Courtesy Adaderana

Courtesy Adaderana

Adani Green Energy, part of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s Adani Group, has decided to withdraw from its wind energy project in Mannar, Sri Lanka.

Despite obtaining most approvals, the company cited delays, including unresolved environmental clearance and an ongoing Supreme Court case as reasons for the withdrawal.

The company has informed Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment (BOI) of its decision to respectfully withdraw” while remaining open to future projects. 

A new committee is set to renegotiate terms, but official statements from both Adani Group and Sri Lankan authorities are still pending.

Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) has officially withdrawn from its proposed $1 billion renewable wind farm and transmission project in Sri Lanka, citing prolonged discussions and new government renegotiation efforts, Indian media reported today.

In a letter to the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, Adani Green confirmed that after two years of negotiations with the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and government departments, and after 14 rounds of discussions, the company had secured most approvals. However, with a new Cabinet-appointed negotiations committee (CANC) and Project Committee (PC) being constituted to renegotiate the proposal, AGEL has decided to step away from the project.

The project aimed to establish 484 MW wind farms in Mannar and Pooneryn, alongside a 220 KV and 400 KV transmission network expansion to support Sri Lanka’s energy infrastructure. The company had already spent $5 million on pre-development activities and had made progress on clearances and land acquisitions. However, unresolved environmental approvals in Mannar and an ongoing Supreme Court case further delayed the project.

While withdrawing from this investment, Adani Green reaffirmed its willingness to consider future opportunities in Sri Lanka should the government invite the group for any new projects.

This marks a significant shift in Sri Lanka’s renewable energy landscape, as the country continues its search for sustainable energy solutions amid increasing power demands.

Sri Lanka AGEL Letter to BOI by Adaderana Online on Scribdhttps://www.scribd.com/embeds/827547344/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-xrNuAtoL5tZYwfoWCXnn

Media Statement on Sri Lanka Projects by AGEL by Adaderana Online on Scribdhttps://www.scribd.com/embeds/827547342/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-3jFYCxu4BipNYBVyApVP

Courtesy Adaderana

A preliminary discussion on the final phase of drafting the Budget 2025, which is scheduled to be presented to Parliament on February 17, was held this afternoon (13) at the Presidential Secretariat under the leadership of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, according to the President’s Media Division (PMD).

The discussion was attended by Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation K.D. Lalkantha,  Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Co-operative Development, Wasantha Samarasinghe, Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Economic Development Dr. Anil Jayanta Fernando, Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance Mahinda Siriwardana, along with several senior government officials.

–PMD

Courtesy Hiru News

The Attorney General has informed the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court that his recent recommendation regarding the suspects in the murder of journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge will be temporarily suspended.

Previously, the AG had advised the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on the possible release of three suspects, including former Army Intelligence officer Prem Ananda Udalagama, former Mount Lavinia Crime Branch OIC Tissasiri Sugathapala, and former DIG Prasanna Nanayakkara. The recommendation, conveyed to the CID Director on January 27, had sparked controversy.

However, the AG has now informed the court to put the recommendation on hold, clarifying that the release of the suspects does not rule out the possibility of filing criminal charges if new evidence emerges.

Borella Handiya

Sasanka De Silva Pannipitiya

A recent island-wide power outage that lasted for several hours has sparked concerns over the country’s national security and the reliability of its power grid. The incident, which was initially attributed to a lone monkey invading a substation in the Panadura area, has raised more questions than answers.

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has offered a different explanation, citing the integration of solar power installations on rooftops into the main grid as the cause of the outage. According to the CEB, the unpredictable nature of renewable energy production, which can vary depending on weather and time, makes it challenging to control the grid.

However, this explanation has raised several questions. If the CEB is unable to control the grid due to the integration of renewable energy sources, why did they recommend these options in the first place? Moreover, it is unclear why the country’s power grid is unable to accommodate the variability of renewable energy production when other countries seem to be able to do so without major disruptions.

Another issue that has been highlighted is the CEB’s reluctance to allow owners of rooftop solar installations to have their own energy storage devices. This has led to speculation that the real reason for the outage may be more complex and nuanced than initially reported.

The recent brain drain of qualified personnel from the country’s energy sector has also been cited as a possible contributing factor to the outage. The lack of expertise and resources may have hindered the CEB’s ability to monitor and control the grid effectively.

The citizens of this country deserve answers and assurance that the power grid is secure and reliable. The government should conduct a thorough investigation into the incident, and the panel should comprise of real experts in the field, rather than individuals with dubious credentials.

Ultimately, the incident highlights the need for a comprehensive review of the country’s energy infrastructure and policies. The integration of renewable energy sources into the grid is a positive step towards reducing the country’s carbon footprint, but it requires careful planning, monitoring, and management to ensure a reliable and secure power supply.

The government and the CEB must work together to address the concerns raised by the recent power outage and take concrete steps to prevent such incidents in the future. This includes investing in grid modernization, enhancing energy storage capabilities, and developing strategies to mitigate the variability of renewable energy production.

By taking a proactive and transparent approach to addressing these issues, the government can restore public confidence in the power grid and ensure a reliable and secure energy supply for the country’s citizens.

Sasanka De Silva

Pannipitiya.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Legal Officer’s Association of the Attorney General’s Department firmly asserted that the Attorney General and officials involved in the relevant decision-making process have exercised their independent professional judgment in line with the esteemed traditions of the Attorney General’s Department regarding recent recommendations to discharge the three suspects in a case.  

The Association unequivocally declares that it will not hesitate to defend the Attorney General against any attempts to remove him from office.  
Acting Secretary of the Legal Officers’ Association Tashya Gajanayake issuing a statement also stated:  
The Legal Officers’ Association of the Attorney General’s Department expressed its deep concern over certain recent factually incorrect and misleading statements circulating in the media relating to the advice dated 27th January 2025 issued by the Hon. Attorney General.   The Association notes that the relevant procedures and practices in the Attorney General’s Department have been strictly complied with in the matters relating to the said advice. The relevant officers concerned had considered all the material facts and the law and had duly made their recommendations to discharge the three suspects who were the subject matter of the said advice. The Hon. Attorney General, after considering the same had agreed with the recommendations and thereafter proceeded to issue the relevant advice.   Taking decisions to forward indictments and discharge suspects, based on the material available, with dispassionate disregard to the political repercussions or public approval or disapproval of such decisions, is the hallmark of an independent Attorney General’s Department.   The Association expresses its utmost confidence in the Hon. Attorney General, his decisions and in the officers involved in the relevant decision making process, and notes that they have done so exercising their independent professional judgment in accordance with the highest traditions of the Attorney General’s Department.   The Legal Officer’s Association emphatically wishes to state that they would not be hesitant to stand up and defeat any attempt to remove the Hon. Attorney General from his office.”

Headline News

Iraj Show

3 Minutes – SEPAL AMARASINGHE

Dilrook Kannangara

All of Sri Lanka’s miseries and problems boil down to its multiethnic nature which has led to conflicting policy priorities. One avenue of approach which may benefit one group, is not very beneficial to the other two groups. As a result, Sri Lanka is stuck in this trijunction unable to move. This is why the NPP regime despite 159 seats in parliament and the executive president is unable to make any real change. It is safe to just sit in the middle of the trijunction than move in any single direction and hurt the aspirations or sentiments of one or more tribe.

Don’t be misled by transactional issues and basic human needs like food, gas, fuel and the like. A nation that truly develops has far better things to consider and accomplish than daily living needs. Though daily struggles unify people of all ethnic groups, national issues and the direction the nation should take that divides them.

In the past there were five (5) instances when the ruling party had 2/3 majority to make radical changes. Some regimes with 2/3 parliamentary power did make far reaching changes that benefitted the country at that time. These include SWRD, Sirima (1970-77), JR, Mahinda and Gota. However, almost the entirety of their 2/3 was made up of Sinhala MPs and very few minority MPs who were either appointed to parliament by the national list or who had no other avenue of survival. 

It was easy to make radical changes and follow a determined pathway. Though it had challenges, the nation mostly benefited, faced war and won and remained financially afloat (except the one headed by Gota).

However, the NPP regime has elected MPs from every district and a sizable number of minority MPs. Excluding minority MPs, the NPP regime has less than 140 seats. 

Given parliamentary hostility and fragmentation, other party MPs are not going to support their moves.

This is the fate of the party that won the north and the south, the east and the west and the centre of the country and unified it for the first time in election history. It is not the fault of the NPP. It is the very nature of multiethnic Sri Lanka which will be stuck in this multiethnic rut forever.

When other Asian nations like Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Maldives, Vietnam and other mono-ethnic nations advance rapidly, Sri Lanka and multi-ethnic nations are stuck in a rut. Singapore is a rare exception and without compulsory military service imposed on every 18-year-old, no country can become the next Singapore though some Sri Lankans dream of Singapore’s riches without suffering the pain it goes through to achieve those riches. India is a divided nation from what was once a larger nation which included Pakistan and Bangladesh. Had British India remained one large and far more diverse nation with Pakistan and Bangladesh post-Independence, it too would have been bogged down in the same rut Sri Lanka is in.

Asanga Abeyagoonasekera Executive Director, South Asia Foresight Network (SAFN)

Bangkok, Thailand (February 11th, 2025) – The South Asia Foresight Network (SAFN), based in Washington, DC, and the Nation-Building International Institute (NBII) in Thailand have entered into a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to foster research collaboration and academic exchange on 7^thFebruary 2025 in Thailand. This landmark partnership will drive joint research initiatives across Thailand and Southeast Asia, with SAFN focusing on foreign policy, security, and futures research in the region.

Thailand, as ASEAN’s second-largest economy, stands at a crucial geopolitical crossroads. This partnership will create new opportunities to develop high-impact research that strengthens regional cooperation between South and Southeast Asia.” 

Speaking on the significance of this collaboration, Prof. Kriengsak Chareonwongsak, Chairman of NBII, stated: Thailand, as ASEAN’s second-largest economy, stands at a crucial geopolitical crossroads. This partnership will create new opportunities to develop high-impact research that strengthens regional cooperation between South and Southeast Asia.” The agreement comes at a pivotal moment, as the region faces rising geopolitical competition among major powers. The collaboration will provide a platform for scholars, policymakers, and researchers to engage in cutting-edge studies on economic development, security and foreign policy dynamics, contributing to informed decision-making in the region.

Thailand’s civilizational ties, rooted in its rich Buddhist heritage, naturally connect it with nations such as Sri Lanka. This MOU opens new pathways for researchers to foster synergies between South Asia and Southeast Asia, deepening regional cooperation.”

Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, Executive Director of SAFN, underscored Thailand’s evolving diplomatic role, referencing Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s ongoing visit to China as an example of pragmatic foreign policy. He noted similarities with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s recent engagement in China, emphasizing Thailand’s growing importance in shaping regional diplomacy. Thailand’s civilizational ties, rooted in its rich Buddhist heritage, naturally connect it with nations such as Sri Lanka. This MOU opens new pathways for researchers to foster synergies between South Asia and Southeast Asia, deepening regional cooperation.”

During the signing ceremony, Asanga Abeyagoonasekera was honored for his contributions to geopolitics and international relations. He was appointed as a Fellow at NBII and an Expert Committee Member of the International Relations Institute (IRI) in Thailand. Additionally, he was invited to serve on the Editorial Board of several prestigious academic journals, including: Journal of Social Science Research and Innovation (SSRI); Journal of Future Studies for Development (JFSD); Journal of Nation-Building Research (JNBR)

This collaboration marks a new chapter in regional research excellence, strengthening policy engagement and fostering deeper academic exchange between South Asia and Southeast Asia.

For more information, please visit www.southasiaforesight.org.

 lanka C news

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ජනමතය විකෘති කිරීම සඳහා යූ.එස්. එයිඩ් ආයතනයෙන් ඩොලර් මිලියන 7.9ක් ලබාගත් මාධ්‍ය ආයතන, මාධ්‍යවේදින් හා දේශපාලඥයන් පිළිබඳව පරීක්ෂණයක් පැවැත්වීමට ජනාධිපති අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතාට හෝ ආණ්ඩුවට කොන්ද පණ නැත්නම් විපක්ෂයේ කොන්ද පණ තිබෙන එක් මන්ත්‍රීවරයකු හෝ සිටී නම් පාර්ලිමේන්තු තේරීම් කාරක සභාවක් යෝජනා කරමින් මේ පිළිබඳ විමර්ශනය කොට රටේ ජනතාවට මාස තුනක් ඇතුළත වාර්තාවක් නිකුත් කරන්නැයි ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණේ නායක විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා අභියෝග කළේය.

බත්තරමුල්ලේ පිහිටි ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණ නව මූලස්ථානයේ පැවැති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකට එක්වෙමින් විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා  මේ බව පැවසීය.

මේ රටේ සංස්කෘතික පදනම විනාශ කරන්න දේශපාලන නායකයොත් මිලදී අරගෙන තියෙනවා. දේශපාලන නායිකාවනුත් මිලදී අරගෙන තියෙනවා. අපි ඒවා ඉදිරියේ දී නම් පිටින් අනාවරණය කරනවා යැයි ද ඊට කලින් පාර්ලිමේන්තු තේරිම්කාරක සභාවක් පත් කරලා පුළුවන්නම් වාර්තාවක් ඉදිරිපත් කරන්න යැයි අභියෝග කරනවා යැයි විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා කියා සිටියේය.

විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා මෙසේ ද කීවේය.

බටහිර බලය සහ ලංකාවේ ඉරණම කියන පොත මා විසින් රචනා කරලා දේශ හිතෛෂී ජාතික ව්‍යාපාරය විදියට අපි මීට අවුරුදු 10-15කට කලින් එළි දක්වපු පොතක්. මේ කෘතියෙ වගේම 9 සැඟවුණු කතාව කෘතියේ අපි මේ කියන සඳහන් කරලා තියෙනවා.

ඉලෝන් මස්ක් එක අවස්ථාවක කියනවා යූ.එස් එයිඩ් ත්‍රස්තවාදී සංවිධානයක් කියලා. ඔහු අනාවරණය කරපු ආකාරයට ඩොලර් මිලියන 7.9ක් නැතිනම් දළ වශයෙන් රුපියල් කෝටි 240 විතර ලංකාවේ මාධ්‍යෙවේදීන්ට වැය කරලා තියෙන්නෙ ස්ත්‍රී පුරුෂ දෙපාර්ශවය වෙනුවට පොදු වචන මාලාවක් උගන්වන්න. ඒ කියන්නෙ ඒ අයට කියනවා නෝනාවරුනි මහත්වරුනි කියලා සභාව අමතන්න එපා කියලා.

මිත්‍රවරුනි කියලා අර සමහරු සභාව අමතන්නෙ මේ උපදෙස් අනුවද දන්නෙ නැහැ. ඒ කියන්නෙ ස්ත්‍රී පුරුෂ වෙනසක් ආමන්ත්‍රණයෙදි පෙන්වන්න එපා කියලා මේ යූ.එස් එයිඩ් එක වියදම් කරලා මේ රටේ මාධ්‍යවේදීන්ට උගන්වනවා. ඒ වගේම ලිංග විපර්යාස දිරිගැන්වීම සඳහා කරුණු උගන්වලා තියෙනවා. පාර්ලිමේන්තුවෙත් ඇතැම් මන්ත්‍රීවරු මීට අදාළ පනත් සංශෝධන ගෙනාවා. දැනගන්න තියෙන විදියට යූ.එස් එයිඩ් එක අර මුදල්වලින් මේ අයවත් සංතර්පනය කරලා තියෙනවා.

ඩොනල් ට්‍රම්ප් හා ඉලෝන් මස්ක් අනාවරණය කරන විධියට යූ.එස් එයිඩ්, එන්.ඊ.ඩී සහ සී.අයි.ඒ අනුශාංගික ආයතනවල රෙද්ද ගැලවිලා තියෙනවා. ඒවායින් යැපුණු දේශීය ඒජන්තයො නහයෙන් අඞන්න පටන්ගෙන තියෙනවා. එක්කෙනෙක් තමයි පාක්‍යසෝති සරනමුත්තු මහත්මයා. මෙතුමා කියනවා මේක ඛේදවාචකයක් කියලා. ටික කාලයක් හරි මේක හම්බනොවී තියෙන එක පාක්‍යසෝති සරනමුත්තුලගෙ කොන්ත්‍රාක් ඉටුකරගන්න බැරි වෙන එකට ඛේදවාචකයක්. එගොල්ලො සාමය ගැන කතා කළේ.ගැටුම් නිරාකරණය ගැන කතා කළේ.සංහිඳියාව ගැන කතා කළේ, ස්ත්‍රී පුරුෂ සමානාත්මතාව ගැන කතා කළේ, මේ ඩොලර්වලින් යැපෙන මාර්ගය විදියටයි. ඒක තමයි ඔවුන්ගෙ ජීවනෝපාය.

මේ වැඩේ මෙහේ ගෝඩ් පාදර්ස්ලා දෙන්නෙක් ඉන්නවා. එක් කෙනෙක් තමයි පාක්‍යසෝති සරනමුත්තු ඇතුළු එන්.ජී.ඕ තන්ත්‍රය, අනෙක් එක්කෙනා තමයි ජෙහාන් පෙරේරා. ජෙහාන් කියනවා කිසිදු පූර්ව දැනුම්දීමකින් තොරවලු මේ අරමුදල් ලබා දෙන එක නතර කරලා තියෙන්නෙ. එහෙම කියලා නාහෙන් අඩනවා. කෙදිරිගානවා. අනුර දිසානායක වචනයෙන් කියනවා නම් කෙඳිරිගානවා. අපට පව් කියලා හිතෙනවා. ඔය ජෙහාන්ලා සාම මණ්ඩලේද මොකද්ද එකක් හදාගෙන එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ ය තියෙන කාලයේ එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ යට සුදුහුණු ගාමින් සිංහල ජාතිවාදය, සිංහල බෞද්ධ ජාතිවාදය කියමින් සිංහල සමාජයට ගැරහුවා. විවිද පුවත්පත්වලට ඒ මත වාදය කියලා ලිපි ලිවුවා. එහෙම කරමින් විවිද ක්‍රියාකාරකම්වල නිරතවුණේ මේ යූ.එස් එයිඩ් සල්ලි වලින් බව බොහොම පැහැදිලියි. ඒවා නතර උන ගමන් කියනවා. අනේ අපට ට්‍රම්ප් මහත්මයා ඔයා අපට කලින් පොඩ්ඩක් කියන්න තිබුනනෙ කියලා. වෙන රස්සාවක් හොයාගන්න කියලා.

පාක්‍යසෝති කියනවා මේක ඛේදවාචකයක් කියලා. ඒ මගින් පේනවා මේ අරමුදල්වලින් යැපිච්ච, ඒ අරමුදල්වලින් පෙන්වන මත නිෂ්පාදනය කරපු, ඒවා අනුව මේ රටේ ජන මනස හදන්න ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙච්ච විවිද ගොබිලො අද නහයෙන් අඩන්න පටන්ගෙන තියෙනවා. ජනාධිපති අනුරට අනුව අද කෙඳිරිගාන්න පටන්ගෙන තියෙනවා.

දැන් තමුන්නාන්සෙලාට පේනවා මේ අය ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන්ම ප්‍රවර්ධනය කෙරුව එක ක්ෂේත්‍රයක් තමයි එල්.ජී.බී.ටී.කිවු කියන්නෙ. ඒ කියන්නෙ සංක්‍රාන්තික ලිංගිකයන්ගෙ කතාව. ඉලෝන් මස්ක් ගත්ත්ත් එයාගේ පුතා කුඩා දරුවෙක්. ඉලොන් මස්ක්ගෙ පුතාවත් ලිංග විපර්යාසයකට ලක් කරලා තියෙනවා. එල්.ජී.බී.ටී.කිවු ප්‍රමෝට් කරන්න ලංකාවේ කිසිම දේශපාලන පක්ෂයක් කටයුතු කළේ නැහැ. අඩුම ගණනේ රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහත්මයාගේ එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයවත් විවෘතව ඒක කළේ නැහැ.

සරදම කියන්නෙ ලංකාවේ එකම දේශපාලන පක්ෂයක් ඒක එළිපිට ප්‍රවර්ධනය කරලා තියෙනවා ඒ තමයි නිදහසේ අභිමානී පා ගමන 2023. මේ ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ සමාජවාදී තරුණ සංගමය. එල්.ජී.බී.ටී.කිවු කට්ටියගෙ දේදුණු වර්ණ කොඩියත් මේකේ තියෙනවා. ඒ පෙළපාලිය තමයි මේ අය උත්කර්ෂවත් තත්ත්වය නංවන්නෙ. ආදරයේ ප්‍රේමනීය පා ගමන කියලා තමයි මේ අය මේකට කිවුවේ. එල්.ජී.බී.ටී.කිවු ප්‍රවර්ධනය කරන්නෙ ඇයි. අමෙරිකාවේ තියෙනවා ඩීප් ස්ටේට් එකක්. රුසියාවෙන් හරෙන් මෙහෙන් නෙමෙයි වැඩිම හානිය වෙලා තියෙන්නෙ මේ ඩීප් ස්ටේට් එකෙන් කියලා ට්‍රම්ප් ජනාධිපතිවරයා වරක් ප්‍රකාශ කළා. මේකේ කොටසක් තමයි ඔය සී.අයි.ඒ, යූ.එස් එයිඩි සහ එන්.ඊ.ඩී ආදි වශයෙන් තියෙන ආයතන. යූ.එස් එයිඩ් කියන්නෙ මෘදු ආයතනයක්. සංවර්ධනය මුවාවෙන් පෙනී සිටින ආයතනයක්. හැබැයි එන්.ඊ.ඩී කියන්නෙ රෙජීම් චේන්ජ් සඳහා කෙළින්ම වැඩ කරන ආයතනයක්.

