Category: Breaking News

Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Parliamentarian Duminda Dissanayake on Friday said President Gotabaya Rajapaksa achieved something in two and a half years that LTTE Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran had tried and failed to do in 30 years – ruin the country’s economy.

“Velupillai wanted to bring this country’s economy to its knees. That is why he launched attacks in Colombo and committed so many other acts. But we understand now that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa did in two and a half years what Prabhakaran could not do in 30 years,” he told a media conference in Colombo. The MP launched a scathing attack on the President and called for all parties to unite to bring down the current government.

Mr Dissanayake seems to be suffering from selective amnesia, for he made no mention of the fact that he and his SLFP colleagues were at the forefront of campaigning for Gotabaya Rajapaksa during the 2019 Presidential election. There was also no mention of how the SLFP aligned itself with the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) during the 2020 Parliamentary elections, and how its MPs including Mr Dissanayake contested under the SLPP’s pohottuwa symbol and having won, voted for the 20th Amendment to give the President almost absolute power. Even now, some members of Mr Dissanayake’s party hold Cabinet portfolios in the current government.

Speaker speaks out: Advises media to black out blaggard MPs

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has appealed to the media not to give publicity to unruly behaviour and crass speeches made by MPs in Parliament.

He made the request during a one-day workshop held for Parliamentary correspondents.

The Speaker said young MPs could learn much from going through speeches made by famous MPs such as Dr. N. M. Perera and Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, adding that he had instructed officials at the Parliament library to collect such speeches and provide copies to MPs.

The Speaker made no secret of how he felt about the quality of speeches made by MPs in the House to date.

“How many even stick to the topic they are supposed to be speaking on,” he asked.

The more publicity the media gives to vituperative speeches and unruly behaviour, the more emboldened those MPs would be to keep doing it because they are assured of more publicity, the Speaker said. Even former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya lamented on the quality of speeches and standard of behaviour of MPs of the previous Parliament.

It seems the voters keep sending the wrong people to represent them in the national legislature, or they have Hobson’s Choice considering the candidates presented to them by the different political parties.

Sri Lanka has less than a day’s worth of fuel left, the energy minister said Sunday, with public transport grinding to a halt as the country’s economic crisis deepened.
Petrol and diesel queues snaked through the capital for kilometres, though most pumping stations have been without fuel for days.

Energy minister Kanchana Wijesekera said petrol reserves in the country were about 4,000 tonnes, just below one day’s worth of consumption.

“The next petrol shipment is expected between the 22nd and 23rd (of July),” Wijesekera told reporters in Colombo.

Sri Lanka Left With Less Than A Day’s Worth Of Fuel: Sri Lankan Minister
Most shops were closed Sunday, with the situation expected to worsen on Monday. (File)

Colombo: Sri Lanka has less than a day’s worth of fuel left, the energy minister said Sunday, with public transport grinding to a halt as the country’s economic crisis deepened.
Petrol and diesel queues snaked through the capital for kilometres, though most pumping stations have been without fuel for days.

Energy minister Kanchana Wijesekera said petrol reserves in the country were about 4,000 tonnes, just below one day’s worth of consumption.

“The next petrol shipment is expected between the 22nd and 23rd (of July),” Wijesekera told reporters in Colombo.

“We have contacted other suppliers, but we can’t confirm any new supplies before the 22nd.”

Last week, cash-strapped Sri Lanka announced a two-week halt to all fuel sales except for essential services to save petrol and diesel for emergencies.

Most shops were closed Sunday, with the situation expected to worsen when banks and offices reopen on Monday.

Desperate people were seen trying to flag down the few vehicles on the road hoping for a ride.

Privately owned buses, which account for two-thirds of the country’s fleet, said they operated a skeleton service on Sunday as they were badly affected by the fuel shortage.

“We operated about 1,000 busses across the country out of the 20,000 owned by our members,” Private Bus Operators Association chairman Gemunu Wijeratne said.

“The situation will certainly get worse tomorrow because we have no way of getting diesel.”

He said services would be curtailed further on Monday and saw no immediate solution.

Three-wheel taxis — a popular last-mile transport — were also off the streets, with most seen in days-long queues to get a ration of six litres of petrol.

A shortage of foreign currency to finance even the most essential imports has led to the country’s worst economic crisis, with its 22 million people facing severe hardships daily.

The country has also faced record-high inflation and lengthy power blackouts since late last year.

All non-essential government institutions and schools have been ordered shut until July 10 to reduce commuting and save energy.

Local media reported there had been sporadic clashes outside fuel stations.

Last week, troops opened fire to disperse a mob protesting against the military jumping the queue.

Sri Lanka is currently in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a possible bailout after the country defaulted on its $51 billion external debt in April.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Train services may definitely be disrupted, says the Chairman of the Railway Station Master’s Association, Sumedha Somaratne.

