By Ranga Suriya in Daily Mirror, Nov 22, 2023Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that the three Rajapaksa brothers and a cabal of officials were responsible for the economic crisis, delivering an unprecedented judgement that could be the precursor to Sri Lanka’s long march for justice. The Court ruled by the majority judgment that the Rajapaksa brothers and five of their acolytes who were handpicked to the top government positions “had demonstrably contributed to the…
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report in ECONOMYNEXT, Nov 22, 2023 – A agreement for a 5 billion US dollar refinery to be built by China in Sri Lanka’s Hambantota district will be submitted to cabinet for consideration next week, Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said. “We have included in the agenda of the cabinet the awarding of the contract for the Hambantota new oil refinery,” Minister Wijesekera told parliament. “If the cabinet approves, after the agreement is signed, it will…
report in EconomyNext, Nov 20, 2023 at 8:56 pmSri Lanka is among countries ready to join the second phase of China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI), with a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries to be also expedited, according to a discussion between President Ranil Wickremesinghe and a top Chinese official. Wickremesinghe told visiting special envoy of the Chinese President, state councillor Shen Yiqin, that the BRI is expected to make a more…
By Shamindra Ferdinando in The Island, Nov 20, 2023The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has told the parliamentary watchdog Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) that it couldn’t fully take over the Revenue Administration Management Information System aka RAMIS for want of sufficient number of qualified personnel. Top management of the IRD said so when COPA Chairman Lasantha Alagiyawanna (SLPP), during proceedings, asked them whether they could run RAMIS on its own. This is Alagiyawanna’s second stint…
Report in The Island, Nov 20, 2023Cash strapped Sri Lanka has deprived itself of valuable foreign currency by exporting genuine Sri Lankan cinnamon to China as firewood for seven decades. SLPP lawmaker Yadamini Gunawardena has recently raised this issue at the Ministerial Consultative Committee on investment, chaired by State Minister DilumAmunugama. Subsequently, the Export Development Board (EDB) has taken up this matter with China and necessary remedial measures have been taken. Last week, EDB officials…
by Dimuthu Attanayake in SCMP, Nov 20, 2023For years, several China-linked projects in Sri Lanka have come under fire for being “white elephants” that have failed to contribute significantly to its economy, but a free-trade agreement between both countries, policy revamp and more involvement by joint ventures could turn the tide, analysts say. Among the underperforming projects are the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA), built with US$191 million financing from the Exim Bank of China;…
By Mithun Jayawardhana in Ceylon Today,Nov 18, 2023 at 2:06amA staggering number of 45,000 train journeys were cancelled in the past 10 months and an average of 150 daily scheduled train journeys continue to face cancellations, presenting a stark contradiction to the Department of Railways’ vision of becoming “the most efficient transport provider in Southern Asia”. This was revealed by a senior official from the Department of Railways, during an interview with Ceylon Today. The…
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa today revealed that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) president Shammi Silva had sent a letter to the International Cricket Council (ICC) alleging that the Sports Ministry had made undue interferences in its activities and claimed that this had paved the way for the ICC ban on Sri Lanka Cricket. The Opposition Leader told Parliament that the communique which contained five serious allegations with an additional point had been sent to ICC Chairman…
by Buddhika Samaraweera in The Daily Morning, Nov 17, 2023Former President and Prime Minister and incumbent Government Parliamentarian attorney Mahinda Rajapaksa was seen expressing contradictory views on the recent Supreme Court (SC) ruling which held that he and several others are responsible for the country’s economic crisis. Speaking to the media on Wednesday (15) in Rambukkana, he said that they would always respect the ruling delivered by the Judiciary. “We cannot go against the Judiciary,…