Train services on the Main Line are delayed due to a derailment, the Railway Control Room says.
According to reports, the Anuradhapura-bound Yal Devi express train has derailed near the Dematagoda railway station.
Author: TELO Admin
Expeditious implementation of housing project under Indian grant assistance
Minister of Water Supply and Estate Infrastructure Development Jeevan Thondaman and High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay exchanged diplomatic notes, paving way for a three-fold increase in unit cost of a house under Phase-3 of Indian Housing Project (IHP), a statement by the Indian High Commission said today (13).
This step would now enable expeditious completion of Phase-3 of IHP, under which 4000 houses are being constructed through grant assistance by Government of India (GOI) in plantation areas of Sri Lanka, spread across 7 Districts in Central, Uva and Southern Provinces.
Close to 46,000 houses were built in different parts of Sri Lanka under the first two phases of IHP. Next phase for the construction of 10,000 houses in plantation areas, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, shall commence soon.
The exchange of diplomatic notes takes place at an important juncture, when the Indian-Origin Tamil (IOT) community who are concentrated in the plantation areas marks 200 years of their arrival to Sri Lanka.
This also coincides with 100 years of establishment of Assistant High Commission of India in Kandy, which has been instrumental in implementing several people-centric grant schemes by GOI for the IOT community cutting across areas such as education, health, vocational training, livelihood development and several others, in addition to housing.
China’s Sinopec eyes refinery investment in Sri Lanka amid rising geopolitical concerns
China’s Sinopec has pledged to invest in Sri Lanka’s southern district of Hambantota at a meeting with the island nation’s president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.
The move comes as Beijing is looking to consolidate investments in the island nation’s ports and energy sector amid increasing security concerns raised by the island nation’s immediate neighbour India and the United States.
Wickremesinghe under the previous government has leased the $1.5 billion port built by Beijing to state-owned Chinese firms on a 99-year lease. China’s plans to establish a 15,00o-acre industrial zone around the port has yet to materialize.
The PMD said a discussion took place between the representatives of the Sinopec Group and President Wickremesinghe on Monday (13).
“President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the government has taken a principled decision to expand the distribution of fuel & Hambantota has been identified as a primary energy hub,” the PMD said in a statement.
“Sinopec has also pledged to invest in a refinery in Hambantota.”
Sri Lanka has urged India to develop the energy hub of South Asia in the Eastern port district of Trincomalee. The state-run India Oil Corporation (IOC) has already signed a joint venture with the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to develop the island nation’s only oil tank farm in Trincomalee.
The meeting with the Sinopec officials comes 10 days after President Wickremesinghe directed the petroleum minister and officials to swiftly carry out a plan to revive the Trincomalee oil tank farm and incorporate it into the country’s economy after an inspection tour of the Lanka Indian Oil Company (LIOC) oil tank farm in Trincomalee.
Sinopec, also known as China Petrochemical Corporation, is the largest refining company and the third largest chemical company in the world. It is the largest oil and petrochemical products supplier and the second largest oil and gas producer in China.
Its total number of gas stations ranks second place in the world. It ranked 5th on Fortune’s Global 500 List in 2021.
China’s aggressive lending to Sri Lanka along with investments of billions of dollars has raised concerns of a plan to establish a military base in Hambantota.
Beijing has denied such a plan and said its move with Colombo has been always commercial.
The West led by the US has blamed China’s aggressive lending as a “debt trap” which has led Sri Lanka to face an unprecedented economic crisis amid sovereign debt default. However, both China and Sri Lanka have denied the “debt trap” accusation.
China, instead, had blamed Sri Lanka’s sovereign borrowing, which was mostly from the Western countries, as the debt trap and reason for the crisis.