Therefore, the disruption of train services becomes unavoidable if the Government does not take any step in this regard, he said.

“If this issue is not resolved, and if the railway service gets disrupted, the entire country will come to a standstill,” Somaratne warned.

Therefore, the Station Master’s Association Chairman added that they are eagerly awaiting the measures which the Minister may take to prevent this issue from taking place.

Sri Lankan companies will be able to purchase fuel on a weekly or daily basis if they are able to pay for the commodity in dollars one-month in advance, Minister of Fuel and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera said, as the crisis-hit country scrambles to find dollars to pay its bills.

From July 12, any company that has the ability to pay for its fuel requirements can open a consumer account at Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to obtain a guaranteed quota.

“They need to pay a month in advance & fuel will be issued on a daily or weekly basis from the 12th (July). Already paid customers will receive their quota from the 12th,” Wijesekera said on Sunday (July 03).

Sri Lanka’s fuel stocks have almost run dry while the fuel queues continue to grow.

Related: Sri Lanka reveals low fuel stock levels

Previously, the minister said that the country’s money-printing central bank shot down a proposal to allow a few fuel stations to sell petrol in dollars on the grounds that dollars cannot be used for internal transactions at retail levels.

The minister highlighted that the state-run national carrier SriLankan Airlines and exporters were already paying for fuel in dollars, which is helping the CPC’s currency reserve.

Some new suppliers had previously asked for upfront payment to supply fuel while foreign banks are refusing to confirm Sri Lanka’s letter of credit.

Related: Foreign banks refuse to confirm Sri Lanka state bank letters of credit: Minister

Suppliers like Petro China, who used to give Sri Lanka 180 days of credit through LCs, are now asking for advance payment, Minister Wijesekera said.

Any Company/Industry that can pay In USD can open a consumer account at CPC to obtain a weekly guaranteed quota. They need to pay a month in advance & fuel will be issued on a daily or weekly basis from the 12th. Already paid customers will receive their quota from the 12th.

— Kanchana Wijesekera (@kanchana_wij) July 3, 2022

Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith says that the need of the hour is the initiation of a high profile investigation to find out how this country was dragged down to its present plight of being a beggar nation, fix responsibility for these crimes and find ways to recover the money stolen from the people.

“People have a right to know how the foreign reserves that had been at around seven to eight billion US dollars had dropped to zero within two years,” the Cardinal said at the Feast of the Sacred Heart Mass at the Ragama Hospital Chapel last week.

He asked how the gold stocks in the Central Bank had disappeared and why were they wasted wasted irresponsibly.

“The disappearance of the gold will have to be investigated someday. People need to know who wasted this money,” Cardinal Ranjith said.

He said the country’s reserves were down to zero.

“Doctors working in hospitals find it difficult to come to hospitals on time due to the fuel crisis. We are with the people in their grief,” he said.

The Cardinal appealed to the international community to assist in providing Sri Lanka with medicines and equipment for hospitals amid its economic crisis.

“We urge Pope Francis to request the international community to assist Sri Lanka,” he said.

“We need to support the children’s hospital in Borella and the cancer hospital in Maharagama, especially for medicines and equipment.”

“People suffer without fuel and essential goods because of mismanagement. Children can’t go to schools due to the fuel crisis”.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s agreement with Sri Lanka must be contingent on Central Bank independence, strong anti-corruption measures and promotion of the rule of law, the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee said.

“Without these critical reforms, Sri Lanka could suffer further economic mismanagement and uncontrollable debt,” the committee tweeted Saturday July 02 morning.

The IMF said in a statement on June 30 that the atest talks with Sri Lanka has made significant progress towards developing a policy package to stabilise the country but the island nation also has to move forward on debt restructuring to finalise a bailout.

“The staff team and the authorities made significant progress on defining a macroeconomic and structural policy package,” the IMF statement said.

“The discussions will continue virtually with a view to reaching a staff-level agreement on the EFF arrangement in the near term.”

“Because public debt is assessed as unsustainable, Executive Board approval would require adequate financing assurances from Sri Lanka’s creditors that debt sustainability will be restored.”

Sri Lanka has appointed financial and legal advisors to negotiate with creditors.

At least one sovereign bond holder with over 250 million dollars has gone to court seeking full payment.

Meanwhile, a US Treasury and State Department delegation was in Sri Lanka to “explore the most effective ways for the U.S. to support Sri Lankans in need”.

Any @IMFNews agreement with #SriLanka must be contingent on @CBSL independence, strong anti-corruption measures & promotion of the rule of law. Without these critical reforms, Sri Lanka could suffer further economic mismanagement & uncontrollable debt. https://t.co/oMdT7QIwZP

— Senate Foreign Relations Committee (@SFRCdems) July 1, 2022