The Ministry of Public Security plans to recruit 10,000 individuals under the age of 45 who have legally retired from active military service into the police force.
Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala revealed the initiative during the opening ceremony of the Thambutthegama Superintendent of Police office.
He said that a Cabinet Paper seeking approval to recruit the ex-military personnel for a five-year period will be submitted to the Cabinet today.
Sri Lanka Customs today (8 June) strongly denied allegations that a batch of 323 shipping containers was released without inspection under suspicious circumstances, stating that the cargo consisted solely of industrial goods and raw materials as declared by importers.
At a special press briefing held in Colombo, Customs Media Spokesperson and Additional Director General Seevali Arukgoda said there was no evidence to suggest the containers held anything illegal. “These containers did not contain weapons, drugs, or gold. We thoroughly checked the import documents before release,” he asserted.
The controversy centres around the release of 371 containers on 18 January 2025, of which 309 were cleared through committee approval, and 62 were auto-released by the Customs database. Customs confirmed it has detailed records on all 180 importers involved, including company directors, agents, and container numbers.
Arukgoda explained that the released cargo included plastics, yarn, chemicals, automobile spare parts, animal feed, machinery, pesticides, cement, iron pipes, fertilisers, and timber—goods essential for local industries. Most containers originated from India and China, along with others from Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Switzerland, South Korea, and the UAE.
Responding to public speculation and political accusations, Arukgoda said: “We have launched a post-clearance audit to verify the contents. The process is being overseen by the Post-Clearance Department, and a high-level committee appointed by the Finance Ministry Secretary is also conducting an investigation.”
He further assured that there was no external interference in the clearance process. “We have provided all relevant data to the Criminal Investigation Department. I can say with absolute certainty that no third party influenced the decisions.”
Addressing the broader practice of cargo clearance, Arukgoda clarified that around 60% of imported shipments are routinely released without physical inspection under a risk-based assessment system. “This is not a new practice,” he said. “Our decisions are guided by risk management protocols, not randomness.”
Customs reiterated its commitment to transparency and cooperation with ongoing investigations, aiming to restore public confidence amid rising scrutiny.
Sri Lanka’s gross foreign reserves dropped 42 million US dollars to 6,284 million US dollars, below the level seen in October 2024, amid rising concerns that another cycle of policy errors is starting.
Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves hit 6,472 million dollars in October 2024, amid warnings of money printing, as large volumes of excess liquidity were dumped into the banking system to mis-target interbank call money rates.
In December and January, the central bank sold dollars on a net basis, as printed money was used for private credit, driving up imports.
In January private credit contracted, and the central bank bought dollars on a net basis.
Policy rate were cut in May 2022, though data shows that interbank rates were ‘signalled’ up, slightly with excess liquidity from dollar purchases boosting interbank liquidity without money being printed, and three month bill yields falling below the bureaucratically controlled rate.
Sri Lanka has had bad consequences from late cycle ‘rate cuts’ in the past.
Analysts have warned that beliefs that rates can be cut or that money can be printed through open market operations are spurious monetary doctrines that emerged in the ‘age of inflation’ and a central bank is just a ‘bank of issue’ subject to laws of nature discovered by classical economists.
Due to the central banks flawed operating frameworks which reject economics (current as well as in the past) people have to suffer exchange and import controls.
Many also leave the country of their birth to stable Middle Eastern countries where macro-economists cannot control short or long term rates and employment is many times their permanent resident population.
By February 2024, gross official reserves were down to 6,086 but private credit eased and the central bank bought dollars. An IMF tranche also came and foreign reserves went up to 6.5 billion US dollars.
After the IMF tranches reserves started to go down again.
Unless money is printed, there will not be immediate forex shortages (the central bank will not have to spend reserves to finance current outflows like imports to stop the rupee from falling from the newly created liquidity) but reserve collections may not be sufficient to repay debt, if interest rates are too low, even if some dollars are bought from the market.
The central bank itself has to settle dollar loans to India borrowed to effectively finance imports when money was printed to artificially boost credit in the run up the default.
As a result, the interest rate structure is dictated by the need to repay debt (by raising deposits from the domestic banking system) and IMF reserve targets and not historical statistical formulae as believed in countries that go to the IMF again and again and default (also again and again once it starts).