යූ.එස්.එයිඩ් එක අධිකරණ ක්ෂේත්‍රයට අරමුදල් සම්පාදනය කරනවා. අපේ රට ඇතුළු රටවල විනිසුරුවන් විදේශ සංචාර සඳහා අරගෙන යනවා.ඒවායේ දී බලපෑම් කරන්න පුළුවන් ශක්තියක් ඔවුන් ගොඩනගාගෙන තියෙනවා. විශේෂයෙන් තුන්වැනි ලෝකයේ රටවලට මේ බලපෑම තියෙනවා.

මේ විදියට ඒ රාජ්‍යන්වල එන පාලන තන්ත්‍රය අමෙරිකා විදේශ ප්‍රතිපත්තියට එකඟ පාලනයක් නෙමෙයි නම් ඒවා පරාජයට පත්කරන්න ඕන කරන මුදල් සම්පාදනය කරන්න. යූ ටියුබස්ලාට වෙන්න පුළුවන්. සෝෂල් මීඩියා ප්ලැට්පොම්වලට වෙන්න පුළුවන්. දිලෙන තරුවලට වෙන්න පුළුවන්. ඇක්ටලාට බැක්ටලාට වෙන්න පුළුවන්. නූතන විහාරමහා දේවිලාට වෙන්න පුළුවන්. මේ ගොල්ලොන්ට සල්ලි පොම්ප කරලා මේ අයගෙන් මතයක් පෝෂණය කරනවා.

දේශපාලඥයොත් මේ ලැයිස්තුවේ ඉන්නවා. අපට ආරංචි හැටියට මේ ආණ්ඩුවේ එක් කෙනෙකුත් යූ.එස් එයිඩ් සල්ලි ගන්න ලැයිස්තුවේ ඉන්නවා. ඒ අය එළියට ඇවිත් අභියෝග කළොත් අපට පුළුවන් කියන්න කවුද කියලා.

දැන් බලන්න මේ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමිය හරිනි. අගමැති වෙන්න කලින් 2015 වෙනකම් හරිනි අමරසූරිය වැඩ කළේ පාක්‍යසෝති සරණමුත්තුගෙ ආයතනයේ. වුමන් ඉන් නීඩ් විත් ෆයිනෑසියල් සපෝට් විත් යූ.එස් එයිඩි ලෝන්ච් අගේන්ස් විත් වයලන්ට්. වුමන්ස් ඉන් තර්ටි ඉයර්ස් වින්. මේ තියෙන්නෙ එතුමිය තමයි ප්‍රධාන ආරාධිත අමුත්තා. මේකට ෆන්ඩ් දෙන්නෙ යූ.එස්.එයිඩි.ඉලෝන් මස්ක් කියන්නෙ යූ.එස් එයිඩ් කියන්නෙ ත්‍රස්තවාදී සංවිධානයක්. විකාර රූපි දෙයකට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට විශාල මුදලක් දිලා. කෝටි 240කට වැඩියි. ලංකාවේ සමස්ත විද්‍යුත් මාධ්‍ය වටිනාකම ඩොලර් මිලියන 6.5යි. මේකට 7.9 දීලා තියෙනවා. එතකොට ඊටත් වඩා වැඩි මුදලක් තමයි මේ දීලා තියෙන්නෙ.

අපි ආණ්ඩුවට අභියෝග කරනවා. ඒ වගේම පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ විපක්ෂයටත් අභියෝග කරනවා. කරුණාකරලා මොන මොන මාධ්‍ය ආයතනවලට සල්ලි දුන්න ද ? එල්.ජී.බී.ටී.කිවු ප්‍රවර්ධනය කරන්න එයාලා මොන මොන දේවල් කරා ද ? මොන මොන ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ගත්ත ද ? රුපියල් කෝටි 240කට වඩා මුදල් මොන මොන විදියට ද බෙදිලා ගියේ. මේ මුදල් වලින් හැදුවේ එල්.ජී.බී.ටී.කිවු ප්‍රවර්ධනය පමණක් ද ? යූ ටියුබස්ලාට කොච්චර සල්ලි දුන්න ද ? එගොල්ලො රෙජීම් චේන්ජ් වෙනුවෙන්, පාලන තන්ත්‍රයේ වෙනසක් වෙනුවෙන් මේ අරමුදල් අරගෙන කොයි විදියට ද හැසිරුනේ? විශේෂයෙන්ම බෞද්ධ විරෝධී අනාගමිකවාදී කොටස්වලට මේ යූ.එස්.එයි එයිඩ් එකෙන් කොතරම් සල්ලි දුන්න ද ?

බොහොම පැහැදිලියි ජවිපෙ සමාජවාදී ශිෂ්‍ය සංගමය 2023 පාගමනට පවා සහභාගිවෙලා ඒක සාධාරනීකරණය කරලා තියෙනවා. හරිනි අගමැතිනිය යූ.එස්.එයිඩ් ආයතනයේ මුදල් ලබන ආයතනවලට ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ පෙනී සිටිනවා. ඉලෝන් මස්ක් කියනවා මේක ත්‍රස්තවාදි සංවිධානයක් කියලා. මේකෙන් පේනවා ලෝකයේ ලිංගික විපර්යාස තියෙනවා. මේත් ලිංගික විපර්යාසයකට ලක් කරලා තියෙන්නෙ. ඔහු වඩාත් වේදනාවට පත්වෙලා තියෙන්නෙ මේ තත්ත්වය මතයි. එතකොට ඒ ලිංග විපර්යාසය කළාට පස්සෙ මොකද වෙන්නෙ ? දරුවන් උපද්දවන්න බැරි වෙනවා.

ඒ මගින් ඔය ඩීප් ස්ටේට්වල ඉන්න බිල් ග්රේට්ස්ලා ලෝක ආර්ථික සමුළුවක දි ඉතා පැහැදිලිව කිවුවා ලෝකයේ ජනගහනය වැඩියි මේක අඩු කරන්න ඕන කිවුවා. ඒකට වසංගත හදන්න ඕන. ඒවට ඕන කරන වැක්සිං අපි හදන්නත් ඕන කිවුවා. වසංගත හදලා ලෝක ජනගහනයත් අඩු කරනවා. වැක්සිං හදලා ඒවා විකුණනවා. ඒ ගොල්ලො හිතන්නෙ ජනගහනය අඩු කරාම අර අයිස් කඳු දියවෙන එක නතරවෙයි.ලෝකයේ රස්නය අඩුවෙයි. එමගින් බිල් ග්‍රේට්ස්ලා වගේ අයගෙ ජීවිත සුරක්ෂිත කරන්න පුළුවන් කියලා.

එල්.ජී.බී.ටී.කිවු ඇතුළු මේ ක්‍රමයෙන් හොඳට ඉන්න කෙල්ලො කොල්ලො කිරීමෙන්,හොඳට ඉන්න කොල්ලො කෙල්ලො කිරීමෙන්, දරු උපත් නැති කිරීමෙන් බලාපොරොත්තුවන අරමුණු දෙකක් තියෙනවා. එකක් ලෝක ජනගහනයේ වර්ධනය නතරකරන එක. දෙක හෝමෝන සඳහා හැමදාම එන්නත් කිරීම ඇතුළු මහා ව්‍යාපාරික අවස්ථාව නිර්මාණය කිරීම. මේක මේ රටටත් බස්සන්න තමයි ඩොලර් මිලියන 7.9ක් වැය කළේ. මේ එන්නෙ බිල් ග්‍රේට්ස්ලාගේ උවමනාව ඉටු කරන්න.

ඉලෝන් මස්ක් කියනවා තුන්වැනි ලෝකේ රටවලට දීපු මුදල්වලින් විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් ගසා කාලාලු. අපි කැමතියි මේ ඩොලර් මිලයන 7.9 කොච්චර ගසා කාලාද කියලා දැනගන්න. ගසා කෑවා නම් එක අතකින් ඒක යහපතක්. මේ කුණු කන්දල් ප්‍රවර්ධනයට සැබෑ ලෙසම අරමුදල් යොදවන්නෙ නැතිව. මේක තමයි ඇත්ත කතාව. ආණ්ඩුව මේක හෙළිදරව් කරන්නෙ නැත්නම්.පාර්ලිමේන්තුවෙත් මේක හෙළිදරව් කරන්නෙ නැත්නම්, තේරිම්කාරක සභාවක් හරි පත් කරලා. මේ තේරිම් කාරක සභාවට ආණ්ඩුවේ හා විපක්ෂයේ හැමෝම සහභාගිවෙලා, යූ.එස්.එයිඩ් සහ අනෙකුත් ආයතනත් ගෙනල්ලා, මාධ්‍ය ආයතනවල අය ගෙනල්ලා, කීයක් තමුන්නාන්සෙලාට හම්බ උනාද ? මොනවද ඒවායින් කළේ කියලා අහලා. කරුණාකරලා තේරිම්කාරක සභාවකින් හරි වාර්තාවක් ඉදිරිපත් කරන්න.මේ රටවල්වල අභ්‍යන්තර දේශපාලනයට ඇගිලි ගහන්න මේ වගේ බාහිර ආයතනවලින් සල්ලි බලයෙන් මේ රටේ මිනිසුන්ව මිලට අරගෙන පාක්‍යසෝතිලා ජෙහාන්ලා වගේ අය මේ රටේ ජනමතය විකෘති කරන්න සල්ලි අරගෙන, මේ රටේ සංස්කෘතික පදනම විනාශ කරන්න දේශපාලන නායකයොත් මිලදී අරගෙන තියෙනවා. දේශපාලන නායිකාවනුත් මිලදී අරගෙන තියෙනවා. අපි ඒවා ඉදිරියේ දී නම් පිටින් අනාවරණය කරනවා. ඊට කලින් පාර්ලිමේන්තු තේරිම්කාරක සභාවක් පත් කරලා පුළුවන්නම් වාර්තාවක් ඉදිරිපත් කරන්න. කොන්ද පණ තියෙන එකෙක් හරි විරුද්ධ පක්ෂයේ ඉන්නවා නම් කරුණාකරලා තේරිම් කාරක සභාවක් දාන යෝජනාව ගේන්න. ගෙනල්ලා අනුමැතිය අරගෙන මේ පිලිබඳව විමර්ශනය කරලා මාස තුන හතරක් ඇතුළත වාර්තාවක් නිකුත් කරන්න.

