News

The World Bank Board of Directors has approved a USD 200 million loan to help increase the use and the quality of Sri Lanka's primary healthcare services.

The Primary Healthcare System Strengthening Project builds on years of experience and lessons in Sri Lanka's health sector and will focus on detection and management of non-communicable diseases in high-risk population groups, responding to the needs of the poorest of the population, a press release said.

Sri Lanka's health system has demonstrated remarkable performance in achieving universal coverage with maternal and child healthcare services and effective control of infectious diseases. But the country has the fastest ageing population in South Asia, with the population over 60 expected to double in the next 25 years. This demographic transition has an impact on Sri Lanka's health profile: 87 percent of deaths in Sri Lanka are caused by non-communicable diseases. Out of pocket spending on health is at 38 percent of the total health expenditure, which is most burdensome for the poor.

"People are at the center of this project which aims to bring better healthcare services, particularly to the poor and the vulnerable," said Idah Z. Pswarayi-Riddihough, World Bank County Director for Sri Lanka and Maldives. 

"It is designed to detect symptoms and provide remedial measures, including the promotion of healthy lifestyles to better manage the burden of non-communicable diseases at the community and primary health care levels," she added.

The Ministry of Health will implement the project, which is designed around the recently released positioning paper 'Reorganizing Primary Health Care in Sri Lanka: Preserving Our Progress, Preparing Our Future'. The World Bank will provide technical and financial support to implement the primary healthcare system reorganization and strengthening and provide implementation support through innovation grants.

"The project should serve as a catalyst for revitalizing Sri Lanka's Primary Health Care system and preparing the country to address the future health sector challenges," Senior Health Specialist and Task Team Leader Kanako Yamashita-Allen said.

The project, financed by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development loan, with a maturity of 33 years including a grace period of 6 years, will be implemented during a five-and-a-half-year period.

Army Commander Major General Lieutenant Mahesh Senanayake's term was extended by one year by President Maithripala Sirisena today. The extension will be in effect from August 19, this year the Army Spokesman said.

Lieutenant General N U M M W Senanayake RWP RSP VSV USP USACGSC was appointed as the 22nd Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, effective from 27 June 2017 by the President as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces after he was elevated to the rank of Lieutenant General with effect from the same date.

The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) had incurred a loss of more than LKR 400 million in the past four days due to the order given by the Minister of Petroleum Resources Development Arjuna Ranatunga to revert to previous prices, CPC sources said.

Ranatunga had disregarded the fuel price hike announced by the Ministry of Finance as per the fuel pricing formula.

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera had introduced the fuel pricing formula after detailed discussions and gaining cabinet approval.

State Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs, Dr. Harsha de Silva in a twitter message said that the pricing formula will 'certainly help in managing macro variables plus the demand side management' and called it a ‘positive development’ for Sri Lanka.

It is learnt that the CPC had sold 25.4 m litres of diesel, 1.42 m litres of super diesel, 2.71 m litres of octane 95 petrol and 18.5 m litres of octane 92 petrol during the period at old prices.

The Sri Lankan government has decided to reinstate the death penalty for drug traffickers including those who have already been sentenced to death, Minister of Buddha Sasana, Gamini Jayawickrama Perera said yesterday.President Maithripala Sirisena too had recently stated that he was under pressure to reintroduce capital punishment as a deterrent to serious crimes, the Minister said adding that it received approval from the Cabinet as well.

"The Cabinet in unison agreed to it. We cannot allow inmates in prison to destroy the country by directing crimes and engaging in the drug trade while still in prison", Perera said. 

As most of the people approve President Sirisena’s move to reactivate capital punishment, civil society and anti-drug addiction groups say death penalty alone is insufficient to deter crimes or curb the smuggling of drugs into the country.

While many argued that punitive punishment would act as a caution to would-be offenders, others said it would only net small-scale drug dealers while major dealers would escape with the help of powerful politicians.

Executive Director of the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre, Pubudu Sumanasekera said there was no scientifically-based evidence that capital punishment acted as a deterrent to crime. 

“This is not an option. We believe in prevention, treatment and rehabilitation,” he said.

Although capital punishment is in the statute, Sri Lanka had stopped hangings since 1976. Death row prisoners spend life terms in jail.

Executions have not been carried out as successive presidents in office since 1978 have refused to issue death warrants.

The development which has been confined to the Western and Southern provinces would flow to the Eastern Province with the implementation of Trincomalee District Master Plan, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said. 

The Premier made these remarks at an event held at the Temple Trees yesterday to unveil the Master Plan for the Development of Trincomalee District prepared by the Western Development and Megapolis Ministry jointly with the Singaporean Surbana Jurong company.

