President Ranil Wickremesinghe has signed an Extraordinary Gazette Notification declaring services related to ports, airports and passenger transport essential services with immediate effect.
The Extraordinary Gazette was issued by the Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake, by order of the President yesterday (27).
The Gazette states;
By virtue of the powers vested in me in terms of Section 2 of the Essential Public Services Act, No. 61 of 1979, I, Ranil Wickremesinghe, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, do by this Order, considering it necessary that the services provided by any Public Corporation or Government Department or Local Authority or Co-operative Society or any branch thereof being a Department or Corporation or Local Authority or Co-operative Society, which is engaged in provision of the services specified in the Schedule hereto, is essential to the life of the community and is likely to be impeded or interrupted, declare the services specified in the Schedule hereto to be an essential public service for the purposes of the aforesaid Section.
Given at Colombo, on the 27th day of February, Two Thousand and Twenty Three.
By order of the Hon. President,
1. Public transports services for passengers or goods.
2. the discharge, carriage, landing, storage, delivery and removal of articles of food or drink, or of coal, oil or fuel from vessels within any port as defined for the purposes of the Customs Ordinance (Chapter 235)
3. the provision and maintenance of facilities for transport services by road, rail or air, including roads, bridges, culverts, airports, ports and railway lines.