මේ සල්ලි කොහෙටද කාගෙ අතට ද ගියේ ? මොනවද ඒ මාධ්‍ය ආයතන කළේ ඒ ඇරෙන්න යූ ටියුබස් ලාට වෙනස් ජනමතය නිපදවන්නන්ට කොයි විදියටද සල්ලි බෙදුනේ කියලා රටට අනාවරණය කළ යුතුයි. යූ.එස්.එයිඩ් එක ඇතුළු ඔය ආයතන ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ පාලනය පළවා හැරීම දක්වා ක්‍රියාන්විතයට කොයි විදියට ද අරමුදල් සැපයුවේ, කොයි විදියට ද කට්ටිය පුහුණු කළේ, කොයි විදියට ද කැමරා බඩු බෙදුවේ,කොයි විදියටද යූ ටියුබස්ලා හැදුවේ, කොයි විදියට ද ඔවුන්ට මග පෙන්නුවේ කියලා 9 සැඟවුණු කතාවේ මම කරුණු සහිතව අනාවරණය කරලා තියෙනවා. කිසිම කෙනෙක් අද වෙනකම් මේකට අභියෝග කරලා නැහැ.

අපි මේක අනාවරණය කරනකොට හිනාවෙනවා. ජාත්‍යන්තර කුමන්ත්‍රණ කියලා. ටිල්විනුත් කිවුවා. ටිල්වින් දැන් මොඩිෆයි වෙලානේ.ජුලියා චංග් නෝනා එක්ක නේ හුරතල් වෙන්නෙ. රතු හැට්ටිකාරි වගේ එනවා ජුලියා චංග් නෝනා රතු ගවුමක් ඇඳගෙන පැලවත්තට,ටිල්වින් එයා එක්ක හැංගිමුත්තන් සෙල්ලම් කරනවා.

ඒ නිසා එයාට අපි මේවා කියන කොට අසනීපයක් හැටියට පේන්න පුළුවන්. ඒක තමයි ටින්ගෙ තත්ත්වය දැන්. ඒක පුදුම වෙන්න දෙයක් නෙමෙයි. යූ.එස්. එයිඩ් එක ලෝකයේ ප්‍රමුඛතම රටවල සම ලිංගික ක්‍රියා ඉදිරියට ගෙනයාමට ඩොලර් මිලියන 6ක් වැය කරලා තියෙනවා. දකුණු අප්‍රිකාව ලිංගික සබඳතා පවත්වන පුරුෂයින් සඳහා ඩොලර් මිලියන 6.3ක් දීලා තියෙනවා. ඒ කියන්නෙ සමරිසි වැඩේ ප්‍රවර්ධනය කරනවා. ඒකට තමයි සල්ලි දෙන්නෙ. ඒ වගේ අය ඒ සංස්කෘතිය එක්ක බැඳිලා ඉන්නවා.

මේක රටවල්වල දේශපාලන විකෘතියක් නෙමෙයි. සංස්කෘතික හා සමාජ විකෘතියක්. සමස්ත විකෘතියකට මග පාදන ක්‍රියාන්විතයක්. 2014 ඉදලා බෞද්ධ විරෝධී යූ ටියුබස්ලා හතු පිපෙන්න වගේ හැදුනා. ඒවා අවේ මේ සල්ලි පොම්ප කරාම.

ආණ්ඩුව මේක හෙළිදරව් කරන්නෙ නැත්නම්, අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක ජනාධිපතිවරයාට මේ ගැන පරීක්ෂණයක් කරන්න කොන්ද පණ නැත්නම්, එදා අපි හිටපු ජේ.වී.පී එකනම් එන්.ජී.ඕ ගැන හොයන්න පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ වෙනම තේරිම් කාරක සභාවක් දැම්මා. ඒකෙ සභාපති උනේ විජිත හේරත් සහෝදරයා නිසා ඒක පරිසමාප්තව අවසන් කරගන්න බැරි උනා. නමුත් දාන්න උනා. අද එහෙම කරනවා නම් අපි කැමතියි. බැරි නම් විපක්ෂයේ කොන්ද පණ තියෙන එකෙක් හරි ඉන්නවා නම් තේරිම් කාරක සභාවක් දාලා මේ ගැන හොයලා වාර්තාවක් නිකුත් කරන්න කියලා අපි ඉතා ඕන කමින් ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා.යැයි විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා පැවැසීය.

Lankacnews

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය හරිනී අමරසූරිය මහත්මිය වහාම එම ධුරයෙන් ඉල්ලා අස් විය යුතු බව පූජ්‍ය අක්මීමන දයාරත්න හිමියෝ කියා සිටිති.

USAID ආයතනයෙන් රට අර්බුදයට පත් කිරීමට, විජාතිකරණය කිරීමට මුදල් ලබා ගත්තේ යැයි ඇයට චෝදනා එල්ල වෙමින් ඇතැයිද උන්වහන්සේ සඳහන් කරති.

ඇමරිකානු ජනාධිපතිවරයා විසින් එලිදරවු කරන ලද USAID මුදල් සංසරණ වූ අය යැයි පැවසෙන ලැයිස්තුවේ වර්තමාන අගමැතිනි හරිනි අමරසූරිය මහත්මියගේ ද නම වන බව උන්වහන්සේ කියා සිටිති.

මෙරට සමලිංගිකකරණය සමාජගත කිරීමට අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරිය ඇතුළු කණ්ඩායමකට මුදල් යෙදවූ බවට සමාජයේ මතයක් පවත් පැවතුණු බවද පැවසූ උන් වහන්සේ එසේ එලවූ චෝදනා දැන් දැන් හෙළිදරවෙමින් ඇති තොරතුරු සමග තහවුරු වෙමින් ඇති බවද උන්වහන්සේ මාධ්‍ය හමුවක් අමතමින් කියා සිටියහ.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Cabinet Media Spokesperson, Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, says that the Attorney General’s Department will not be abolished when the Independent Prosecutor’s Office is established.

He made these comments during a press briefing held today (11) to announce the Cabinet decisions.

Minister Jayatissa further clarified that the new institution is planned to be implemented with the goal of delivering services more efficiently than the Attorney General’s Department in the administration of justice.

Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa also stated that the Attorney General, the Attorney Ge

Courtesy Adaderana

Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros’ organisations received $260 million from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to influence political affairs and destabilise multiple nations, including India and Bangladesh, according to a news report.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), an account link to Trump alleged, George Soros received $260,000,000.00 from USAID and used this money to spread chaos, change governments and personal gain in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Syria, Iran, Pakistan, India, UK, and the US.” His remarks add to the growing scrutiny of US foreign aid, particularly as Trump’s administration has frozen USAID’s budget.

Funding of Soros-Linked Organizations

Reports indicate that over the past 15 years, USAID granted more than $270 million to organisations affiliated with Soros. One such organisation, the East-West Management Institute, partnered with Soros’ Open Society Foundations and received USAID funding. The revelation has fueled concerns over the US government’s role in international political movements.

Elon Musk, the head of DOGE, has supported Trump’s administration in highlighting USAID’s financial backing of what they call woke and controversial” projects. Musk’s involvement has further amplified Republican criticisms of foreign aid being used for regime change and political influence.

In India, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has long accused Soros of backing opposition groups and funding critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJP leaders claim Soros’ initiatives aim to destabilise the Indian government and interfere in national politics.

Source: Financial Express

–Agencies

By Raj Gonsalkorale

High road crash fatality and injury rates on Sri Lanka’s roads are undermining the economic growth and progress made over the past decade on reducing poverty and boosting prosperity. Estimated annual road crash deaths per capita in Sri Lanka are twice the average rate in high-income countries and five times that of the best performing countries in the world. Available data indicate an average of 38,000 crashes annually which result in around 3,000 fatalities and 8,000 serious injuries. Sri Lanka has the worst road fatality rate among its immediate neighbors in the South Asia region – Delivering Road Safety in Sri Lanka Leadership Priorities and Initiatives to 2030-International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank 2020 –

https://openknowledge. worldbank.org /server/api/core/bitstreams/562748cf-426a-5645-95a2-d1dc2fe0f6d9/content

Four dead, 25 injured in bus collision at Kurunegala–10 February 2025 https://www.dailymirror.lk /breaking-news/Four-dead-25-injured-in-bus-collision-at-Kurunegala/108-302040. Four people have reportedly died in a tragic accident involving two passenger buses in the Thorayaya area of Kurunegala. The incident occurred when one bus collided with the rear of a parked bus, leaving 25 others injured.

Passara bus accident in May 2021 (File photo source: Facebook)

File photo of Passara bus accident in May 2021 (Source: Facebook)

News items of horrific bus accidents such as the above and what are noted below are quite common in Sri Lanka. These appear on a regular basis in newspapers and media and possibly the authorities, political, administrative, and law enforcement and even the readers to some degree have become immune to these horrific accidents and their aftermath judging by the inaction on the part of all concerned to take steps to prevent a recurrence of these ongoing events. 

• Two dead, 35 injured in bus-van collision at Habarana- February 1, 2025  
• At least 16 individuals have reportedly been injured and hospitalized following a head-on collision involving two buses near the 07th Mile Post area along the Habarana – Minneriya road.
• 29 Injured in Multiple Bus Collision on the Galle-Akuressa main road
• Seven passengers were killed and 20 were injured when a bus skidded off the road and fell down a precipice at 13th mile post on the Moneragala-Badulla Road at Passara this morning, said the Police.
• Driver killed,19 foreigners injured in accident on Southern Expressway
• Four passengers were injured in a bus accident in the Watawala area on the Hatton-Colombo main road this morning. the rear section of the private bus to split into two.

ECONOMYNEXT (https://economynext.com/one-dies-every-3-hour-in-sri-lankas-road-accidents-data-126766/) says that at least one person has died in 10 road accidents every three hours in Sri Lanka since 2016, as per official government data. According to data released by the Police Motor Traffic Department, on average, eight people have died daily due to road accidents since 2016. The data showed 20,728 people have been killed in road accidents in the seven-and-half year between January 1, 2016, and June 30, 2023, in a total of 223,451 accidents. Sri Lanka’s motor traffic deaths since 2016 has been over 120 per 1 million inhabitants. This rate is far higher than the United States’ 13 and Japan’s 3, as per 2021 OECD data.

The World Bank report tiled Delivering Road Safety in Sri Lanka Leadership Priorities and Initiatives to 2030 with its findings and recommendations is a report that the NPP government should use to chart a pathway for policy and policy implementation over the next 5 years. Amongst many disturbing statistics in the report, it says that 70 % of road crashes involve low-income commuters and motorists, and that motorcycle-pedestrian crashes are reportedly high, accounting for about 40 % of pedestrian fatalities, and that speed, drunk driving, fatigue, burst tire and animal crossing are the main causes for crashes.