Sri Lankan President congratulates Chinese President Xi Jinping on third term, hails accomplished leadership
On behalf of the Government and people of Sri Lanka, President Ranil Wickremesinghe extended congratulations to Chinese President Xi Jinping on his confirmation of a third term as President of the People’s Republic of China.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe acknowledged the accomplished leadership of President Xi Jinping, stating that under his leadership, China has overcome challenges, and made great progress while expressing confidence that President Xi Jinping’s third term in office will undoubtedly open new vistas for China.
President Wickremesinghe emphasized the longstanding and exceptional bond of solidarity and mutual understanding between Sri Lanka and China, which has persisted for centuries. He expressed gratitude for China’s steadfast assistance to Sri Lanka in addressing the nation’s present economic difficulties, particularly in navigating the IMF process.
The President also expressed confidence that during President Xi Jinping’s new term in Office, the existing robust cooperation between the two countries will continue to flourish for the mutual benefit of the people of both countries.
President Wickremesinghe conveyed his heartfelt well wishes for President Xi Jinping’s personal welfare, as well as the on-going success and prosperity of the amicable citizens of the People’s Republic of China.
Cardinal calls on govt. to resign and hold snap general elections
Government MPs should resign and create an opportunity for the people to elect a new government, Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said today.
“Those who rule the country today have created a sorry state of affairs where the nation is concerned and therefore, the MPs and the Ministers who represent the government should resign from their posts if they have a backbone and pave the way for the people to elect a new administration,” Cardinal Ranjith said at a press conference.
Further, the Cardinal called for action against MPs whom he alleged are engaged in belittling the authority of judiciary.
“No one has the authority to interfere in the decision of the Supreme Court. It is clear that the judgment given on March 3, 2023 by the Supreme Court binds on the President, government and Parliament in equal measure. So, they need to follow the decision faithfully. Else they would be belittling the authority of the Supreme Court and undermine the basis of democracy,” the Cardinal said.
“It was reported that two Members of Parliament have spoken concerning the judgment given by the Supreme Court over the local government elections. The MPs have called this decision, a violation of their parliamentary privileges by Courts. This matter is to be viewed with great concern. This request by the two MPs is not in keeping with the dignity and freedom of Supreme Court and any interference with courts on the basis of parliamentary privileges is unacceptable. I appeal that action be taken against these MPs to ensure that freedom of judiciary is maintained.
With no funding yet, LG polls likely to be put off again
The Election Commission is unable to hold the local government polls on April 25 without receiving another Rs. 100 million by next week, its chairman Nimal G. Punchihewa has told Neth News.
The cost of holding the election is estimated at Rs. 11 billion.
A written request for funding sent by the EC to the finance secretary has been referred to president Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is also the finance minister, said Punchihewa. The finance secretary has informed him that his approval alone is insufficient to release the funds.
The LG polls, originally set for March 09 had to be postponed for a lack of funding.
The Supreme Court has issued an interim injunction against the finance secretary and the attorney general against withholding funds for the election.
Meanwhile, local election monitor PAFFREL’s executive director Rohana Hettiarachchi warned a grave constitutional crisis would arise if the executive, legislature and the judiciary attempt to supersede each other.
LG Election: Another delay? Printing Department needs Rs.500 million
The Department of Government Printing says the printing of ballot papers has been delayed further owing to lack of funds among others.
According to the Department, approximately Rs.500 million will be required to complete the printing of ballot papers and other election related materiel for the Local Authorities Election.
The estimate was reportedly sent to the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.
However, the Department is yet to receive a response for the request.
The Department of Government Printing has so far received Rs.40 million for printing related to the Local Authorities Election.
The Department said it should receive approximately Rs.200 million for the work completed thus far.
Chinese swap completes 2 idle years in reserves
Despite several attempts by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) to renegotiate the conditions of the CNY 10 billion (equivalent to $ 1.5 billion) currency swap with the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), all attempts have proved futile as the response has not been favourable.
