News

The MTV network’s Batticaloa district correspondent has lodged a complaint with the Karadiyanaru police after being threatened by a landlord who has leased out his land for the construction of Telecom mast.

Kuhadasan Subojan was video graphing a protest by locals in the Eravur town in the Batticaloa district who were protesting against the erection of a mast by Indian Telecom giant ‘AirTel’.

The protesters say they are worried about the environment and health concerns.

 A police complaint has been registered by the journalist and an investigation has been initiated according to sources from there.

Attacks on journalists have largely gone underreported in Sri Lanka. The Diplomat magazine noted that the future for the country’s media looks bleak. They further stated that Sri Lanka is one of the world’s most difficult countries for journalists.

The duty on bottled toddy that stood at Rs 50 a litre will be reduced to Rs 25 from Friday (08), according to a written directive issued by Rajapaksa, who is also finance minister.

The Prime Minister has also allowed extending the opening duration of toddy taverns by two hours with effect from Friday, News First reported.

Taverns can now remain open from 10 am to 2 pm, and 5 pm to 9 pm. The previous times were from 11 am to 2 pm and 5 pm to 8 pm.

Premier Rajapaksa has also increased the amount of toddy permitted to be sold to a person, from 1.5 to three litres, amending a law dating back to 1985.

Accordingly, a pass would be required when transporting more than three litres of toddy in the country.

India has reiterated its commitment to be a dependable partner and reliable friend and will be open to strengthening its relationship with Sri Lanka.

The directive had been issued by prime minister and finance minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on December 31 last year, state documents showed

Earlier, the waiver had been granted to vehicles less than 1800 cc, diesel vehicles less than 2300 cc, and electric vehicles less than 200 kW.

Rates of the luxury tax, imposed in 2019, range between 60 and 120% if the vehicle cost exceeds the tax-free threshold.

Sri Lanka has temporarily suspended vehicle imports, according to its COVID-19 economic revival plan, citing it as a move to curb foreign currency outflows.

Colombo District SLPP (Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna) MP Madura Vithanage said that he wouldn’t take the duty free vehicle permit he was entitled to.

The former Kotte Mayor said that he had informed the relevant ministry of his decision.

He admitted that it wouldn’t be fair on their part to receive such a privilege as the country was struggling on the economic front.

Attorney-at-law Nagananda Kodituwakku asked whether members of parliament were entitled to such generous grants.

Kodituwakku noted that it would be a massive challenge for the new government to scrap the duty-free vehicle permit scheme.

Despite repeated denials by the state authorities regarding the deaths of 11 prison inmates, autopsy reports have revealed that all eleven of them who were killed in the Mahara Prison riot in November 2020 had died from gunshot injuries.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed an 18-member Deregulation Commission for the simplification of the existing laws and regulations, the President's Media Unit said.

The relevant gazette notification will be issued by the Finance Ministry sometime this week on the directions of the President’s Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera.

He has already announced only some ‘big-ticket items’ such as motor vehicles are prohibited from being imported for a further period. Earlier it was planned to extend the restrictions for only three months but the decision was reversed to six months on Thursday evening, the sources said.

Import restrictions will further slowdown Sri Lanka’s battered economic growth prospects hurting businesses that rely on imports, several economic experts said.

They added that it would affect production and jack up the price of goods while allowing domestic production chains to sustain themselves disrespecting consumer choice.

In the very short run, Sri Lanka has no other alternative other than going for import controls, eminent economist Dr. W.A. Wijewardena said adding that the country ideally should not exceed this ‘short’ period of controls.

Sumanasiri Liyanage, retired Professor in Political Economics at the University of Peradeniya, warned that a small group of corporate élites will grab benefits from the production-oriented strategy of restricting imports making the poor poorest due to loss of livelihoods during COVID-19.

The new production-oriented strategy unveiled in budget 2021 is likely to push the country back to the 1970s closed economic era in order to ‘save foreign exchange’, economists said.

Sri Lanka’s transformation into a production-oriented market economy with import restrictions will be leading the country towards the emergence of a separate domestic capitalist class.

According to Central Bank statistics, imported consumer goods amount only to 19.8 per cent of total imports, while 57 per cent of imports are intermediate goods for production.

Therefore local manufacturers are already starting to experience the adverse effects of the import controls.

“These import restrictions are also exerting an impact on the consumer durables market,” Singer Group CEO Mahesh Wijewardene told shareholders in the company’s latest annual report.

Several building material manufacturers in steel, tiles, aluminum are exploiting the people with overpriced goods. The main problem now is that while the people are paying high prices under cover of the tax and import restrictions, the money is not going to the government coffers but to the pockets of the few selected businessmen with ruling party connections, economists said.

The tax on readymade garment imports will be increased from April in addition to existing import restrictions on textiles, official sources said.

Economists said that several protectionist measures in the hope of saving foreign exchange were irrational in the current global and regional economic conditions.

This is because the market monopoly creation instead of market competition is misguided protectionist policy.