Wickremesinghe also said that the master plan would help achieve the Vision 2025 goals, adding that it would complete the development plans for the entire country. 

He said the Colombo - Trincomalee Economic Corridor would connect the East with the rest of the country.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe identified the Colombo, Hambantota and Trincomalee ports as the three major ports that required high priority. The master plan envisages developing Trincomalee as the East hub of exports, tourism and logistics by 2050. The Prime Minister, commending the dedication of Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka over the Western Megapolis Project, thanked him for showing similar enthusiasm on the Trincomalee Development Project.

“There will be a number of ministries involved, and coordination is important. It is a long-term plan. First, we will have to see the results of implementing the Western Megapolis Plan. It does not mean you have to wait until it is over. You can begin now,” the PM said. Strategic Development and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama, Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan and Eastern Province Governor Rohitha Bogollagama also participated.

The Attorney General has instructed the Inspector General of Police to conduct investigations into the statement made by former State Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran regarding the LTTE.

Speaking during a state event held in Jaffna on July 2, she had said that the LTTE should be reformed for the freedom of the Tamil people.
 
The AG has also requested the IGP to soon submit a report following the investigations. The Speaker had informed the Attorney General to investigate whether MP Vijayakala Maheswaran’s controversial statement has violated the Constitution or any laws and to take necessary legal action.

A woman has received a life sentence for throwing a tennis ball containing heroin at an inmate in the Welikada prison.
 
The verdict was passed by the Colombo Magistrate Judge Champa Janaki Rajaratne, on to a married 33-year-old woman named Hiruni Alwis, living in Seevali Mawatha, Borella.
 
The convicted had been accused of throwing a tennis ball over the wall of the Welikada Prison, in January 2011, to get the heroin concealed in the ball to a prison inmate. There had been 3.15 g of heroin concealed in the ball.
 
After a lengthy trial, Judge Jayarathna decided that the accusations against the defendant have been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
Accordingly, the convicted was sentenced to a life imprisonment.

Source : Ada Derana

The trial against MP Namal Rajapaksa and six others over the alleged purchase of stocks using misappropriated money has been postponed until July 31, on the orders of the Colombo High Court.

The case was slated to be taken up before the Colombo High Court Judge Sampath Abeykoon, yesterday. As the prosecution informed the court of the absentia of a witness due to health reasons, the case was postponed to July 31, and the Magistrate Abeykoon ordered the prosecution’s witness to appear at the next hearing.

The case was filed by the Attorney General under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act over the alleged invest of Rs. 30 million in the stocks of Gowers Corporate (Pvt) Limited, supposedly misappropriated by MP Namal Rajapaksa while working as a Member of the Parliament.

The second defendant of the case, Indika Prabath Karunajeewa, has fled the country and is currently absconding the court. The High Court has ordered to proceed with the trial in his absentia.

Source: Ada Derana

Releasing a communique regarding the country’s recent decision to implement the death penalty, Amnesty International says that Sri Lanka must pull back from any plans to implement the death penalty and preserve its longstanding positive record on shunning this cruel and irreversible punishment.

“By resuming executions after more than 40 years, Sri Lanka will do immense damage to its reputation. The government must immediately halt plans to carry out any executions, commute all death sentences, and establish an official moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty as a first step towards its full abolition,” Dinushika Dissanayake, Deputy Director for South Asia at Amnesty International said. 

“Sri Lanka has been a leader in the region, with an enviable record of shunning this cruel and irreversible punishment at a time when many other countries persisted with it. Now, when most of the world has turned its back on the death penalty, it risks heading in the wrong direction and joining a shrinking minority of states that persist with this horrific practice.”

Amnesty International is absolutely opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances, regardless of the crime or the method of execution she said adding that executing people for drug-related crimes is a violation of international law – which says the death penalty can only be imposed in countries that are yet to abolish it for the “most serious crimes”, meaning intentional killing– and would brazenly defy Sri Lanka's international commitments, including its repeated votes in favour of a moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty at the UN General Assembly, including most recently in 2016.

“There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect against crime. Executions are never the solution and, for drug-related offences, constitute a violation of international law. Sri Lanka should choose a more humane and just path,” said Dinushika Dissanayake.

As of today, 142 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. In the Asia-Pacific region, 19 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes and a further seven are abolitionist in practice.

In 2017, as recorded by Amnesty International, executions were carried out in an isolated minority of countries (23), and only 11 of these – or 6% of the world's total –carried out executions every year in the past five years.

A decision was made to increase the fuel prices of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation following a meeting with the President yesterday according to Cabinet Spokesman, Minister Rajitha Senaratne.