While overtaking, diversion and speeding have been cited as common reasons for this terrible  record of the country, the mental status of bus drivers, on account of alcohol intake, drug use, lack of rest and sleep while rushing to meet targets, perhaps are some of the reasons for the reckless driving habits of bus drivers, mainly private bus drivers judging by comments from bus travelers, pedestrians, onlookers and other vehicle drivers. The general observation of many is that no one is safe on the road as bus drivers, especially private bus drivers, have no regard for the lives of others and their recklessness has become part of their psyche. Besides private bus drivers in the main, three-wheel drivers add to the dangers on roads as they drive like slithery eels, cris crossing from one side to another and creeping through whatever available space on roads, however dangerous that might be for them and others around them.

Successive governments have paid lip service to the need to tame some of these sub-humans. Political interference, and even interference from some in the Police force who apparently have vested interest has made sure reckless bus driving continued unabated. Loss of life, the plight of those who get injured and maimed, and the impact on their families appear to be of no concern to reckless drivers and those who protect them.

Road safety for everyone who uses a road, whether travelling in a bus, car, lorry, or a three-wheeler, or for pedestrians, is a basic human right and must be a national priority and laws must be strengthened if necessary, and very importantly, enforced, and those guilty of causing accidents severely punished. The condition of roads and the types of buses that should be allowed to ply some routes needs to be revisited and assessed as some roads are not suitable for some types of buses. The national transport policy and laws governing transportation must be looked at with fresh eyes and updated to reflect what is human and decent when it comes to road safety.

In this context, the operation of private buses needs to be looked at and a question posed whether the country should have them or whether the Sri Lanka State Transport Board (SLTB) should be strengthened progressively to takeover public bus transportation in the country and end the competitiveness amongst private bus operators that is causing so many accidents and deaths. Competition arises from the need for them to meet financial targets and time frame targets between bus route starting and ending points, resulting in no holds barred reckless driving to achieve targets causing so many accidents and deaths. Public bus transportation needs to be considered as a community service in Sri Lanka as most commuters are low and lower middle-income persons as stated in the World Bank report. In this context, private buses do not cater to commuter needs especially on many non-urban routes or do so for a limited time during the day, as there is no profitability for them on such routes. This causes much inconvenience to the commuters who live in these areas, most of whom are low and lower middle-income persons.

From accounts available in the internet, the national transport policy approved in November 1991 and revised in October 2009 has still not been updated. Mithun Jayawardena writing in Ceylon Today on 7^th March 2024 says National Transport Policy in limbo” and goes on to say that despite being assigned the primary responsibility for its formulation, the Ministry of Transport has failed in finalizing the National Transport Policy, which was approved over three decades ago according to a senior Ministry official ( https://ceylontoday.lk/2024/03/07/national-transport-policy-in-limbo/).

A report titled National Transport Statistics 2023 by the National Transport Commission is available, and the extensive statistics contained in it could be used to update and finalise A National Transport Policy.

It is suggested that the NPP government considers the development and enactment of a National Transport Policy a high priority item in their agenda considering the human and economic cost of a broken transport system that is unsafe, inefficient and ineffective. Besides introducing road rules, the national transport policy also must introduce compulsory requirements to meet the needs of people with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups like older people. In this regard, a reviewed and renewed transport policy must be within the concept of Clean Sri Lanka and the fleet of SLTB buses needs to be updated, upgraded and repairable buses repaired over a period. From all accounts, a substantial government investment is needed to ensure the public transportation system meets the needs of the public.  This obviously cannot be done overnight and needs to be done over a period like over 5 years. The public however needs to know the plans the government has, how they are going to fund the plan and what they could expect over the five-year period on an yearly basis. Whether its bus travel or train travel, and a combination where practical, commuters need to get from point A to point B in a safe manner, as efficiently as possible, in a timely manner, in comfort, and at a reasonable cost. In designing a transport policy, appropriate facilities must be provided to those with disabilities and older people.

State of the Sri Lanka Transport Board Fleet

Maheesha Mudugamuwa writing in the Morning on the 21^st of January 2024 states that one-third of the national bus fleet of the Sri Lanka Transport Board is non-operational (https://www.themorning.lk/articles /U9x FfHKmyxYTRSprN98o). The articles cite the National Audit Office (NAO) report which says that

• Nearly one-third of the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) bus fleet, amounting to 1,904 buses, is reported to be non-operational as of 31 January 2023.
• Of these, 1,240 buses are over 12 years old and a concerning 1,105 buses have surpassed the 15-year mark. The buses that have surpassed 15 years include 630 Tata buses, 425 Leyland buses, and 50 other types of buses, according to the report.
• The NAO, in its latest audit on the utilisation of the SLTB bus fleet at maximum capacity, has revealed that a sum of Rs. 2.52 billion had been spent on the maintenance of this fleet of 6,998 buses in 2022.
• As revealed by the audit, no action has been taken to assess the condition of these buses, hindering decisions on potential repairs or disposal of unusable units.
• It is further revealed that the General Treasury had allocated Rs. 750 million for the rehabilitation of buses in 2022. However, the SLTB lacks records detailing the rehabilitation and operational status of the buses funded by this amount. Out of this sum, Rs. 606.31 million by the Transport Board and Rs. 143 million by Lakdiva Engineering Ltd. had been expended. Regrettably, the rehabilitated buses have not been put into operation, raising concerns that the allocated Rs. 750 million has been utilised for recurrent expenses by both the board and Lakdiva Engineering.
• It has been revealed that the General Treasury had allocated Rs. 2.02 billion for bus rehabilitation in 2023. However, no descriptions of the rehabilitated buses or monthly reports on advances received have been submitted to the Department of Public Enterprises and Department of Treasury Operations through the ministry.
• Furthermore, the audit highlighted that the repair and maintenance cost for one bus is approximately Rs. 359,665. In 2022, the fuel cost for running the bus fleet amounted to Rs. 36.68 billion. However, discrepancies have arisen as the number of bus runs operated and the total kilometres covered in 2022 were reported as 1,792,649 and 349,198,715 km, respectively. This revealed a fuel cost of Rs. 105 per kilometre. The NAO noted that 75% of the 6,998 buses added to service had malfunctioning odometers, rendering the figure of 349,198,715 passenger kilometres driven unsatisfactory and incapable of accurately reflecting the fuel burned per passenger kilometre. The audit observed that 7,786 drivers and 7,768 conductors in the board had become a significant impediment to the full deployment of the bus fleet. Furthermore, the audit revealed that the duty rosters had been organised based on a formal system. However, drivers and conductors had not been efficiently assigned to run the buses

Considering damning National Audit Office reports such as the above, and previous inaction about the public bus transportation system, and the current status quo of the private bus transportation system including the accidents and deaths caused as detailed above. it is a matter of utmost importance for the government to carry out an urgent investigation into the bus transportation system, both public and private, and come out with transportation policy, and a strategy, at least a five year one, detailing how the policy will be implemented.  While the above-mentioned investigation is proceeding, it is suggested that an urgent, interim measure is carried out in regard the non-operational public buses. The following suggestion was presented by a concerned citizen and a social activist, Mr Vijith Gunawardena in May 2020 to then President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Initially re-structure a large depot and a small one as a pilot project rather than spending time and resources on the entire network of depots. By doing this, the re-structuring committee could learn the Positives as well as the Negatives of the entire process. A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis would be the best way to start. The dilapidated condition of many of these Bus Depots with overgrown shrubs and grass with abandoned buses and bus skeletons scattered all over the premises is clearly visible and this situation has a lot to do with the indifference and inaction of staff in these depots. Therefore, a plan should be made to,

• Re-structure the entire human resources pool of the depot.
• Premises to be evaluated, cleaned as most of these depots are eyesores.
• An Urban Development planner / Architect to re-design the depot based on functionality and appearance
• An initial Operating Budget to be formulated, giving targets to make the unit a profitable one within a stipulated timeframe.
• Repairable vehicles should be estimated and repaired totally and made road-worthy as soon as possible. Necessary sections/parts from unrepairable vehicles to be taken to repair other vehicles or sold at a public auction.
• Infusion of new blood – Young graduates from the management faculty, the engineering faculty and Human Resources faculty from universities could be assigned to work with seniors.
• The depot should be made an environmentally friendly place of work.
• Some routes currently in operation might be financially profitable while some other routes will be not. If the Depot is a financially viable entity once the restructuring is completed, then some routes can be left as ‘servicing only’ without making any profits).
• Need for discipline- It should be mandatory for all staff (drivers, conductors, technicians, labourers and management) to wear uniforms and strict rules should be adhered by all staff members during working hours and within premises as well as on duty without exception (prohibiting the consumption of Alcohol, chewing betel, smoking etc)
• Safety within the depot as well as the safety of the employees and commuters should be always looked after. Each depot should have its sub-department in charge of this sector. SLTB buses are to be insured as a compulsory measure.
• The next step would be to draw up an action plan that identifies the deliverables, time lines, resource requirements and expected outcomes which should be measurable and monitored.
• The monitored and evaluated pilot study could then be developed in to a model that could be implemented in all depots.

While no action was taken on this proposal, it certainly should be considered by the current government alongside the five-year plan suggested to rejuvenate the SLTB as a core inclusion in the National Transport Policy and implementation plan.

වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන

නීතිපතිවරයා ඉවත් කරන්න යාම ජනතාවගේ පරමාධිපත්‍යය ද?
ගැසට් කළ 22 නිසා ජනාධිපති, පාර්ලිමේන්තු ධූර කාලය වසර 6ද?
2025 මාර්තු 15 කොළඹ දී..

28වන නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන

නීතිපතිවරයා ඉවත් කරන්නට යාම ජනතාවගේ පරමාධිපත්‍යයද?

19යේ වැරැද්දක් නිවැරදි කිරීමට
ගැසට් කළ 22 ගැන
නීතීඥ සංගමය නිහඬ ඇයි?

නීතිපතිගේ අනුමැතියෙන් ගැසට් කළ
22 නිසා අලුත් ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ සහ අලුත් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ ධූර කාලය වසර 6ද?

“නීතිය” අනිවාර්ය විෂයක් ලෙස
පාසලේ ඉගැන්විය යුත්තේ ඇයි?

2025 මාර්තු 15 සෙනසුරාදා පෙ. ව. 10ට
=නීති සටහන් ලබා දේ)

කොළඹ මහජන පුස්තකාල සම්මන්ත්‍රණ ශාලාවේදී -1වන මහළ


සමායෝජක,
වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ
නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන

(ආසන වෙන්කර ගැනීමට විමසන්න දුරකථන 0712063394)

  By Dr Muralidaran Ramesh Somasunderam.