The Finance Ministry does not independently buy dollars from the market from rupees raised by Treasury bill sales, and is a helpless prisoner depending on central bank deflationary policy to collect reserves, EN’s economic columnist Bellwether says.
Meanwhile with the central bank running of Treasury bills bought during the crisis (they were converted to step down securities) the ability run deflationary policy is limited to coupon payments coming in, unless action is taken to sell them down.
Failing to reach reserve targets tends to unsettle foreign investors and rating agencies.
Sri Lanka’s central bank is now pursuing a so-called single policy rate involving narrowly controlling a mid-corridor rate, which critics have showed contributed to rapid-fire peacetime currency crises since the end of a 30-year war.
Before open market operations and discretionary monetary policy, external crises were limited money printed in desperation due to war, not due deliberate actions taken to follow follow a statistical doctrine which undermines the working of a credit system.
The recent controversy surrounding the release of a financial fraud convict from Anuradhapura Prison under the Presidential Pardon for Vesak Poya Day has revealed a serious irregularity: the convict’s name was not included in the official list of pardoned prisoners approved by the President, the President’s Media Division (PMD) confirmed in a statement.
Amid widespread public outrage, the PMD stated that the Presidential Secretariat has launched an inquiry after reports emerged that D.H. Athula Thilakarathna was released under the 2025 Vesak Presidential pardon without proper authorization.
According to Article 34(1) of the Constitution, the President has the authority to grant pardons to selected prisoners. Prison authorities prepare a list of eligible inmates, which is reviewed by the Ministry of Justice before being forwarded to the Presidential Secretariat for final approval.
The official list of 388 prisoners approved for pardon, submitted by the Commissioner General of Prisons on 6 May 2025, did not include the name of Athula Thilakarathna, who was serving a sentence for financial fraud. This omission has raised serious concerns about the legality and transparency of his release.
In response, the Presidential Secretariat lodged a formal complaint with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on 6 June, demanding a special investigation into the unauthorized release under the guise of the presidential pardon.
Authorities have pledged a thorough and transparent investigation, promising disciplinary action against any officials found responsible for this breach of protocol.
The proposed $3.7 million oil refinery to be built by China’s Sinopec in Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port is facing significant delays over multiple issues like dispute over equity structure, tax concessions, market access, and allocation of land for the project.
The inland port is built in a natural harbour near the town of Hambantota in the district of the same name on the southeastern coast of Sri Lanka, located 250 kilometres from Colombo. Unable to repay its debt, Sri Lanka gave China a controlling equity stake and a 99-year lease for Hambantota port, which it handed over in December 2017.
In the pact signed on January 16, 2025, during the visit of Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to Beijing from January 14 to 17 following his visit to India in December 2024, China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec, the world’s biggest refinery, agreed to expand its economic and energy footprints by building a massive oil refinery in Hambantota.
The agreement promised a facility capable of processing 2,00,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Incidentally, the Sri Lankan government had originally envisioned a 1,00,000 barrels per day refinery when Expressions of Interest (EoI) were called. While hailed by Sri Lankan officials as a landmark foreign investment, the deal had raised deep concerns about sovereignty, environmental integrity, and long-term economic independence.
This expansion had raised red flags with China controlling a major deep-water port and a potential mega refinery. However, the project in Sri Lanka is considered a top priority at Sinopec. The refinery is planned adjacent to the Hambantota port that China Merchant Port Holdings controls, on a 99-year lease.
The refinery project in Sri Lanka is a move by the top Chinese and global refiner to secure more markets overseas. The Sinopec investment was cleared in November 2023 during the term of Dissanayake’s predecessor, Ranil Wickremesinghe. Under debt-trap diplomacy, China woos foreign leaders and signs deals, which are dual-use in nature.
The original Request for Proposal (RFP) had stipulated foreign equity to be capped at 20 per cent and mandated 80 per cent of the projected output per day to be earmarked for exports. However, Sinopec is seeking a larger equity share and dilution of the 80 per cent export obligation to enable it to gain wider access to the domestic market in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka authorities have, till now, ruled out any changes in the RFP. Separately, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) has raised concerns that unrestricted market access for Sinopec could severely disrupt the petroleum sector in Sri Lanka and adversely affect energy security.
