Author: TELO Admin

Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva has emphasised that the agreement signed with China pertaining to the Hambantota port is ‘very clear’, emphaising that the port cannot be used for any war or security purposes.

Speaking to World Is One News (WION), Siripala noted that as per the agreement, the Hambantota port will be used solely for trading purposes.

“We had to sell the Hambantota port. We asked India to take it over and the US to take it over. Then the Chinese came and took it over. It is a private sector takeover. It is not being used for other purposes. Our agreement with the Chinese is very clear that it cannot be used for any war or security purposes but only trade”, he said in this regard.

Siripala spoke to WION on both, the Hambantota and Colombo ports, investments by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani in the country, and more on the sidelines of the sixth international Indian Ocean Conference in Bangladesh.

“We have excellent relations with India. India is helping and we are reciprocating. We have started flights from India to our airports. We have started ferry services to and from Madras. We have increased connectivity,” the Minister said, emphasising that the two nations have a ‘very friendly relationship’.
India’s capital, New Delhi, is currently aiding Colombo build its energy sector, with Sri Lanka having extended an invitation to invest in the Trincomalee port, located nearly 262 kilometres Southwest of Colombo.

“We have requested India to come to Trincomalee port and do the value addition”, he said.

Thus, Siripala noted that Sri Lanka, as a nation, must be ‘mindful about the security of India’, while also expressing confidence on the Adani investment in Colombo’s port.

– With input from agencies

Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith said that there was no point Sri Lanka getting loans from World Bank or the International Monetary Fund if the people who handle those funds continue to be the fraudsters. Then the plight of the country and its people’s will remain the same.

Delivering his homily at the 125th jubilee mass offered in the church dedicated to St Joseph at Kaluwarippuwa, Katana, the cardinal said that developing and rebuilding this nation were not unachievable or an impossible task.

“It is very simple, if we want to develop our motherland, the first step is that we must build our own lives and be very sincere in our dealings. If we are not sincere we will not be able to take the country forward,” he said.

“There was a marked decay in Sri Lankan society as a whole. The problem seems to be worsening and we are going down the drain. If we want to develop this country, there has to be a revolution. For that, the people must begin to live their lives in accordance with the teachings of the religions that they adhere to and profess,” the Cardinal said.

“We do not become a people who really live our religions by erecting statues of the founders of great religions at every junction in the country of sporting the religious symbols around their necks,” the cardinal said.

A heavy presence of security personnel was observed in parts of Colombo city since last night (May 12).

This development came after it was reported that a group of at least 750 individuals was preparing to exert pressure on the government.

Unspecified intelligence information had revealed that the group in question was planning to rise up in revolt from inside the University of Colombo.

Police sources said this group’s organized attempt to instigate unrest was foiled after tightening the security.

The police, Special Task Force (STF), riot police and the tri-forces had been deployed to the area adjacent to the Colombo University including the Independence Square, Kollupitiya Junction and the Temple Trees.

In addition, several fire trucks and firefighters were also seen at the scene.

A US-based company has reached a principle agreement to lay a new fuel pipeline between Colombo Port and the Kolonnawa terminal ahead of the signing agreement to begin its retail fuel distribution in Sri Lanka.

Under the agreement, RM Parks-Shell Company will make an initial investment of US$ 50 to 60 million for the project which is expected to begin after it enters into the retail fuel distribution business.

The new pipeline will replace the existing line which has experienced several leaks over the past few years.

In addition to the laying of the pipeline, the company will install fenders in the jetty replacing tyres which are used to prevent the collision of vessels and also invest in a fire control system in the harbour.

The company is set to sign an agreement this month to enter the fuel distribution business in Sri Lanka and begin operations in June.

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera has held an online meeting with RM Parks-Shell Company to discuss agreements, policy, logistics and timeline to begin operations in Sri Lanka.

The company’s technical officials recently visited the Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminal Limited (CPSTL) tank farm.

As Sri Lanka is witnessing a week-on-week increase in tourist arrival from China, more flights will be added in the coming months between the two countries.

The flag carrier of the People’s Republic of China, Air China, affirmed this week it would resume operations to Sri Lanka starting July.

According to Tourism Minister Harin Fernando, Air China has committed it would operate three flights to Sri Lanka. Fernando took to Twitter to share in brief an update in this regard.He added that the flight frequency would further be increased in the coming months.

Speaking to Mirror Business, the industry stakeholders welcomed the move, stating that the increased number of flights will help lure more travellers from China.

“It is a good move. It is a much-needed move. It augurs well for the industry. We needed that capacity to cater to the demand from China,” said the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators. At present, national carrier SriLankan Airlines operates a weekly service to Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.

China’s National Health Commission announced in December that the inbound travellers will no longer have to go into quarantine and there will be no official restriction on Chinese people going abroad.

Following the scrapping of the ‘Zero Covid-19’ policy, Sri Lanka welcomed the first group of Chinese tourists in March 2.

Since then, tourist arrivals from that country are on a steady increase. China even ranks among the top 10 key source markets for destination Sri Lanka in April, where it stood in the sixth position, moving from the 11th position in March.

For the January 1 to May 7 period, China stands as the ninth largest tourist traffic generator for Sri Lanka, contributing to 3 percent of the total tourist arrivals (11,553).

An AFP photojournalist in Sri Lanka has won recognition at the Human Rights Press Awards 2023 for his work during the political upheavals that eventually led to the ouster of Gotabaya Rajapaksa from the presidency in July 2022, a statement said.

Ishara Kodikara, 41, won an honourable mention in the “photography series” category of the awards organized by the New York-based Human Rights Watch, Arizona State University and the Reynolds Centre for Business Journalism.

“This award is a recognition for your hard and excellent work covering the daily protests in Colombo last year,” AFP’s Hong Kong-based Photo Director for the Asia-Pacific region, Mladen Antonov said in the statement.

“On behalf of all of us here in Hong Kong and from the photo management in Paris, please accept once more our warm congratulations!”

Ishara joined AFP in 2008 and is attached to its Colombo bureau. He has also photographed political upheavals in the Maldives and the 2015 earthquake in Nepal in addition to covering international cricket tournaments in Sri Lanka and abroad.

AFP’s Kabul bureau won the first prize in the breaking news category and recognised for their work “under deadline pressure with speed, accuracy and high-quality writing on a single human rights-related news event.”

Present in 151 countries, AFP offers news coverage on a vast range of subjects, and often from rarely covered locations, and the presence in the field allows AFP to diversify its sources, the statement said. A recognized hallmark of AFP journalism is also the attention it pays to human interest stories.

Images, which are increasingly the key element of news coverage, now account for half of the agency’s turnover, and live video broadcasts (around 40 a day) are among the most popular products.

The full list of 2023 Human Rights Press Awards can be accessed here: https://humanrightspressawards.org/2023-winners/