Accordingly, the currency swap remains unusable to date, two years after the CBSL and PBoC entered into the agreement.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, a high-ranking source at the CBSL revealed that there had been several conditionalities in the currency swap that had rendered it unusable and while several inquiries had been made previously to amend such conditions, the response had not been favourable. He further revealed that no negotiations were currently ongoing with the PBoC.
In June 2022, President Ranil Wickremesinghe revealed in Parliament that the Yuan 10 billion currency swap with the PBoC required a three-month import cover to draw on the swap and that the CBSL would seek to negotiate the condition with PBoC.
Similar assertions were subsequently made by CBSL Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe. Despite such announcements, this currency swap, which was signed in March 2021, remains unamended and unusable.
Commenting on the possibility of whether Sri Lanka would be able to utilise the CNY 10 billion currency swap subsequent to the receipt of the first tranche of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the source stated: “Our three-month import cover is around $ 3.5 billion and currently we have only around $ 2.5 billion. Therefore, it is unlikely that we will be able to comply with the condition even after we receive the facility. We will still have a shortfall.”
Despite several attempts by The Sunday Morning Business to contact the CBSL and State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe, all such attempts proved futile.
Former Governor of the CBSL Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, speaking at a webinar hosted by the CBSL Centre for Banking Studies (CBS) in June 2022, opined that China would not be willing to alter the conditions that rendered the three-year swap unusable in the near future, as it could then be termed a loan facility and thus Sri Lanka would come under pressure from the IMF and others to include it in the stock of debt to be restructured.
“That would clearly be a disadvantage for China and that is why it is hesitating to remove that condition, which would enable Sri Lanka to use that money,” he stated.
CBSL and PBoC entered into the currency swap agreement for CNY 10 billion in March 2021 with a validity period of three years “with a view to promoting bilateral trade and direct investment for economic development” of the two countries. However, a statement by the CBSL after the swap agreement was signed said that both central banks had agreed to use the swap “for other purposes agreed upon by both parties”.
Campaigning continues for control of local councils irrespective of uncertainty of polls date
Amidst uncertainty over the fate of the local council elections, political parties and candidates say they are continuing with their electoral campaigns, though they concede that the failure to hold the polls as scheduled has caused issues.
While the Election Commission (EC) confirmed on Friday that District Returning Officers had issued gazette notifications to hold the local government election on April 25, political parties and candidates note that a lot can change between now and that date.
Postal voting is now scheduled to be held from March 28 to 31. The EC said the Government Printer had agreed to complete the printing of postal ballots within five days and the polling-booth ballots within 20-25 days.
Amid these developments, campaigning is continuing at the ground level for the upcoming elections.
The campaign of the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has not been negatively affected by the postponement of the election thus far, claimed former MP Mujibur Rahuman, who is contesting as the party’s mayoral candidate for Colombo.
The SJB is continuing to hold election meetings. Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa is a frequent attendee at many of these meetings.
Mr. Rahuman hit out at President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the government, claiming there was a continued attempt to put off the elections by any means.
“Some government MPs are claiming that the Supreme Court’s interim order — directing the Treasury Secretary and the Attorney General not to withhold funds earmarked for the election — is a breach of privilege. In reality, it is the President as Finance Minister who is breaching MPs’ privileges by withholding funds passed by Parliament to conduct the election,” he said.
Government officials such as the Treasury Secretary were bound to act on orders issued by the apex court of the land, Mr. Rahuman emphasised.
The National People’s Power (NPP) is also continuing with its election campaign. But NPP Parliamentarian and Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath said it was difficult to proceed with campaigning when there was uncertainty over the polls.
“Our campaign is continuing. We have to organise more meetings as the campaign period has now been extended,” noted Mr. Herath.
The NPP is holding meetings in different parts of the country, with party leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and other senior party members in attendance.
Mr. Herath also insisted that opposition parties would have to continue their fight to ensure that the election was not further delayed. “We will have to continue the fight in the streets, in courts, and also take the matter to the international community.”