The LTTE got their training and funding from the PLO, which is the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the arms they gained or got from Pakistan. This is why the Indian Central Government was very much against the LTTE and its leadership group.

In fact the LTTE was an organization which diversified their businesses and even sold things like oils and soups to more dangerous items such as drugs and weapons. It is true that Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora in overseas countries funded LTTE. The real fact was most of the Sri Lankan Tamils did ordinary jobs in the Western Countries and if the LTTE did not have diverse business interests and support from overseas countries, especially Palestine for tanning and Pakistan for military equipment they would not have been able to carry out a civil war against the army of Sri Lanka for more than thirty odd years.  This is why if Kittu Master who was in the LTTE leadership group was able to smuggle the arms the government of Pakistan loaded in the ship he came on outside the port of Madras it would have been very hard to defeat and bring the LTTE down.

The Tamil Nadu State Government and people did give moral assistance to the Sri Lankan Tamils after the 1983 ethic problems in Sri Lanka but the training of the LTTE and its main leadership came from the PLO.    

The LTTE came mostly from the fishing caste community among Sri Lankan Tamils who were mostly smugglers but were poorly treated by the majority caste Tamils who are the Vellalar community who did not allow the lower caste communities to even enter some Hindu Temples in Jaffna. They also had separate entrances when they came to Vellalar houses. This is why the LTTE were fighting both an ethnic and caste battle like the JVP, but in the JVP’s case it was more a class battle apart from a caste factor, which was there but it was more a class battle.  

The LTTE leadership was made up of the same caste as their leader Mr. Prabhakaran who came from the fishing caste community in Sri Lanka who were also traditional smugglers in Jaffna except Anton Balasingham who was a Vellalar caste person, but a very pro-western government individual who some claim to be even a CIA agent. This is the factors that made the Indian Central government to go with the traditional Tamil leadership, which the LTTE with the support of the then President of Sri Lanka, Mr Premadasa killed the traditional Tamil leadership when they had come to Colombo for talks with the Indian delegation. These was done because Mr Prabhakaran knew that Sri Lankan Tamils were and yet are very caste conscious especially in Jaffna  and that he will not be able to defeat Mr Amirthalingam the leader of the TULF in an election situation.

Caste is yet a significant issue in South Asia like class in Britain, but through the process of democracy the lower caste people have come up, including Christianity especially in certain parts of India gave the lower caste people the opportunity to come up educationally and job wise. Today Nadar caste community in South India is one of the wealthiest communities and Christianity assisted them greatly in regard to education especially in regard to secondary and tertiary education.     

Therefore in conclusion, I believe the LTTE were always up against the Vellalar community and the traditional Tamil leadership in the form of the TULF in the ballot box. Therefore the easiest way was to kill and eliminate the traditional leadership and the values held by the TULF which was a mainstream Vellalar community based party. Mostly its Members of Parliament were from the Vellalar community.

Editorial The Morning

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday (10) led a high-powered Sri Lankan delegation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a three-day official visit at the invitation of UAE President Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to take part in the World Government Summit 2025, the Government confirmed. It is understood that President Dissanayake will explore energy supply and investment opportunities while he attends the forum.

Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, the public remains in the dark about what happened on Sunday (9) when the island once again faced an unplanned 7-hour-long islandwide power outage. With the incident, now more than a day and a half old, the Government and the relevant authorities at the power regulator, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka, the State-owned utility supplier – Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), nor the subject matter ministry failed to provide clarity on why the islandwide power outage happened? No technical explanation as to what happened and why it happened has been provided to the public. This Government came into power claiming they would improve transparency and accountability. However, they have failed to practice what they preached. Shame. This Government which touted professionalism and the numerous subject matter experts in their ranks, has failed to communicate effectively to the public during a crisis, once again.

When the Government did communicate on the incident, it was more a commentary than a statement grounded in facts. First, the Minister of Energy Kumara Jayakody, an engineer by profession according to the Ministry of Energy website, told broadcast media that the cause was due to a monkey falling into a power transformer at the CEB Substation in Panadura. Later, the CEB stated that it was due to an ‘emergency situation’ that broke out at the Panadura Grid Sub Station. Lastly, a statement issued by the Ministry of Energy attempted to ‘pass the buck’ on to previous governments, stating: Preliminary investigations have indicated that the actions of the previous governments, who had acted without foresight and understanding of maintaining the stability of the national electricity system, and their lack of understanding the technology, led to this situation.” President Dissanayake and the Government must wake up from their slumber and realise the ‘honeymoon’ period of their coming into power, has now passed. They need to act as a responsible government, part of which is to be clear and transparent in how they govern. The public has no appetite for failure anymore. The President must address the communication issue this Government has, if not, lack of clarity will lead to more crises down the road. 

The status quo and the vulnerability of the national power grid had been forewarned. In January, The Sunday Morning reported on the vulnerabilities in the national grid due to poor planning and stumbling in the absorption of renewable energy sources. It was reported that the CEB was facing a serious risk of system failure during holidays due to the sudden influx of solar-based Renewable Energy (RE) into the grid, particularly when electricity demand is low. However, it seems that despite knowledge of the vulnerabilities, no immediate remedial action was taken (at least ones which were disclosed), nor had a public warning or guidelines issued regarding the vulnerabilities. 

Yesterday, on the side-lines of the Colombo Air Symposium (CAS) held in Colombo, some members of the armed forces, foreign diplomats, and visiting security experts expressed their shock at the islandwide power outage and the lack of clarity around what happened. Does Sri Lanka take its energy security seriously? How can this happen, for the entire country? Was it a monkey that caused it? How is that possible?” a diplomat questioned. Another diplomat asked if there was an annual national security audit, and why such vulnerabilities were not flagged to the government and the Parliament. The embarrassment on the faces of local armed forces personnel was visible as they struggled to answer the question. No comment” one senior officer was heard saying.

Therefore, Mr. President, please put your house in order. This should have been addressed before your departure overseas. The public expects more than this from the Government they have given a landslide mandate. The Government must move quickly to inform the public as to what caused the incident and be transparent about what is being done about it. And someone must be held accountable, shouldn’t they? If not, what has changed with the new Government in control? 

උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකා ලීඩර්

USAID විසින් එක්සත් ජනපදයේ උපන් අල්-කයිඩා සාමාජිකයෙකු වන අන්වර් අල්-අව්ලාකිට(Anwar al-Awlaki) මූල්‍ය ආධාර ලබා දී ඇති බව  එක්සත් ජනපද විමර්ශන මාධ්‍යවේදිනියක් වන පැමෙලා බ්‍රවුන්(Pamela Browne) විසින් හෙළිදරව් කර තිබේ.

1990 ගණන්වල කොලරාඩෝ ප්‍රාන්ත විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ සිවිල් ඉංජිනේරු විද්‍යාව හැදෑරීම සඳහා අල්-අව්ලාකිට USAID විසින් “පූර්ණ අරමුදල්” ලබා දුන් බවට හෙළිකෙරෙන පත්‍රිකාවක් ද ඇය විසින් අන්තර්ජාලයට මුදාහැර තිබේ.

ලේඛනයේ අල්-අව්ලාකිගේ උපන් ස්ථානය යේමනය ලෙස ලැයිස්තුගත කර තිබුනද එය නිවැරදි නොවන බවත්,  ඔහුගේ ළමා කාලය යේමනයේ ගත කළද, ඔහු නිව් මෙක්සිකෝවේ උපත ලබා ඇති බවත් අනාවරණය වී ඇත.

2000 වසරේ දී, විදේශිකයන්ට එරෙහිව ප්‍රචණ්ඩත්වය ඉල්ලා සිටි යේමනයේ අල්-කයිඩා කලාපීය අණ දෙන නිලධාරියෙකු ලෙස අල්-අව්ලාකි ප්‍රසිද්ධියට පත් විය.

2011 දී, ඇමරිකානු ජනාධිපති බැරැක් ඔබාමාගේ නියෝගය මත ඇමරිකානු ඩ්‍රෝන ප්‍රහාරයකින් අල්-අව්ලාකි මිය ගියේය. ඒ වන විට ඔහු ඇමරිකානු පුරවැසියෙකු වුවද ඒ පිළිබඳව කිසිදු හෙළිදරව් කිරීමක් සිදු නොවීය.

මූලාශ්‍ර – Sputnik News

Patali Champika Ranawaka

Wimal Weerawansa

Courtesy Hiru News

National Freedom Front leader Wimal Weerawansa claims that USAID has funneled money to several politicians in the country, stating that their identities will be revealed in the future.

Speaking at a press conference, he stressed the need for a parliamentary select committee to investigate those who received such funds.

The Trump administration’s suspension of USAID activities has sparked global controversy. In the 2023 fiscal year alone, USAID donated $72 billion to various countries, with a recent report detailing its expenditures.

It was revealed that $7.9 million had been allocated for workshops on gender equality in Sri Lanka as part of its projects.

The National Freedom Front reiterated its demand for a parliamentary inquiry into the use of USAID funds in the country.

e-Con e-News

blog: eesrilanka.wordpress.com

‘Before you study the economics, study the economists!’

e-Con e-News 02-08 February 2025

Maybe they don’t die uneasily like the rest of us. They simply pass away in their sleep. But pass, they do. The serendipitously synchronous slipping into samsara of 2 of Sri Lanka’s nameboard oligarchs – Kandiah Balendra of Keells, & Don Harold Stassen Jayawardena of Distilleries’ Co, this week, recalls their twin origins in the colonial English plantation agency houses; and more particularly, in the aftermath of the destabilization of the 1970-77 government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, rampant post-’77 privatizations, and that boondoggle called the Mahaweli Development Scheme, the largest project in the country’s history.

     The World Bank Country Report of 1980 promised that by harnessing the great river’s vast resources, the Mahaweli Project would transform Sri Lanka’s economy within a decade. Even, export electricity to India! They ignored Central Bank advice not to accelerate the program. In the end, the Mahaweli project unearthed ‘a gold mine, a hunting ground for thesis writers and professional researchers’, and not just them: such carpetbaggers as Balendra and Jayawardena emerged. English, Canadian and Swedish ‘donors’ operating under ‘development’ agencies, minted millions, 100 times more than the locals, who ‘received a bagatelle’ instead. (The English even insisted, while constructing the ‘Victoria Dam’, on importing drinking water for their employees, saying local water was not good enough!). Side by side with them, domestic merchants gathered ‘sudden and tremendous affluence’, as subagents and contractors.

     It is no accident therefore that such irrigation schemes have failed to reproduce the creativity and solidarity of the purana gam sabha (ancient village councils), or of the vast temple lands – they had no such intentions. There was a change in the composition of agriculture (tractor and pesticide, replacing buffalo, and women), and the pattern of products, but there was no change in the structure of production, distribution and investment of profits. The irrigation policies of colonial and so-called postcolonial agents sought to reinforce the isolation and entrapping of peasants in smaller plots, instead of reinforcing larger organization through cooperatives and banks to enable rural industrialization. All the program did was to impose another layer of parasites over the peasants.

