companies will be considered a contravention of the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Act, No. 12 of 2017.

Below are the 15 MCs of which CBSL has decided not to renew the money changing permits:

Aruna Forexc (Pvt) Ltd (No. 22, New Bazaar Street, Nuwara Eliya)

Brescia Grameen (Private) Limited (No. 88/02, Chilaw Road, Kattuwa, Negombo)

Jeya Forex Exchange (Pvt) Ltd (No. 688, Galle Road, Colombo 03)

Kamal Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd (No. 57A, Bristol Paradise Building, York Street, Colombo 01)

Kudamadu Money Exchange (Pvt) Ltd (Main Road, Mahawewa)

Midna Mini Market (Pvt) Ltd (No. 12, Shopping Complex, Wennappuwa)

New Lanka Gold House (Private) Limited (No. 59, Rathnapura Road, Horana)

Rafeek’s Gems (Pvt) Ltd (No. 109, Chatham Street, Colombo 01)

Rimha Jewellers (Pvt) Ltd (No. 4/A, Masjidh Road, Puttalam)

Salaka Trust Investments (Pvt) Ltd (No. 466, Union Place, Colombo 02)

Sharanga Money Exchange (Pvt) Ltd (No. 157/1, Kasturiyar Road, Jaffna)

Sornam Forex (Private) Limited (No. 59, Batticaloa Road, Kalmunai)

Thamasha Forex (Private) Limited (No. 131, Bazzar Street, Chilaw)

Universal Money Changers (Pvt) Ltd (No. 143A, Galle Road, Colombo 06)

Vasanthas International Money Exchange (Pvt) Ltd (No. 56, D S Senanayake Veediya, Kandy)

Sri Lanka is to enact new legislation to curb Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing practices and regulate fisheries resources management as one of the key requirements to regaining the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP+) concessions from the European Union. The move to introduce fresh legislation to eliminate IUU fishing came in the wake of the new GSP Regulation expected to enter into force on January 1, 2024 for the next ten-year cycle.

Countries such as Sri Lanka which were among the beneficiary countries from the EU trade concessions would have a two-year window to reapply to the scheme.

“These bills are to be enacted to meet the EU concessionary requirements that were already communicated to us. One of them–Fisheries Resource Management–is to ensure a sustainable fisheries industry since we noticed our resources have reduced significantly over the years,” Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda told the Sunday Times.

A fresh bill, published on Wednesday to amend the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act, No. 2 of 1996 declared no person would be allowed to engage in IUU fishing activities in Sri Lankan territorial waters or the high seas.

Penalties for those vessels found to be engaged in IUU fishing would be imposed with fines ranging from Rs 50,000 (10.3-15 metres) to Rs 50 million (45 to 75 metres) depending on the length of the boat.

The Fisheries Department Director General would also be armed with powers to cancel or suspend the fishing permits of those vessels found to be engaged in IUU fishing in the country’s waters.

If the bills were not challenged in the Supreme Court within three weeks of their publication, they would be taken up for the Second Reading in the upcoming Parliament sessions, Minister Devavanda said.

Among the matters that were raised at the 25th session of the Joint Commission between Sri Lanka and the European Union held in May at the Foreign Ministry, issues related to IUU fishing were highlighted and cooperation in the framework of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) were discussed.

Both sides agreed to take follow-up action based on the deliberations of the 25th session, including the identification of a series of action points to make progress on or before the next Joint Commission Meeting in 2024 in Brussels, the Foreign Ministry said in a joint statement following the discussion. The EU also informed that the report of the last EU GSP+ monitoring cycle of 2020-2022 was expected to be released in the coming months as well.