News

In accordance with her wishes, the last rites of UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Una McCauley, will take place in Colombo today.

The remains will lie at the Jayaratne "Restpect" Parlour, Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 8 from 1.30 p.m. - 3.30 p.m and the cremation will take place at 4.00 p.m. at the New Crematorium at the Borella Cemetery.

Representing the UN Secretary-General and on behalf of UNDP, the UN Assistant Secretary-General, Haoliang Xu, will arrive in the island to offer condolences to McCauley's family.

The Director of the UN Development Operations Coordination Office, Kanni Wignaraja, will also attend the funeral service.

She passed away last week while undergoing treatment.

Thousands rally over mounting debt in northern Sri Lanka

By Meera Srinivasan

Months after Sri Lanka’s Central Bank vowed action on mounting household debt in the war-affected north, thousands gathered in Jaffna on Tuesday, protesting against the government’s inaction.

‘Our home and country are indebted, what is the solution?; ‘Stop loans, give employment’ and ‘Strengthen people’s organisations’, read the banners held by participants, who marched from the iconic Veerasingham Hall — named after a former MP who pioneered the northern cooperative movement — to the office of the Government Agent (GA corresponds to the district collector in India).

Participants included members and employees of cooperative societies across the Northern Province and thousands of women, who are among the worst-affected by the high-interest, unregulated loans. After the civil war ended in 2009, a host of microfinance companies made credit easily available to those struggling to rebuild their lives.

Petition to agent

In its petition to the GA on Tuesday, the Jaffna District Co-operative Council sought a ban on unethical microfinance companies, an interest cap on “predatory loan schemes”, a two-year moratorium and the expansion of low-interest government credit schemes.

Speaking to The Hindu, Kanthiah Mahadevan, president of a Jaffna-based credit cooperative society and an organiser of Tuesday’s protest, said while many families in Jaffna receive financial support from a member earning abroad, it is the economically most vulnerable who are aggressively targeted by the companies. The interest rate is 28% on paper, but the actual interest paid adds up to 70%, he said. “The government must channel funds to the cooperative societies so we can lend at a reasonable rate of 10-12%.”

With no option of repaying the high-interest loans, many women take multiple loans to survive. “Collecting agents often harass them at their doorsteps, pushing many to the brink of suicide,” said Sarojini Pathmanabhan, secretary of the Northern Province Federation of Thrift and Credit Cooperative Societies.

Amid growing calls for government intervention to address the problem, Sri Lanka’s Central Bank said in October last year that it was considering measures, including a moratorium and an interest rate cap. Asked about the progress made, the apex bank’s Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy said an awareness campaign was being undertaken. A six-month moratorium came into effect a couple of months ago, but more people needed to be made aware of the option, he said. “We have not ruled out a cap on interest rate, but we would prefer it if the banks are responsive to the situation and take decisions to self-regulate,” he told The Hindu.

The central government has made a budgetary allocation of LKR 500 million for debt relief in 2018. “The allocation is welcome, but if the government does not take immediate regulatory measures, the development of the northern economy will be at stake,” warned Jaffna-based economist Ahilan Kadirgamar.

(The Hindu)

Deputy Minister of Public Administration and Management Susantha Punchinilame has sought permission from President Maithripala Sirisena to leave the Government and sit in the Opposition.

Punchinilame is said to have briefed the President about his position. However, he said the President asked him to stay for one month. “I have to act according to the interests of my constituents,” he said.

Asked whether he would sit in the Opposition whatever decision the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) took as a party, he replied, “Let’s us see then!”

Punchinilame was elected to Parliament from the Trincomalee District at the 2015 Parliamentary Elections.

When the trial of two cases filed against Shashi Weerawansa for holding diplomatic and general passports illegally, was taken up before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court yesterday, the eleventh witness of the case, former Commissioner of the Department for Registration of Persons Jagath Wijeweera informed Court that he gave special instructions to approve Shashi Weerawansa’s application based on trust, regardless of necessary documents being not furnished.

He told the Court that former Minister Wimal Weerawansa had personally contacted him and said that Shashi Weerawansa had lost all her documents when they shifted to their new residence in Colombo 07 and she has to obtain a new ID immediately.

Wijeweera also said that he had issued a special written statement to the approval section of the Department, noting that Shashi Weerawansa had lost all her relevant documents and she would submit them later.

Accordingly, Colombo Chief Magistrate Lal Ranasinghe Bandara fixed the two cases for further trial on April 23.

Shashi Weerawansa was arrested in February, 2015 over the charge of obtaining diplomatic and general passport illegally. She had allegedly submitted birth certificates with forged names and dates of birth to obtain those passports. She is currently out on bail.

Source : Daily Mirror

President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday confirmed the appointments of the seven members to the Office of the Missing Persons (OMP) which was established in September 2017.

At a meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat, the President appointed President’s Counsel Saliya Peiris as Chairman of the Office with six others also being appointed as members to work with him.

The members are: Jayatheepa Punniyamoorthy, Major General Mohanti Antonette Peiris, Dr Sriyani Nimalka Fernando, Mirak Raheem, Sumanasiri Liyanage and Kanapathipillai Venthan.