     It was in the midst of such a boondoggle (Mahaweli) that the Social Scientists’ Association (SSA) organized its first (& last!?) research program, between 1980-82, on Agrarian Change in Sri Lanka, publishing its results as Capital & Peasant Production: Studies in the Continuity & Discontinuity of Agrarian Structures in Sri Lanka (CAPP). ee‘s muse, SBD de Silva, whose work is included in the book, recalled CAPP as one of SSA’s finest publications, after GVS de Silva‘s The Alternatives: Socialism Or Barbarism. The SSA’s dedication to such scholarship did not last, diverted and corrupted as it was by the ensuing wars of terror (stick) and carrot (NGO slush funds). SSA had been formed in 1977 by social scientists who felt that research had failed to significantly study problems of ‘development & change’. SSA was meant to end the isolation of such scientists and serve as a forum for discussion and debate, to make contact with foreign scholars for research both ‘nationally and socially relevant’. Along the way, it became a coven for ‘thesis writers & professional researchers’, who gladly became agents of Canada’s CIDA, USAID, Holland’s Development Corporation (SNV) or England’s ODI, ignoring both national and social relevance. Ethnicity and other atomizing identities, not agriculture or industry, were made ‘the national question’.

     ee aims to reproduce some parts of CAPP, especially as its research focused on the role of multinational corporations (MNCs, or TNCs) and especially the part played by Ceylon Tobacco Co (CTC, owned by British American Tobacco, BAT), a monopoly buyer which also directs peasant cultivation…

     The power of MNCs, like CTC and Unilever, etc., (linked as they are to Jayawardena’s corporate fronts, and Balendra’s Keells – what FMCGs do Keells sell?) is also evident in their control of the media: how, for example, is Swiss Nestlé’s name kept out of the reams of headlines about coconut prices? Or in the long tales about rice shortages, how England’s ICI-CIC impoverishes cultivators let alone pollutes waterways (a culpability our ubiquitous ecomaniacs are funded to ignore)?

     …Poetry oozes somewhere out of Colombo’s toxic Beira, surrounded by so-called modern ‘millennial’, ‘hi-tech’ companies and boutique hotels with fanciful but ultimately useless architecture, who are constantly giving sermons on all virtues and presenting themselves awards for ‘green’ this and ‘gender’ that…  

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• The USA & Other Success Stories – The media noise amplified by the re-entry of Donald Trump as US President recalls the varying techniques of white settler practices to depopulate continents. The BBC fails to tell us on exactly who ‘Trump says he ordered air strikes on …in Somalia’. This blood rite is portrayed as so commonplace. A hit. No names. Just labels. Oh, OK, ‘Islamic State Group’. But is this IS like the US IS in Syria? It IS what it IS… An assassination or bombing is what a leader of the free world is supposed to announce as their real inauguration, after she, he or it is given access to the nuclear codes, which remind of their own and the world’s mortality (…with JD Vance but a heartbeat or earlobe away….)

     Whereas the US Democratic Party’s liberal (though somewhat-Republican) godfather Thomas Jefferson (1801-09) sought to first ensnare the ‘Indians’ in debt and steal their land, Trump’s last US presidential godfather Andrew Jackson (1829-37) forcibly evicted them from the US South, to extend the slave cotton plantations. By the time Trump’s latest godfather William McKinley (1897-1901), the ‘tariff king’, who invaded Spain’s colonies, was assassinated – by his successor, the roughriding Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09, whose ancestors were involved in pushing opium on China), who engineered a coup to steal Panama from Columbia – ‘a newspaper as ‘respectable’ as the New York Times could editorially threaten that those peoples who opposed the new world capitalist order would ‘be extinguished like the North American Indian’.

     This ee also recalls how that ‘celebrity’ ‘success story’ called the US economy has been so dependent on genocide and slavery (see ee Random Notes) … The USA keeps teaching us history every day and teaching us English too, as the first language of genocide, of slavery, all for free!, but our thought leaders are paid not to hear, not to see, not to think. The lessons may appear to be another ‘gift’, but as with most of their gifts, they require maintenance, need further experts’ services, need rusty parts to replace, which will have to be imported from them and paid for…

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This ee concludes ee Focus’ cursory glimpse at Sri Lanka’s relations with China prior to the European invasions. It ends, for now, by examining the formations of Portugal’s Casa da India, Holland’s Dutch East India Co, and its English avatars the English East India Co. They are the antecedents of multinationals, with budgets much larger than countries, like Unilever, and now US Exxon, who still dominate Sri Lanka’s economy. As our historical record notes, the departure of China from the ocean brought about an era awash in constant warfare in Sri Lanka, resulting in the massive destruction of cities, villages and structures, and the dissolution of the earlier social order…

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USA Watching the JVP Squirm: Colombo’s commercial and financial oligarchy have survived every single change of government, so now watch how they plan to ‘manage’ the early toppling of yet another ‘popular’ government.

The burdens of high interest costs on Treasury bonds are severely constraining the fiscal space available for critical social protection programs. The Government’s domestic interest payments consume the largest proportion of Government revenue, according to the IMF’s twin, the World Bank. Dhanusha Pathirana of the Institute of Political Economy (IPE) sees ‘a valuable opportunity to alleviate this pressure by reducing the interest paid on bonds held outside the public’s EPF and ETF’. This could result in substantial savings of approximately Rs600billion, which could be redirected to support essential public services and social welfare initiatives, to arrest the escalating cost of living, the deteriorating state of healthcare and education, and ‘create fiscal space for long-term industrialization goals, facilitating a shift of resources from unproductive to productive sectors’. (see ee Focus)

     The IMF’s padrone, the USA (with the EU wagging along) wants to see how the JVP will manage to keep its promises to the people within the prison house of their economic prescriptions and restrictions. This is why the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pops up soon after the car importers are flung their pounds of flesh (roadkill). Our economists refuse to divulge how the USA’s IMF profits by forcing Sri Lanka to import foreign machinery, particularly private vehicles, especially private cars. But this techno ‘dependence’ is key to understanding how non-settler colonies are maintained as shitholes to lubricate Trump’s profundity…

     The IMF’s appearance this week – to ‘discuss’ the 4^th tranche – is covered in billowing clouds of smokey foggery. Here goes: the IMF’s Executive Board of Directors will, by the end of this month, be presented with details of ‘the government’s staff-level agreement with the IMF’… ‘on the third review’…about the deals made, regarding the ‘extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of US$3billion’. ‘Once the approval is granted by the IMF Executive Board, Sri Lanka is expected to release the fourth tranche of the extended loan, amounting to $333million.’

     All this is based on ‘the submission of the 2025 budget consistent with the IMF program’s parameters’. Yet what kind of budget can be devised within such constraints?

     Midst the media foggery it is hard to determine exactly what kind of deals – especially privatisation (see ee Industry, Litro) have been agreed upon. Like former President R Premadasa, who simply renamed privatization as peoplization, they may simply change what such sell-offs are labelled….

     Meanwhile, ‘US President Donald Trump’s ‘pause’ on foreign assistance has tied USAID’s purse strings and left its Lankan partners in a state of disarray’ – all recipients of US philanthropy have less than 90 days to align any future goodwill with US foreign policy.  Despite, the momentary demonization of USAID and the UNHRC, apt though it be, the omission of the IMF, World Bank and WTO suggests a wilful innumeracy, let alone studied illiteracy…

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Contents:

USAID Crime Scenes in Sri Lanka. How About the IMF’s…?

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

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Our government is battling it out on many fronts in regard to the promises it made while campaigning for the presidential and general elections. It spoke of bringing down the cost of living and lessening the burdens on the worse-off section of our people.

Unfortunately though four long months have passed, our people are finding it difficult to find rice these days. To make this situation worse, the price is way beyond the means of the consumer. While salaries have remained stagnant, unfortunately, the price of most basic foods keeps increasing.

One cannot blame the present government especially for being suddenly faced with the problem of missing rice. After all, it was this newspaper which broke that piece of news days after Anura ‘sahodaraya’ or President Dissanayake came into power. 

One does not need to be in parliament to know that a large section of workers, especially those referred to as ‘daily paid hands’ lost their jobs with the onset of the COVID pandemic. Even the then Central Bank Chief said that over 500,000 temporary workers lost employment.

With an average family numbering four individuals, it means around 2 million had lost their means of purchasing even the barest necessary food. The half-constructed buildings which dot the roads bear witness to the fact that many of these folk are still unemployed.

The World Bank report of April 2023 reveals poverty has risen since 2019; from 11.3 to 12.7 in 2020 with an addition of over 300,000 ‘new poor’ in that period. It continued to increase in 2021, and it then doubled between 2021 and 2022. This increase has added an additional 2.5 million people into poverty in 2022.  

With the recent shortage of rice, coconuts and the price of eggs (which was forcibly lowered recently) householders are in an even worse situation today. Though the present government was not responsible for the present problems, governments are voted into power to find solutions to these problems. 

The people knowing who was responsible for the dreadful situation confronting the country voted the NPP into power at two elections held within a year. They are looking for solutions.

To put the situation in perspective there are 40 odd students of school-going age at an estate in Batalagoda in Ibbagamuwa. Due to limited earnings of parents, the general tendency has been for children to drop out of school! According to reports, it was only in 2023 that a single student from this estate sat for his ‘A’ Level Examination.   

While this situation is very bad, an even bigger shock was in the making. Government, during its election campaign promised to ‘clean the system’. Many had great hopes of seeing corrupt old leaders and their hangers on, being brought to justice. 

One and all were in for a rude surprise therefore, when the Attorney General (AG) suddenly announced that he was recommending suspects in Lasantha Wickrematunge’s killing to be released! Wickrematunge was, if any have forgotten, the then Editor of the now defunct ‘Sunday Leader’ and a fierce critic of that government.

Wickrematunge’s murder, was one of the most high-profile killings in the country. He was killed in broad daylight in the vicinity of an Army camp when road blocks and other security measures were at their peak. 

The killers vanished without a trace and investigations were swept under the carpet by subsequent governments which came to power after the killing. 

Making matters even worse, was the fact that the accused had been incarcerated for a long period of time. This was apparently without sufficient evidence to charge them in a court of law. 

The question that is arising in most people’s minds is whether the new regime, which vowed to ‘drain the pond’ -if one does not mind using the terminology of US President Trump- was about to be swallowed up by the pond.