Unlike most opposition parties, the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has not held large-scale campaign rallies so far. There were several reasons for this, said party General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam.
“One reason is that the new campaign finance laws have placed severe restrictions on holding such rallies. We also don’t believe they will make a big impact as this is a village-level election where the focus should be on promoting local council candidates and voters’ minds won’t change through large national-level rallies,” he explained.
He also pointed out that the SLPP had used the strategy of holding smaller public meetings to successful effect during the 2018 local council elections.
“We have 5000 candidates at the upcoming local council elections and even if one of them holds one small meeting a day, that’s 5000 meetings a day. These small meetings have been very successful,” he said.
The party, however, was planning to start what Mr. Kariyawasam called “medium-level rallies” this weekend. The first of these SLPP rallies is due to be held today (12) in Monaragala under the patronage of party leader and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The second rally will be held in Kurunegala in the coming days.
Meanwhile, some candidates say they have been severely inconvenienced by the failure to hold the poll on March 9. They include more than 3000 public servants who had taken no-pay leave to contest the upcoming election and who are prohibited from returning to their jobs by law while the electoral process is ongoing.
Ananda Sarath Kumara, who is contesting for the Kandy Municipal Council from the recently formed Freedom People’s Alliance (FPA) is one such public servant.
“I’m not paid my salary and I have to spend the money I have saved for my campaign. It has become extremely difficult to live as a result,” he told the Sunday Times.
Mr. Sarath Kumara put the blame squarely on the EC for the mess. “The EC needs to show some backbone. It must either confront the forces that are trying to postpone the poll or its members should resign saying they are not allowed to work. I think what’s happening now is another attempt to deceive us.”
The EC has now made an attempt to address the problem faced by public servants inconvenienced by the postponement of the elections. On Friday, the EC said it had recommended that the basic salaries of public servants — who are candidates at the elections — be paid with effect from March 9 for the duration of the poll’s delay.
The recommendation had been forwarded to the Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration so that it can be submitted to the Cabinet for approval, the Commission further announced.
Mr. Sarath Kumara, though, said he was unsure whether the recommendation would be approved. “The continued uncertainty over everything is very difficult to take. It just seems like this whole election is being used to take revenge on the people,” he said.
Major disruption looms this week as over 40 unions launch nationwide strike
Sri Lanka is likely to be rocked by severe strike actions in many crucial sectors nationwide which will bring the country to a standstill, as the public buckles under the financial strain of multiple price hikes and heavy taxation.
The Professionals Trade Union Collective and several other trade unions representing government and semi-government sectors have planned to launch trade union actions from Monday, March 13. More than 40 trade unions including health, education, water, electricity, nurses, teachers, government and semi-government sectors have expressed their support.
Trade unions said one of the main reasons for the trade union action is the failure to provide solutions to the burdens caused by the unfair tax policy, while salaries have not been increased and the economic crisis continues.
Through the protests, the trade unions will also highlight several other matters including skyrocketing interest rates and issues related to salaries and increments.
Dr. Haritha Aluthge, Secretary of the GMOA said: “The GMOA will commence the trade union action in four provinces from 8am tomorrow, including the Western Province, Southern Province, Central Province and Eastern Province. If a solution is provided tomorrow there is no need to move to the next phase. If not, we will have to launch the trade union action in the other five provinces from 8am on Tuesday. If a solution is not provided on Tuesday, an indefinite strike will be launched across the island at 8am on Wednesday.”
Senior Lecturer Charudaththa Ilangasinghe, Spokesperson of the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations, declared: “The IMF has no understanding of the social issues that arise from this tax policy. It has not been studied. In such a situation, what will happen to the people of this country after the government puts this on the IMF? Who is responsible for the people of this country? This is a very serious situation. If there is no response by the 15th of March, we will continue these strikes.”
The Joint Trade Union Alliance of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board also expressed their support for the trade union action.
