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Sri Lanka has granted approval to issue on-arrival visa to tourists from countries, including India and China, aiming to revive its flagging tourism sector after the deadly Easter bombings.

On July 10, the Sri Lankan government planned to revive the visa on arrival and free visa programme for 39 countries with effect from August 1. But the programme then, however, excluded Sri Lanka's top source markets, namely India and China, according to Colombo page.

The countries included, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States of America, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Canada, Singapore, New Zealand, Malaysia, Thailand and Switzerland.

But on Wednesday, Sri Lanka's Tourism Ministry approved the pilot project to issue a free visa on arrival to 10 additional countries, including Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Philippines, Russia, China, India and England.

The visas-on-arrival pilot programme was part of a larger initiative to increase tourist arrivals to the country during the six month off-season period from May to October.

However, the initiative remained suspended indefinitely following the Easter Sunday attacks that rattled several high-end hotels and churches across the country on April 21.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has granted waivers for Sri Lanka’s nonobservance relating to the performance criteria on the primary balance of payments and net official international reserves.

Sustaining policy discipline remains critical to strengthen resilience, given still sizable public debt and low external buffers, and support strong and inclusive growth. IMF pointed out.

Government has been directed to take measures focusing on liberalizing trade, improving the business environment and promoting investment, strengthening governance, encouraging female and youth labor force participation, enhancing social protection, and improving crisis preparedness to natural disasters.

Prompt action to advance fiscal consolidation

The Executive Board of the IMF says that despite setbacks, the government took prompt action by advancing fiscal consolidation through a well-targeted 2019 budget, rebuilding reserves, while maintaining a prudent monetary policy under greater exchange rate flexibility, and reviving structural reforms.

"Sustained revenue mobilization is needed to place public debt on a downward path, while making space for critical public investment and an expansion of the social safety net under well-defined selection criteria," the IMF suggested.

Strengthening the selection and appraisal process of large-scale investment projects and assessing their fiscal affordability is critical, given Sri Lanka’s high public debt. Stronger fiscal rules and a medium-term debt management strategy will support medium-term fiscal consolidation and debt reduction efforts, it added.

The IMF urged government authorities to renew their efforts to strengthen SOE governance and transparency, including by advancing a restructuring plan for SriLankan Airlines and completing energy pricing reforms, building on important progress with the implementation of the fuel pricing formula.

Efforts to build reserves should be sustained, under greater exchange rate flexibility, to protect the economy against shocks. Harmonizing regulation and supervision of financial institutions, strengthening the macro prudential policy framework, and enhancing the crisis-preparedness toolkit will help further strengthen financial sector stability. Furthermore, the continued implementation of structural reforms is essential to support strong and inclusive growth.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by President Maithripala has decided to take the necessary steps to hold provincial council (PC) polls before the presidential election.

The decision was reached by the SLFP central committee (CC) last evening when the committee met under the patronage of the President.

SLFP General Secretary, MP Dayasiri Jayasekera has said the party intends to seek a Supreme Court order on holding the presidential election before the provincial council elections. He has further noted that steps would be taken to expedite measures to hold the provincial council elections at the earliest possible time.

According to Jayasekera, it was also decided that the party leadership would discuss the formation of a new alliance with former President, Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa and to reach a conclusion on the matter.

Sri Lanka’s only state-owned manpower recruiting entity, the Foreign Employment Agency (Pvt) Ltd is losing its market share owing to management weakness and lack of dynamism in the face of high competition from mushrooming job agencies.

Around 1,000 foreign employment agencies are functioning countrywide forcing stiff competition to the state owned agency. However, only 350 agencies have registered with the Association of Licensed Foreign Employment Agencies (ALFEA), official sources said.

According to the statistics of Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), 310,786 foreign job opportunities have been received for the country in the year under review (2017/2018).

Out of this number, 427 job opportunities or 0.14 per cent had only been sent abroad by Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Agency (Pvt) Ltd, data showed.

Further, job orders decreased significantly considering the drop in job opportunities by 2211 received in the year under review as compared with the year 2016.

The company has failed to recruit qualified workers for 140,100 and 60 normal job opportunities received from countries such as Jordan, Singapore and Bahrain, respectively in the year under review.

Further, out of 58 technical and professional job opportunities received from Maldives, workers had also not been recruited for 55.

Although job orders had been received from countries like Qatar, Kuwait and Oman, the agency had failed to recruit enough people which resulted in the cancellation of job orders.

The Foreign Employment Agency (Pvt) Ltd has sent only 44 workers via MoUs for jobs mainly to West Asia out of 806 migrants in the year under review, the audit inspection revealed.