The price hike will go into effect from midnight today.

Accordingly, the new fuel price revision has increased Petrol 92 Octane by Rs 8, Petrol 95 Octane by Rs 7, Diesel by Rs 9 and Super Diesel by Rs 10.

Plans have already been formulated and the necessary foundation laid to transform Sri Lanka into a fully developed country by 2050, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said.

“Undoubtedly this is a challenging task which ought to be carried forward with patience and prudence by working with a group of people with divergent views,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister expressed these sentiments participating in a Question and Answer session of the Sri Lanka-Singapore Business Conference organised by the Trade and Industry Ministry of Singapore in association with the Singapore Business Forum on July 10. The large number of Sri Lankan and Singaporean Businessmen and Entrepreneurs attended the conference held at the Jan Tanglin Hotel in Singapore.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said that since Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean has been clearly understood the longtime target is to develop the country into an Economic, Financial and Social Centre. “Sri Lanka is taking dedicated efforts to create a society based on the export economy by inheriting new technology. Pointing out that friendship and co-operation with all countries in the world is the avowed policy of Sri Lanka, the Prime Minister added that it would strive to further strengthen friendship and co-operation with Asian counties such as India, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Korea, Japan and China.

Explaining the Economic, Industrial and Tourist Zones to be set up locally in future, he pointed out the investment opportunities available to target 9 million people living around the Expressway network linking Colombo-Kandy and Hambantota.

Singapore’s Trade and Industries Minister S. Iswaran also spoke on this occasion.

Here are some of the questions asked the answers given by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe during the occasion.

QUESTION:- What are the plans available in Sri Lanka for entrepreneurship development?

ANSWER: At the outset an entrepreneurship culture should be promoted in the country. Traditionally we have been a trading nation and that tradition is still existent in the country. There is a large group of youth entrepreneurs in the country but their main problem is finding financial basis. The country’s banking institutions are still operating with caution and traditional basis. However much the government assisted small and medium scale ventures the assistance received from Banks is inadequate. As such the government has introduced relief measures to support entrepreneurs who have launched business ventures.

Loan facilities for medium scale business ventures should be expedited. Banks in Sri Lanka should become project based institutions. The export culture should be introduced to small and medium scale business ventures.

QUESTION: What is the impact of the Colombo Port City Project on the Economy of Sri Lanka?

ANSWER: The Colombo Port City Project was started for property trade development. But under our government it has been planned to transform it into a financial city. Land filling in it will be completed by next year and thereafter building construction would begin. Already several financial cities have been set up in the Indian Ocean area. As such we should think of new services to be set up there. This is a project with a 10 year plan.
The Prime Minister said during his visit to England a few weeks ago, he discussed possibilities of implementing the English laws in the financial city. Authorities in England agreed to discuss about the implementation of English laws and lend all possible support in this direction. Already plans are underway to introduce several new legislations relating to the financial city in Sri Lanka.

The first step is to institute a Financial Commission. After discussing the matter and attendant problems and issues with the Attorney General a Cabinet paper would be submitted for setting up the financial commission of the Port Financial City within the next two months.

QUESTION: How will the data collection and analysis process take place correspondent to the future vision?

ANSWER: Data collection work is already in progress. An analysis in made on the impact made on the country’s economy.

Data collection and analysis will be undertaken in cooperation with other countries in the future. This will be the final step towards making Sri Lanka the economic hub of the Indian ocean the Prime Minister said. Development strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama who delivered the inaugural lecture at the session said the Sri Lanka-Singapore FTA will provide a positive message about Sri Lanka’s development goals to the whole world. The government is committed to make Sri Lanka an economic hub in the Indian Ocean. The necessary internal reforms are now underway to make this possible laying emphasis on the Asian supply network and the environment would be created to link with it through export industries. For this Free Trade Agreements would be signed with several other countries.

Deputy Minister Anoma Gamage, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in Singapore, Nimal Weeraratne and Colombo’s Mayor Rosy Senanayake were also present on the occasion.

Source : Daily News

A Policeman has been killed by a Buddhist monk today at a temple in the Ratnapura Weralupe Galande area. According to sources the Policeman, a sergeant attached to the Ratnapura Police had visited the temple around 9.30am today to execute a warrant regarding a case being heard against the monk when he was fatally attacked.

A resident in the area had called 119 to inform of the incident. However responding officers were also attacked by the monk who had tried to hurl a hand grenade at them. The Police were able to prevent the attack, going on to arrest the monk instead. 

The killed Policeman has been identified as Police Seargent 44101 Samarawickrama attached to the MO Branch of the Ratnapura Police. He was a resident of Embilipitiya and father of two.