Upali Ratnayake, Secretary of the Joint Trade Union Alliance of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, said: “On the 13th our employees including executive officials and professionals will withdraw from services. On the 14th all employees of the Water Board will withdraw from services for four hours. All services at offices and consumer services will not be fulfilled. Taking to account the inconvenience caused to the public, services will continue only at water pumping stations and water purification centres to ensure an undisrupted supply of water. We will join the island wide trade union action from 9am to 4pm on the 15th. On that day the water board will not carry out any services, apart from water pumping and water purification.”
The All Ceylon Nurses’ Union said nursing services will also engage in a strike on the 15th of March.
H.M.S.B. Mediwatta, General Secretary, All Ceylon Nurses’ Union: said: “Special institutions such as maternity hospitals, cancer hospitals and childrens hospitals will not be part of the trade union action. Nursing staff of all other hospitals will join.”
Mahinda Jayasinghe, General Secretary, Ceylon Teacher Services Union, declared: “The Teacher-Principals Trade Union Alliance will launch the trade union action on the 15th based on eight demands including common issues and our own concerns.”
Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers’ Union, said: “One of the main demands is to provide a solution to reduce the cost for parents to obtain stationery. We made a request to the Education Minister. What steps will be taken? This is our initial strike. If the education system is not fixed, if the problems of teachers and principals are not resolved, if the teacher transfer process is not made stringent, then we will definitely move on to further measures.”
Nimal Mudunkotuwa, General Secretary of the Principals’ Grade Association, said: “There are around 11,200 principals at present, and all trade unions have unanimously decided that none of them will report to work on that day. All teachers are of the same stance. Our first request is not to put your child at risk by sending them to school on that day. We are informing parents that school will not operate on that day so keep your child at home. It was decided to hold term exams on the 15th of March in some areas. The Principals’ Grade Association informed all Provincial Education Directors to postpone the exam paper scheduled for the 15th.”
Trade unions of government instituions will also join the action on the 15th of March.
P. K. Ranukge, Chairman, All Ceylon Samurdhi Managers’ Association, noted: “At a time when there is a shortage of officials in the Samurdhi Department across Sri Lanka, this government has neglected the recruitment and promotion procedure. We can see that the government is leading the Samurdhi Department to a natural end and it is clear the government is also further burdening the poor people.”
Chandana Sooriyarachchi of Trade Union Coordination Center, said: “On the 15th the entire process of government institutions will be disrupted. If you try to visit the Divisional Secretariat, the District Secretariat, the Samurdhi Bank, the hospital, the Immigration Department, the Motor Traffic Department, and other Ministries on the 15th for any work, don’t waste yout time. The whole country is workIng together to make this trade union action a success.”
Dhammika Munasinghe, Secretary, Joint Development Officers’ Center, said: “These trade unions are joining this struggle representing your issues as well. So if you are planning to go to any government institution on the 15th of March for any work, refrain from doing so. The district secretariat, the divisional secretariat, regional education offices, ministries and departments will be closed on that day.”
Chinthaka Bandara, Convenor, Government and Semi-Government Trade Union Collective, said: “The postal sector of 26,000 postal workers fully support this. At 4pm on the 14th all employees at the Central Mail Exchange in Colombo will join the strike. Post offices and nearly 3,410 sub-post offices in the island will join the strike from midnight on the 14th till midnight on the 15th. No post office or public service will be provided across the island during these 24 hours.”
Ven. Tampitiye Sugathananda Thero, General Secretary, Joint Health Workers Union, said: “The Ranil Rajapaksa government over the past took various measures to attempt to oppress and stop these strikes. But the working class of this country has shown that this fight cannot be stopped through oppression.”
Ajith Thilakarathne, Joint Convener of the Government and Semi-Government Trade Union Collective, noted: “Ranil Wickremesinghe’s side continues to engage in oppression. We are telling the police and the tri-forces not to carry out orders that are issued illegally against trade unions and student unions.”