OMP Chairman Peiris speaking to Daily News said all members would meet next week to decide on their future course of action and how the office would be set up.

The OMP (establishment, administration and discharge of functions) was established through Act No.14 of 2016 and amended by Act No.9 of 2017 and came into effect on September 15.

The Act stipulated that the OMP would, “Provide for the establishment of the office on missing persons; to provide for the searching and tracing of missing persons; to provide assistance to relatives of missing persons; for the setting up of a database of missing persons; for setting out the procedures and guidelines applicable to the powers and functions assigned to the said office; and to provide for all matters which are connected with or incidental to, the implementation of the provisions of this act’.

In December 2017, the Constitutional Council nominated the names of seven persons to the OMP, having selected them from over 100 applications and the 2018 Budget allocated Rs 1.4 billion for the OMP.

The OMP is one of the four big transitional justice mechanisms proposed by the government, others being an office to handle reparations, a truth commission and a judicial mechanism to address allegations of wartime abuses.

According to the last Paranagama Commission appointed to investigate into missing persons; close to 19,000 persons have been confirmed to have gone missing during the three decade war. The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances has recorded 12,000 cases of enforced disappearances related to the Janatha Vimukthi Perumuna (JVP) uprisings and during the armed conflict between Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)and the Sri Lankan government forces from 1980 to 2010.

Source : Daily News

The case against former Sports Minister and MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage for the alleged criminal breach of trust of funds amounting to Rs. 3.9 million belonging to a trade union named Sri Lanka Nidahas Kamkaru Congress, was yesterday fixed for trial on March 6 by the Colombo High Court.

The case was to be taken up for trial yesterday, but President’s Counsel Nalin Ladduwahetty with counsel Hafeel Farisz appearing for Aluthgamage, moved court that the case be fixed for a new trial date since the defence was yet to receive a copy of a written complaint made by the third witness Wasantha Samarasinghe.

Counsel Hafeel Farisz appearing for Aluthgamage, moved court that the case be fixed for a new trial date since defence was yet to receive a copy of a written complaint made by the third witness Wasantha Samarasinghe.

However, Deputy Solicitor General Thusith Mudalige appearing for the Attorney General told court that defence was asking a document which had not been listed in the indictments. He said that there is no legal basis to consider this request and complained that the defence is attempting to postpone trial.

Accordingly, High Court Judge Sampath Wijeratne decided to commence trial proceedings from next date and the Attorney General was directed to submit documents at issue prior to the trial. The Attorney General alleged that former Sports Minister Aluthgamage has committed a criminal breach of trust with regard to Rs. 1,000,000, misappropriated Rs. 1,900,000, and misappropriated another Rs. 1,000,000 belonging to the Sri Lanka Nidahas Kamkaru Congress between October 2012 and April, 2013. The Attorney General charged that Aluthgamage had committed punishable offences under section 388 and 389 of the Penal Code, listed 13 persons as witnesses in the case and named eight documents as production items.

Source : Daily News

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will leave for Singapore today to participate in the “Invest Sri Lanka” conference. The conference will be held at Hotel Four Seasons on March 2,2018.

Prominent investors in the region will participate in the conference.

The “Invest Sri Lanka” conference has been held in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Switzerland and in Hong Kong previously. The conference is expected to attract investment to the country and contribute to the Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement 2018. Central Bank Governor Dr.Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Singapore Trade and Industry Minister S.Ishwaran and distinguished guests are to participate in the conference.

Source : Daily News

Sri Lanka, like many developing nations, faces refinancing risks in the coming years and should execute a concerted and coordinated policy response to mitigate such risks, Minister of Finance and Media Mangala Samaraweera said during his opening remarks at the two-day technical forum of the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four (G-24), on International Monetary Affairs and Development, which commenced today, at the BMICH.

Because of a verity of impending developments in the global financial markets, the World Bank and IMF jointly formulated a new framework on Debt Sustainability for Low-Income Countries, as announced in October last year.”

Samaraweera added that this new framework will be implemented in the second half of 2018 and would help guide countries and donors in mobilizing financing for development needs.

“The new framework would help mitigate the risk of an excessive build-up of debt in the period ahead.”

The Minister also stated that according to the IMF’s Fiscal Monitor, within the group of low-income developing economies, over 90% of the countries had debt levels over 30% of the GDP as at end 2016.

However, the average government revenue within the same group of countries is 15% of the GDP, the primary deficit is around 3% of GDP on average, and exports are dominated by primary products.

These structural factors are not conducive to effective debt management and entails repayment risks even at modest levels of absolute debt, the Finance Minister added.

The government of Sri Lanka has formulated a three-year Economic Delivery Programme to Increase per capita income to $5000, Create one million new jobs, and Increase FDI to $5 billion per year in order for Sri Lanka to achieve the 2025 goal of being an upper-middle income country, said the Minister of State for Finance Eran Wickramaratne.

The State Minister of Finance made these comments addressing a gathering of India & South Asia Investor Conference 2018 held in Mumbai on 26th February.