According to the SLBFE, ‘job orders’ from foreign countries are sent to the Sri Lankan embassy in that particular country and it is the responsibility of the embassy to check the type of employment being requested and the wages offered for it.

These orders are received by the foreign employment agencies in Sri Lanka, only with their approval, he explained

In the face of declining migrant worker numbers, the Ministry of Foreign Employment is in the process of training workers to fulfill 10,000 vacancies in Japan and a number of European countries, a senior official of the Ministry said adding that the opportunities are mostly in care giving and the construction sector.

However, the training centres run by the SLBFE are running below capacity, although some centres are equipped with modern resources to train large numbers, an onsite inspection revealed.

Sri Lanka needs each and every company and each and every businessman and woman to be setting and sticking to principled standards and practices, and needs them to be holding their employees, customers and suppliers to these.

Competition stimulates innovation and efficiencies, it feeds ideas, it encourages product innovation and higher customer service standards.

These companies and these business leaders should take the lead to help move free trade forward, not hold it back.

This was stated by British High Commissioner in Sri Lanka James Dauris when he addressed the launch of Trade Research Book on Bilateral Trade between Sri Lanka and the UK CBB in Colombo recently.

These companies should hold the politicians and officials they talk to and work with to the same high standards he said,

He urged business leaders and chambers to use their public authority and influence with the government to help press down on permit mentalities and to support the liberalisation of laws and regulations that hold business development back.

He added that the business community needs companies that are leading in their fields to help take forward these changes and support the government with efforts to liberalise the market and make it easier to do business.

Senior business managers and leaders, have key roles to play in holding the government and others to account he said adding that hand in hand with this responsibility goes a responsibility for supporting the government, for sharing the good advice on wise decision-making,.

A couple of much hyped housing programmes for the rural poor mooted by the National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) spearheaded by Minister Sajith Premadasa fail to fulfil the needs of the needy due to improper planning and implementation, government audit inspection unearthed.

The Grama Shakthi Udagammana Programme was slated to kick start at a cost of LKR 250 million and complete 500 houses by the end of 2017/2018 period.

Provisions of LKR 100 million had been made therefore in the year under review and work had commenced with regards to the construction of 1,304 houses.

However, not even a single house had been constructed and completed by the end of the year under review, the government audit concluded.

Another shelter programme of this nature called Welioya Housing Project had been implemented by the National Housing Development Authority at an expenditure of LKR 61 million to build 1,042 houses in the year under review.

The construction of 995 houses had been completed by spending a sum of Rs.57 million for the project.

However, the project had been implemented without a proper study or a search on natural factors such as water resources of the area prior to the commencement of the project. As such, the beneficiaries had left due to lack of water in the area, residents complained.

Sri Lanka’s drug addict rehabilitation programmes are being carried out in snail pace without giving it a priority, despite President Maithripala Sirisena’s action to intensify the combating of drug menace.

President Sirisena is now all-out to eradicate the drug menace from the country threatening drug king pins and narcotics mafia but no action has been taken to revitalize the rehabilitation of drug addicts from its current sorry state, civil society activists said.

A survey by the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board has revealed that 30,000 drug addicts have to be rehabilitated with immediate effect.

The survey revealed that there are about 80,000 drug addicts in the country of which the majority of them are from the Western province.

Colombo and Gampaha districts have a higher number of drug addicts than Kalutara.

The majority of these drug addicts are residents of the North-Western province and along the coastal belt of the island, Survey data showed.

A proposal to set up non-residential rehabilitation centres is still to be implanted although the President is keen to hang drug traffickers and conduct raids to size narcotics and combat drug dealers following the Philippines example.

It has been revealed that the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board had conducted 06 camps for the rehabilitation of drug addicts recently without proper medical guidance.

The Board has obtained the service of a Medical Officer who had not fully registered or temporally registered in the Medical Council for 03 camps.

Analysis of samples of biological specimen for performance enhancing drugs in sports, providing scientific service for judicial proceedings and providing technical service for the Sri Lanka Customs had not been carried out in the year 2017, Auditor Generals report revealed.

Out of these activities, only one activity had been carried out in the year 2016. The analysis carried out to test whether new adulterants are contained in heroin available on the “Street”, was less than 50 per cent, audit report observed.

Education programmes provided by the Drugs and Crimes Prevention Office, preparation of field test kits for the law enforcing institutions in order to identify narcotics and psychotropic substances had been in a very weak level , the report exposed.

The United States Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Sri Lanka Compact has no bearing on land ownership, administration and management in the island, US diplomatic sources said.

The USD 67 million land administration project has an estimated economic rate of return of 30% and aims to expand and improve existing Government of Sri Lanka initiatives to increase the availability of spatial data and land rights information. The project will initially focus on districts in the Central, North-Western, North-Central and Eastern Provinces.

