Category: News

Three Chinese warships; He Fei, Wuzhishan and Qilianshan arrived at Sri Lanka’s Colombo port on a formal visit on Monday (26).

This follows the docking of Indian warship ‘Mumbai’ which is on a three-day visit to Sri Lanka during which it will engage in a Passage Exercise with a Sri Lanka Navy vessel.

Last week, three US warships docked at the port for replenishment; the USS Spruance, USS O’kane, and the USS Stockdale.

The He Fei is a 144.50-meter-long destroyer, crewed by 267 personnel under the command of Captain Chen Junfeng.

The Wuzhishan is a 210-meter-long Landing Platform Dock, manned by 872 crew members and commanded by Captain Fei Zhang.

The Qilianshan is a 210-meter-long Landing Platform Dock, with 334 crew members under the command of Captain Xiong Binghon.

Commanding Officers of the trio of Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy warships are scheduled to call on the Commander Western Naval Area, Rear Admiral Chinthaka Kumarasinghe at the Western Naval Command Headquarters today, Sri Lanka Navy said in a statement.

“To strengthen the camaraderie between the two navies, crew members of these ships are set to participate in a series of programmes organized by the Sri Lanka Navy.

“In addition crew members of the ships will explore some of the tourist attractions of the country, during their stay in Colombo.”

Sri Lanka Navy personnel will have the opportunity to participate in briefings on the operational functions of the ships as well.

The trio will depart on August 29, after a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with a Sri Lanka Navy ship off the coast of Colombo.

The Colombo High Court has sentenced former Minister A. H. M. Fowzie for two years of rigorous imprisonment and suspended it for 10 years after he pleaded guilty over the charge of misusing a vehicle belonging to the Ministry of Disaster Management.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs.400,000 on the former Minister, when the case was taken up today (27), Ada Derana reporter said.

Former Minister Fowzie was charged over the possession and personal use of a luxury vehicle worth nearly Rs. 20 million received from the Netherlands to the Disaster Management Ministry, while serving as the Minister of Disaster Management in 2010.

Furthermore, he was found guilty of persuading the officials including the Ministry Secretary and spending nearly Rs 1 million from the Finance Ministry’s funds for the maintenance of the vehicle.

However, Fowzie had pleaded guilty for the charges through his attorney, when the case was taken up for hearing today.

Later, the High Court Judge pointed out that such actions by a senior politician with 62 years of political experience cannot be taken for granted, but considering the fact that he pleaded guilty at the initial stage and that he is now an elderly person of 86 years of age, the former Minister will be given a lenient sentence.

Claiming that some people entertain doubts that President Ranil Wickremesinghe will resort to a trick at the last moment to prevent a National People’s Power (NPP) victory, NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said today that no can prevent the NPP’s victory this time.

Speaking at a rally in Minuwangoda, he said the majority of government servants, police and army personnel support the NPP this time and said that Ranil Wickremesinghe will not be able to resort to any tricks.

“People entertain doubts that Ranil Wickremesinghe will resort to some sort of trick at the last moment. He cannot resort to any tricks. The majority of the government servants support the NPP. The majority of the police and army personnel also support us. Retired police and army officers are with us. So, no one can prevent the NPP from coming to power,” he said.

Dissanayake said, for the first time that the NPP will form a government to look after the people, adding that so far governments have been formed to look after families and friend of the rulers.

Sri Lanka will continue to oppose UNHRC Resolution 46/1 and 51/1 which were adopted by a divided vote in the Council, diplomats in Colombo were informed.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry convened a briefing on current developments in Sri Lanka for the Colombo-based diplomatic corps at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During the briefing, Minister Sabry emphasized several significant achievements across various fronts during the past year, including advancements in economic recovery, legal reforms and the strengthening of domestic institutions and mechanisms focused on reconciliation.

Minister Sabry highlighted that the Government has taken concerted efforts towards the establishment of a Commission for Truth, Unity and Reconciliation including gazetting the draft bill, and tabling it in the Parliament.

As the Minister of Justice, he reiterated the progress that has been achieved in drafting comprehensive legislation on counter terrorism to replace the PTA, and notable progress on matters related to reconciliation processes coming under the purview of the Ministry of Justice, including the advancements made by the Office on Missing Persons (OMP), Office for Reparations (OR) and Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR).

An overview of the economic revival of the country was provided by the Governor of the Central Bank Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, also highlighting the envisaged way forward for continued economic stabilization, while conveying appreciation to the international community for their support towards Sri Lanka’s economic recovery. J.M.S.D. Ratnayaka, Additional Director General of the Department of National Planning, Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization & National Policies briefed the participants on the social safety measures implemented by the government and the newly launched Social Protection Policy to support vulnerable groups.

Foreign Secretary Aruni Wijewardane called on the Colombo-based Diplomatic community to understand the current situation in Sri Lanka, support the progress made thus far, and invited them to participate during the Interactive Dialogue on Sri Lanka at the upcoming session of the Human Rights Council.

She also highlighted Sri Lanka’s continued cooperation with the UN human rights mechanisms as well as with the multilateral system. However, Sri Lanka will continue to oppose UNHRC Resolution 46/1 and 51/1 which were adopted by a divided vote in the Council.

Representatives from the Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms, Attorney General’s Department, Office on Missing Persons, Office for Reparations, Office for National Unity and Reconciliation, Interim Secretariat of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the Office for Overseas Sri Lankans were also present at the briefing.

Members of the Diplomatic Corps expressed appreciation for the regular briefings provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the current situation and the steps taken towards recovery and reconciliation, and the regular engagement with related agencies.

Northern fisher families who received the generous Chinese ‘humanitarian assistance’ of packets of rice recently, are selling them on the pavement as they are not familiar with how to make ‘Chinese sticky rice’.

The Chinese rice variety, which is different when it comes to preparation, style, and taste compared to local Naadu types, gave a hard time to local fisherfolk who tried the same methods of cooking with the Chinese donated rice.

The Chinese rice donation was among the Rs 1.5 billion worth of humanitarian assistance, which includes a prefabricated housing scheme and fishing equipment for fisherfolk in the Northern and Eastern provinces.

The three aid packages, amounting to Rs 500 million each, would be the largest offered by China in the two provinces, where India has also invested heavily in development, livelihood and investment projects.

One local fisherman who sold the donated Chinese rice through an underground agent also expressed concerns with one of the other donated items – prefabricated housing, saying this is not conducive to living in a province that records higher temperatures for most of the months.

He had an interesting suggestion: give the items to politicians and officials.
Since most of the temporary shelters or vaadi houses erected on coastal lines to store fishing equipment caught fire due to unknown reasons, he is of the view that these prefab houses can be used as vaadi houses for better utilisation.