The Sri Lankan government had initially offered 500 acres of land for the project in Arabokka, Hambantota, and Sinopec subsequently requested an additional 200 acres of land just 3.5 kilometres from the Chinese-controlled port.
The authorities concerned are yet to decide on the quantum of land to be allocated, and there is also the related issue of lease duration for the land to be allocated. Hence, no formal agreement has been reached in this regard. Meanwhile, the Central Environment Authority (CEA) had issued the terms of reference to Sinopec to carry out an environmental impact study and submit the report to it.
Source: IANS
The seven agreements signed between Sri Lanka and India during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the country will be made public once the Indian Government grants its consent, Ceylon Today learns from highly placed government sources.
A clause within these agreements requires mutual consent from both countries before any third-party disclosure can be made, which has been cited as the reason for the current lack of transparency. As a result, even individuals who attempted to obtain these documents under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, No. 12 of 2016, have been denied access, a government spokesperson said.
Ceylon Today’s sister paper, Mawbima, also made an inquiry through the Right to Information Act to the Presidential Secretariat via the RTI Unit of the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI), requesting copies of these agreements. However, the response received stated that the relevant agreements are not available at the Presidential Secretariat. The response, sent under the signature of Senior Additional Secretary to the President, G.G.S.C. Roshan, stated that the reason for this is that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had not signed those agreements.
The exchange of the seven Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) took place at the Presidential Secretariat on 5 April, in the presence of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The MoUs cover a range of sectors including Energy, Digitalisation, Defence, Health, and Development Assistance.
According to a press release from the President’s Media Division (PMD), the agreements involve collaboration on establishing a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electricity interconnection for power trade, exchanging grassroots-level digital solutions to support digital transformation, cooperation in developing Trincomalee as an energy hub, strengthening defence ties, and improving pharmaceutical and medical services. They also include joint efforts on a multi-sectoral development support initiative in the Eastern Province.
Sri Lankan signatories to these MoUs included Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy Prof. K.T.M. Udayanga Hemapala, Secretary to the Ministry of Digital Economy Varuna Sri Dhanapala, Defence Secretary (Retired) Air Vice Marshal H.S. Sampath Thuyacontha, and Health and Media Ministry Secretary Specialist Dr. Anil Jasinghe. Representing India were Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha, and UAE Ambassador to Sri Lanka Khaled Nasser Al Ameri.
Following the signing, several political parties and civil society organisations called on the Government to make the contents of the agreements public. Criticism has emerged over the lack of Cabinet or Attorney General’s review prior to the signing. Opposition MPs have urged the Government to table the agreements in Parliament. In response, Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath stated that under the 2016 RTI Act, anyone could request these documents.
Despite this, media outlets, including BBC Sinhala and other entities that submitted formal requests to public authorities, have yet to receive the requested information. In some cases, officials redirected requests to the respective line ministries, but none have responded within the RTI-mandated timeframe.
Meanwhile, a former Secretary to the President and Defence Secretary, Austin Fernando, commented that Minister Vijitha Herath’s claim — that the agreements can be obtained under the RTI Act — was being used as a tactic to delay public disclosure. He added that Section 5 (1) and (2) of the RTI Act permits public authorities to deny access to information related to national security, State security, and international agreements, which may be the legal basis for the refusals.
Fernando, speaking to the media, pointed out the historical context, noting that in previous instances — such as when President J.R. Jayewardene signed the Indo-Lanka Accord and when Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe signed a ceasefire agreement — the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) had criticised the lack of public disclosure, arguing it posed a threat to national security and territorial integrity. He suggested the current delays may be viewed similarly.
Cabinet Spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa has also confirmed that bilateral consent is required for the publication of these agreements.
According to the same Government sources, Sri Lanka has now formally requested India’s consent to release the agreements, and once approval is granted, the documents will be tabled in Parliament.
Source:Ceylon Today
Students of the University of Jaffna staged a protest on Wednesday demanding the unconditional release of two Tamil farmers who have been remanded in custody over allegations of damaging an archaeological site in the Mullaitivu district.
The two farmers, Samithamby Egambaram and Sri Rathinam Gajaruban, were arrested and presented before the Mullaitivu Magistrate’s Court on May 29 and were ordered to be remanded until June 7.
The protest, held in front of the University of Jaffna, was led by the university’s Student Union.