This was disclosed by US Ambassador in Colombo Alaina B. Teplitz appearing in online via the embassy’s social media site out lined current Sri Lanka –USA relations dispelling false propaganda campaign of the opposition recently.

Land activities will help the Government create an inventory of state lands, modernize methods of valuing lands, strengthen tenure security for smallholders, women, and firms, and digitize deeds records so that they are less vulnerable to damage, theft, and loss.

The US Government will not buy, sell, or own any actual land - or take control of any actual land - under this agreement.

Under the land administration project, the land activities will be done in the preparation of parcel fabric map and inventory of state land. improvement of deeds registry, improvements of the land valuation system, land grants registration and deed conversion activity and land policy and legal governance improvement activity.

The above activities will be implemented in 7 districts with the limited funds available for the land sector. Accordingly, these will be implemented in Kegalle, Kandy, Matale, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Trincomalee. Furthermore, it is learnt that the US has requested to include Gampaha district as well.

In a latest development, the British government has launched an investigation after Sri Lankan authorities said they would send back more than hundred shipping containers because they appeared to contain human remains disguised as recyclable metals, The Telegraph reported.

Officials at the port of Colombo made the grisly discovery while investigating a strong smell emanating from 111 containers which have been arriving at the docks over the past two years.

Inside the crates, customs officials found the “extremely hazardous” materials mixed in with mattresses, plastics and clinical waste.

It was also reported that human organs and body parts were inside the container, but said it was yet to be approached by the Sri Lankan authorities.

Sri Lanka Customs is also conducting comprehensive investigation into illegal waste along with discarded stock of mattresses importation into Sri Lanka under entrepot trade regulations introduced during previous Rajapaksa regime in 2013 which allows re-exporting rackets of unscrupulous exporters to enjoy tariff relief, customs officers emphasized.

The gazette notification No. 1818-30 issued during the Rajapaksa regime has provided provisions for import and re-export goods without the control of Customs Ordinance, Exchange Control Act, and Import – Export Control Act etc.

These regulations indirectly paved the way for racketeers to exploit its loop holes in manipulating entrepot trade without considering the country’s economic prosperity and environment.

Customs media spokesperson Sunil Jayaratne noted that the main stakeholder is Hayleys Free Zone Private Limited and this company also has the right and legal capacity to enter into agreements with third parties.

He added that as per that contract they had come to an agreement with a company by the name of ETL Colombo Private Ltd and a 4th party by the name of Ceylon Metal Processing Corporation Ltd was also involved.

He revealed that the ETL Colombo Pvt. Ltd was the actual importer of consignments. .

The deal maker was Vengaads in the UK and it is owned by Venkadesha Muthurajan who brought down the waste material from the UK to Sri Lanka.

It has been revealed that Hayley’s Free Zone Company has given subcontract to Metal Processing Corporation Private Limited whose owner is Shashi Kumar Muthurajan.

130 containers have been imported 12 times with 2488 tonnes of waste material and the material is sent back after removing metal and several other things.

The waste material dumped in the port were also to be sent to where the garbage containers were sent in the previous instances.

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera has ordered the Director-General of Customs to carry out an investigation and provide a report regarding the waste containers. According to a media release issued by the Finance Ministry, the Minister has made this order today (July 23) after returning to the island.

The media release says if a certain party has violated any law or regulation when it comes to the import of these containers stern action will be taken against those parties.

Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has continuously opposed the Sri Lankan government’s discussions with the US on several key defence agreements, has today met with US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina B. Teplitz.

The meeting had taken place at the Opposition Leader’s official residence in Colombo.

Former Foreign Minister, Professor G.L Peiris and Parliamentarian Keheliya Rambukwella have also attended the meeting.

US agreements

The US and the government of Sri Lanka are in the process of reviewing and discussing the signing of the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) and Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that were signed in 2007 and 1997 respectively.

Opposition has also been raised against signing the US Millennium Corporation Challenge (MCC) compact for Sri Lanka. Despite the MCC compact being targeted for development programmes in the highways and transport sectors, the Opposition claims the agreement too would impact the country’s sovereignty.

However, the Rajapaksa led Opposition has been continuously criticizing the government of Sri Lanka for negotiating with the US to sign the two agreements, stating it would harm the sovereignty of the country and would lead to the setting up of a US military base in Sri Lanka.

Key among the Opposition critics are MPs Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila.

Anti-US fear mongering

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, who was the country’s former Foreign Minister, on several occasions severely criticised the Opposition for “anti-US fear mongering” against signing agreements between the two countries.

Samaraweera has noted that it could have a significant impact on relations with the US, which is Sri Lanka’s largest single country export partner.