The Minister on the government’s action plan to achieve these goals said that, many reforms were being implemented, and a multitude of policies had been put into effect to stabilise the economy and to make a conducive economic climate for both domestic and foreign investors. As a result of the efficient management of the economy he said encouraging developments in fiscal consolidation were recorded for the first time since 1954,

“Sri Lanka had its first primary budget surplus in 2017. The improvements in the economic climate have been reflected in the sovereign ratings by Fitch and Standard & Poor as they upgraded from a negative to a stable outlook.” He said

On monetary policy, Wickremaratne said that importantly, core inflation has been well within target levels, and with the Central Bank announcing a move towards flexible inflation targeting framework, inflation expectations in the economy have been well anchored.

The Minister, drawing the attention of the gathering, said Sri Lanka’s external sector has performed well with exports reaching US $11.4B, 10% more than that of 2016, and higher still than the previous best ever of $11.1B in 2014. The two strongest sector growths were seen in tea and fisheries with 20% and 40% increases respectively – benefitting from Sri Lanka’s strategy of gaining market access to Europe through GSP +. The apparel sector will also be a major beneficiary of GSP+.

GSP+: Implemented again in May 2017 and the current regulations will be valid till 2023. There was significant growth seen in industries that export to the EU as a result of GSP+. For example, the average growth rate before GSP+ (2001-04) was 11.5%. During (2005-09) it was 16.4% and between 2010-14 it was 7.4%. It is estimated that since the reinstatement of GSP+, growth in textiles & apparel, and electronics and machinery would be 21% and 28% respectively.

Among the products that enjoy 0% duty rate to EU markets are: Vehicles and vehicle parts, apparel and clothing accessories, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, animal and vegetable fats and oils and related products. In addition to Sri Lanka’s FTA with India, Sri Lanka is negotiating a comprehensive trade agreement with China. Together with the GSP+ with Europe, this will provide export oriented investors in Sri Lanka with market access to Europe, India, and China – a unique proposition.

The Minister expressed the hope that Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves which has accumulated to US $7.9B at the end of 2017 (around 4.5 months of imports) will increase to US $10B by the end of this year. While the quantum has increased, the quality of reserves too has improved, as the bulk of the reserve growth has been through earned reserves as opposed to borrowed reserves, reversing previous trends.

The improved reserve position and stability has enabled the Central Bank to consistently pursue a flexible exchange rate framework and will continue to do so in the future as well. The new foreign exchange Act of 2017 will provide further liberalisation of the capital account including more flexible outward investment and capital flows from Sri Lanka. This will encourage further investment into Sri Lanka’s capital market.

On the side of governance, the Minister commented on the achievements of the regime since it was elected in 2015. He referred to the 19th Amendment to the constitution that established independent commissions, including the procurement commission, and the Right to Information Act which was a step towards greater transparency. The government is also in the process of setting up a system of E-Procurement and passing a new National Audit Bill which has been approved by cabinet. Furthermore, a Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament has been finalised and will be adopted soon.

The United States and Sri Lanka have signed an agreement to re-establish the Peace Corps program in Sri Lanka, the US embassy announced today.

With Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and US Ambassador Atul Keshap in attendance, Sheila Crowley, Acting Director of the U.S. Peace Corps, and Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Thilak Marapana, signed a new bilateral agreement to re-establish the program in Sri Lanka.

Peace Corps’ efforts in Sri Lanka will focus on English language education. Once in Sri Lanka, volunteers will undergo three months of comprehensive cultural, language and technical training before they are given their assignments to serve for two years. The first Peace Corps Volunteers are scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka in September 2019.

“I am delighted that Peace Corps is returning to Sri Lanka. Our volunteers embody and promote the ideals of equality, shared prosperity, and a common interest in a peaceful, stable world,” said U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives Atul Keshap. When signing the Executive Order that created the Peace Corps, President John F. Kennedy said, “Our Peace Corps is not designed as an instrument of diplomacy or propaganda or ideological conflict. It is designed to permit our people to exercise more fully their responsibilities in the great common cause of world development.”

From 1962 to 1998, more than 370 Peace Corps volunteers served in Sri Lanka, working in education, health and youth development. The program was closed in 1998 due to political instability. Peace Corps’ Crisis Corps, now Peace Corps Response, returned to Sri Lanka to support relief efforts in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. In 2016, the Government of Sri Lanka invited Peace Corps to return to work and assist in furthering the country’s development goals.

“The return of Peace Corps to Sri Lanka is an opportunity to deepen the enduring friendship that has grown between our two countries over the past 70 years,” said Acting Peace Corps Director Sheila Crowley. “We are grateful to the Government and people of Sri Lanka for their invitation to, once again, have Peace Corps volunteers serve side-by-side with Sri Lankans in their beautiful country.”

The Cabinet of Ministers approved the price stipulated for paddy. Accordingly, 1 kilogram of Nadu will be sold for Rs. 38, 1 kilogram of Samba for Rs. 41, and 1 kilogram of Keeri Samba will be sold for Rs. 41.

The Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in Wennappuwa has been arrested by officers of the Bribery Commission today while allegedly soliciting a bribe of LKR 30,000.

The ASP had demanded a bribe from the owner of an Ayurveda massage parlour and was arrested during the transaction.