Addressing the media, Union President Dayabaran Ligirdhar strongly condemned the racially discriminatory actions of several state institutions, including the Department of Archaeology, the Sri Lanka Police, and the Department of Wildlife Conservation.
“These arrests are part of an ongoing pattern of state institutions targeting Tamil civilians under the guise of legal and conservation work. We view these actions as illegal and deeply racist. The two farmers in question are innocent, and we demand their immediate and unconditional release,” he said.
He also raised concerns over the conduct of state officials in relation to land use and archaeological claims in the Northern Province, alleging that these actions are being used to marginalise Tamil communities and restrict their traditional livelihoods.
The protest comes amid heightened tensions surrounding land rights and archaeological claims in the North and East, where Tamil farmers and civil society groups have increasingly raised concerns about state interventions in areas historically inhabited by local communities.
Building on the success of its inaugural initiative, Sinopec, a global energy leader, is set to launch the second phase of its Energy Talent Growth (ETG) Program in Sri Lanka this year.
First introduced in 2024, the program has already conducted 18 training sessions for nearly 150 station managers across all 9 provinces, reflecting Sinopec’s long-term commitment to developing a high-performing, future-ready workforce within the country’s energy sector.
The ETG Program is designed to equip front-line station staff with advanced technical knowledge, operational excellence and international best practices. In 2024, 18 top-performing managers from Sinopec’s network in Sri Lanka participated in an intensive development journey in Colombo and Beijing, China combining theoretical learning, practical site visits, strategic capability-building, and Sinopec’s global management ethos. The program also included rigorous assessments to benchmark competencies against international best practices.
“This experience has truly re-energized us and strengthened our commitment to delivering even better service. It wasn’t just a great learning opportunity for me, but also for my colleagues at the station. We’re hopeful we’ll have the chance to return and build on what we’ve learned,” said Akila Fernando, Manager of the Sinopec A.D.A. Francis Appuhamy Filling Station in Marawila and one of the top-performing participants in the training program.
Commenting on the program in Beijing, the Sri Lankan Ambassador to China, Hon. Majintha Jayesinghe, stated “These programs reflect Sinopec’s commitment to not only empowering and enhancing the skills of Sri Lankan professionals, but also to strengthening Sri Lanka’s energy sector”.
Taking Dilly Fuelling Station in Nawala – the new benchmark of Sinopec Filling Station as an example, the changes are modest but tangible. With nearly 10% of daily visitors using restroom facilities at Sinopec stations, these changes are especially important in ensuring a clean, comfortable and dignified experience for customers.
Aligned with the newly launched Clean Sri Lanka Sinopec Action Plan, the ETG Program continues to drive front-line excellence by focusing on operational performance, customer-centric service and raises station managers’ awareness of safety, cleanliness and community-friendly practices.
Australia is committed to work closely with Sri Lanka’s new administration, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence of Australia Richard Marles said.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake held discussions with Richard Marles at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo.
The meeting focused on further strengthening the historic ties between Sri Lanka and Australia, with a particular emphasis on enhancing bilateral cooperation.
President Disanayake highlighted Sri Lanka’s progress towards economic stability and briefed Deputy Prime Minister Marles on the government’s ongoing efforts to combat corruption and fraud.
He also expressed appreciation for the Australian Government’s support in recent maritime security operations and its assistance in addressing illegal trade, human trafficking, terrorism and arms smuggling.
The President further reaffirmed that Sri Lanka remains a secure destination for tourism and investment.
Deputy Prime Minister Marles, reflecting on the 70-year economic and political relationship between the two countries, conveyed Australia’s commitment to working closely with Sri Lanka’s new administration.
He praised the government’s anti-corruption initiatives and emphasized that enhancing trade, economic, political, tourism and investment relations was a central objective of his visit.
The Australian delegation included Paul Stephens, Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka; Gregory Laurence Moriarty, Secretary of the Department of Defence; Simon Eric O’Connor, Senior Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister; and Ms Lalita Kapur, Australian Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka.
Parliamentarian Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam presented a private member’s Bill titled “Bill to amend the Provincial Councils Elections Act, No 2 of 1988”, aiming to hold the Provincial Council elections.
MP M. Nizam Kariapper seconded the Bill.