According the Minister, Weerawansa was on a campaign to spread fear and hate against engagement with the US, which would not be beneficial for Sri Lanka, as the US is Sri Lanka’s largest single country export partner, annually purchasing about $3.7 billion worth of goods and services.

“The Opposition is jealous of our achievements. We took a country that was isolated and broadened engagement with many international countries. Sri Lanka has benefited from this engagement, whether it is GSP+ or the US$ 480 million grant from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). I can speak extensively on the MCC grant, because I have been personally involved, and the funds have been allocated by the Government to improve a range of services, including transport and land. The grant may not seem like much, but as a middle-income country, Sri Lanka does not receive such large amounts of funds anymore, and it is important that it be productively used,” the Minister told the media last month.

Samaraweera also dismissed Weerawansa’s claim that the new versions of the SOFA and ACSA agreements were different and would threaten Sri Lanka’s sovereignty, by pointing out that the documents only had more pages because additional addendums were attached.

“It is ridiculous to say that the agreements are bad for Sri Lanka based on the size of the agreements, or the number of pages. I ask Weerawansa to learn an additional language and come see me, so that I can explain to him what is exactly in these agreements. The first ACSA agreement was signed in 2007 by none other than former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, so how can he say this agreement is bad? SOFA was signed in 1997 and will only be renewed. What catastrophes have befallen Sri Lanka because of it? Ninety-four other countries, including India and Malaysia, have signed these agreements, and they have used them to engage more and develop their countries. Instead, we are being pushed in the opposite direction by a person who has no idea what they are talking about, a person with a small mind.”

 US denies allegations

The US has meanwhile rejected false claims which implied that America is interested in building a military base in Sri Lanka.

US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina B. Teplitz has insisted that the US have no plans of establishing military power in Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, US Embassy Spokesperson Nancy Van Horn has told the media that as democracies in the Indo-Pacific, the US and Sri Lanka have a built a strong partnership that enhances security for the people of the two countries and for the region.

She has recalled that in 1995, the US and Sri Lanka concluded an agreement on the status of US Department of Defence (DoD) military personnel and civilian employees who visit Sri Lanka for exercises or official duties.

“We have proposed amending this agreement to include some additional privileges, such as the mutual recognition of professional licenses, how US military personnel and DoD civilians can visit Sri Lanka, fees for support services rendered, and regulations for hiring foreign and local contractors,” she has been quoted as saying.

Van Horn has further noted that the updates will streamline processes already in place and will facilitate collaboration with the Sri Lankan military on counter-terrorism practices, maritime security, and other issues of common concern.

The Permanent High Court at Bar has ordered the Attorney General to submit an affidavit before August 09, citing grounds if any, for the request made to issue an arrest warrant on former Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Arjuna Mahendran.

Mahendran is one of the key suspects in the Central Bank Treasury bond scam case.

The three judge bench comprising Judges Sampath Abeykoon, Sampath Wijeratne and Champa Janaki Rajaratne of the Special High Court has delivered this order.

Appearing on behalf of the AG, Additional Solicitor General Priyantha Nawana had requested the court to issue a warrant to produce Mahendran before court as summons cannot be handed over to him.

Following the request made by the Additional Solicitor General, Special High Court Judge Sampath Abeykoon has stated that certain requirements need to be fulfilled to issue a warrant for a defendant of a case at the earliest opportunity. The judge has made this statement citing Article 73 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The bench of judges of the Special High Court has ordered the Additional Solicitor General to submit an affidavit citing the reasons for issuing a warrant to arrest the first defendant of the case.

However, the bench of judges has ordered to issue summons to the 10th defendant of the case, Ajahn Gardiye Punchihewa, who is currently living in Singapore and allegedly absconding the court.

Meanwhile, defence attorneys have requested court to issue English and Tamil translations of the indictments filed against Arjun Aloysius, Geoffrey Aloysius, Chitta Ranjan Hulugalle and Muthuraja Surendran citing that their mother tongue is not Sinhalese.

Additional Solicitor General Nawana has also informed court that he would submit the translations requested by the defence.

Former Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has returned to Sri Lanka from Singapore last night after recovering from a heart procedure.

The trial on the case filed against Gotabhaya for the alleged misappropriation of public funds in the construction of a D.A. Rajapaksa memorial museum in Hambantota is to now commence before the special High Court trial at bar from Friday (26).

The trial was postponed due to Gotabhaya’s absence and later due to medical reasons after his counsel informed court of the surgery and the need for him to recover.

Meanwhile, Gotabhaya loyalists say that he is expected to launch his presidential campaign at the August 11th special convention of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) led by his brother, former President and Opposition Leader, Mahinda Rajapaksa.