It’s time this government comes clean with the people. Open up to them… the truth won’t kill us, but secrets do. They corrode our souls.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

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One of the devastated churches after the Easter Sunday blasts

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Pillayan, whilst in Batticaloa prison, is accused of having aided and abetted the conspirators of the Easter attack to make connections with Zaharan and his suicide team Even after Maithripala Sirisena became Executive President in 2015, regular Army intelligence payments to the TMVP mercenary had been continuedAccording to Maulana, two months after this meeting and 14 months after the Sallay- Zaharan meeting at Wanathawilluwa, the Easter attack had taken place

As the investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks continue, high ranking defence officials probing the case have revealed to the Daily Mirror that travel bans on some former high ranking State Intelligence Service members has been imposed to prevent them from leaving the country.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, these officials who wished to remain unnamed said that they were in touch with whistleblower Azath Maulana – the former Coordinating Secretary to Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan and according to the statement made by him at the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva and to the UK based Channel 4, Pillayan was allegedly instrumental in laying the ‘foundation’ to the barbaric suicide attack.

Maulana’s revelations corroborate details given by former Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) in charge of CID Ravi Seneviratne in an interview with this newspaper with regard to the Easter Bombings.  

Maulana

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mirror on June 13, 2024, under the headline ‘Could Have Easily Avoided the Easter Attack If the SIS and DMI Did Not Mislead the CID’ Seneviratne who is now the Secretary, Ministry of Public Security said that he and his most senior officers could have avoided the attack if the State Intelligence Services (SIS) and Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) provided accurate information to the CID without misleading them. According to Seneviratne, the CID officers were misled by the SIS and the DMI following the murder of two Police Constables (PC) at Vavunathivu in Batticaloa on November 30, 2018; this eventually became the turning point of Zaharan’s mission that led to the Easter attack five months later.

 According to Seneviratne, the intelligence services repeatedly framed former LTTE carders for these murders preventing the CID probe turning towards the Muslim extremist organization operating under the name National Thowheed Jamat (NTJ).

According to Seveniratne, the DMI had sent four false reports to the CID on December 5, 8, 14 of 2018 and January 3, 2019. All these reports stated that the murders were committed by the Ex-LTTE cadres for preventing them from honouring the dead on November 26, 2018.

Be that as it may, based on a complaint made on October 4, 2024, to the Secretary Ministry of Public Security SDIG (Rtd) Ravi Seneviratne by Executive Director, Centre for Society and Religion (CSR) Fr. Rohan Silva, the CID has recorded his statement on October 8 which led the CID to recommence the once stalled investigation.

The defence official said that following this, the CID on multiple occasions had questioned Pillayan and, are now in the process of questioning those who have been involved in the conspiracy.

The Defence official alleged that Pillayan- whilst serving a jail term in Batticaloa prison over the murder of former MP Joseph Pararajasingham- is accused of having aided and abetted the conspirators to get connected to Zaharan and his suicide team and to get their support for the Eater attack.      

The UK based Channel 4 aired the controversial documentary in September 2023, where Azath Maulana alleged how Pillayan arranged a meeting for a high profile figure- who served as the Defence Attaché at the Sri Lankan High Commission in Malaysia- with Zaharan and his suicide team. According to Maulana’s allegations, this meeting was held at a coconut estate named Lactowatte at Wanathawilluwa in Puttalam district in January 2018.

This newspaper is in possession of a copy of Maulana’s statement given in Geneva on December 30, 2022 and also the video clips of Channel 4 revelation. This story is compiled based on these revelations made by the whistleblower.

I don’t want to give comments to the media”- Suresh Sallay When this newspaper contacted former Director State Intelligence Service Suresh Sallay to obtain a comment in connection with the allegations Maulana has revealed in Channel 4, he declined to make a comment.I was a professional intelligence officer and worked for 38 years out of which I served five years as Director Military Intelligence Service and another five years as the Director SIS. Throughout my carrier I have never given comments or interviews to the media. Although I am not in service now, I still do not want to give comments to the media,” Sallay said.

Meanwhile this newspaper contacted Secretary Ministry of Public Security (Rtd) SDIG Ravi Seneviratne to know whether exposing these details would hamper the ongoing CID investigations to which the Ministry Secretary said that these details have been released in social media and even the Channel 4 revelation was aired in some TV or Radio channels.

By exposing these details will certainly not hamper the CID investigations. Your paper can report what was transpired at the Geneva Human Rights Council (HRC) and in Channel 4,” Seneviratne said.

Granting bail 

The Defence official further alleging how Pillayan was granted bail on November 24, 2020, by the High Court of Batticaloa said that Maulana had alleged that it was Basil Rajapaksa who got a Presidents Counsel (PC) and three members from the judiciary to support Pillayan to receive bail to ‘compensate’ for the support extended by him to them to bring yet another Rajapaksa sibling as the President of the country.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror on strict conditions of anonymity, sources from the Catholic Church of Colombo said that they are happy how the NPP government, as promised, is conducting investigations, with regard to the Easter bombings, in the right direction.

Meanwhile on November 2, 2007, Karuna Amman was arrested in London for entering the United Kingdom on a forged diplomatic passport, issued by the Sri Lanka’s SIS. Later the SIS wanted to get rid of Karuna Amman and promote Pillayan as the party leader of Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP). The Defence official based on the probe said that the then Chief of the Military Intelligence Service Suresh Sallay had told Pillayan that Karuna Amman was plotting to kill him and had wanted him to kill all Karuna Amman’s bodyguards. By doing so, the TMVP came under Pillayan’s control and he became its leader.

Please read the Presidential Commission report”- Gotabaya Rajapaksa In response to a text message forwarded to former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa by this newspaper regarding the allegation Maulana has leveled against him for conspiring the Easter attack to come into power, the former President claimed that he doesn’t know anything regarding these allegations.Rajapaksa’s text message states, ‘Please read the Presidential Commission report including the evidences given by the CID officers. I don’t know anything apart from what is in that report’.

The TMVP was registered as a political party on January 23, 2008. Its first meeting was held at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo. Following this, Pillayan won the Eastern Provincial Council Elections held in May 2008. Eventually he was made Chief Minister by the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Azath Maulana became his Coordinating Secretary.

According to Maulana’s revelation, from 2007 during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tenure, the Military Intelligence Service had paid TMVP Rs. 3.5 million per month. It was Maulana- on the directives of Pillayan- who had collected this money from the Military Intelligence Service.

Even after Maithripala Sirisena became Executive President in 2015, regular Army intelligence payments to the TMVP mercenary has been continued, the Defence official said. But according to this official, Sallay had once told Pillayan and Maulana that the monthly payments made to TMVP will not be possible in future under the new government as there is no possibility to give them a lump sum because whatever the money that is paid from the SIS,  has to be paid only to those who are in their payroll. Hence the official alleged that Sallay had advised Maulana to give 15 fake names which can be included to the Intelligence Service payroll. As instructed Maulana had provided the fake names and as promised Sallay had made arrangements for Moulana to collect the money from the Military Intelligence Service, the official alleged.

Meanwhile the official further alleged that in 2009, Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa had wanted Pillayan to handover part of their weapons to the government as the international community had pressurised the government to disarm the TMVP. It is alleged that Gotabaya Rajapaksa had asked Pillayan not to handover their entire stock of arms, but to retain some secretively, so that the government could show the international community that the TMVP was disarmed. On March 3, 2009,

these arms had been handed over to Brig. Fernando and DIG Edison Gunathilake at the Vebber Grounds, Batticaloa by Maulana.

With the change of government, in March 2015, the CID had questioned Pillayan for over six hours with regard to the murder of MP Joseph Pararajasingham. 

In September 2015, CID arrested Pillayan under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for his involvement in MP Pararajasingham’s murder. Five months later, he was transferred to the Batticaloa jail. In the meantime, Suresh Sallay was transferred to the Malaysian High Commission as the Defence Attaché.

The official said that according to Maulana, when Pilliyan was serving the jail sentence in Batticaloa, he had visited Pillayan regularly.

On one of these occasions, specifically in August 2017, when Maulana visited Pillayan, the official alleged that Maulana had spoken about some Muslim prisoners who had been brought to the same prison over a murder case at Alliyar Junction in Kaththankudy. Pillayan had allegedly told that that they were brought there for a special reason- to give them suicide attack training and wanted Maulana to keep it a secret. 

According to the official, Pillayan had wanted Maulana to meet these prisoners. And on Pillayan’s request, a jailor had brought one of them to Maulana with the permission of Jail Superintendent Akbar. This prisoner had introduced himself as Saine Maulavi who is the brother of Zaharan.

The Defence official further said that according to Maulana, it was prearranged to bring the Kattankudy prisoners to the Batticaloa prison in order to train them as a suicide squad for the Easter attack without the knowledge of outsiders. Maulana alleged that this arrangement was planned by the hierarchies in the SIS.

Suicide tactics 

Maulana in his confession had further said, Pillayan told me that these Muslim guys are very tough and that he had taught them about LTTE suicide tactics. He further asked me to help them to come out of the prison as they may help us later.”

Pillayan said that they are in trouble and wanted me to ask Rs. 50, 000 from Sallay and give it to Saine Maulavi’s brother Zaharan. When requested, Sallay sent the money through a third party. Zaharan came to my office at Lake Road, Batticaloa to collect this money.” 

Meanwhile, Sallay wanted me to inform if we need more money and deposited Rs. 200,000 to be given to Saine’s wife to pay for the lawyers’ legal fee to get bail for the Muslim prisoners. Later they were granted bail on October 24, 2017”.

By end January 2018, the official alleged that Pillayan had requested Maulana to arrange a meeting with Saine Maulavi and his team with Suresh Sallay as he was keen on meeting these Muslim prisoners from Kaththankudy. Pillayan had wanted Maulana to take part in the meeting too. 

The official alleged that Sallay had requested Maulana not to come for the meeting in his car as a military personnel would come to pick him up in a military vehicle on a given date. Accordingly, an Army vehicle had arrived to pick up Maulana up from his house at Dehiwala and Saine Moulavi had promised to come with his team separately.

Episode in coconut estate 

Maulana in his confession further states, I was taken to a large coconut plantation- Lactowatte at Wanathawilluwa in Puttalam- where there was a small lonely house. When I reached the location there was a white colour Toyota car with tinted shutters parked there. No sooner I got off from the military vehicle, Sallay who was in the car too got out of his vehicle and came and shook hands with me. I then called Saine Maulavi to see where he was. I was told that they were on their way and could reach the destination within half an hour. Amongst those who accompanied Saine Maulavi was his two brothers Rilvan and Zaharan. Saine Maulavi introduced his brother Zaharan to me. I shook hands with him. That was the first and the last time I met Zaharan. Then Sallay walked up to us and I introduced Zaharan to him.

Maulana is fabricating stories. It’s good that the government is planning to get Maulana back”-Pillayan Meanwhile the Daily Mirror contacted Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan who is accused of conspiring the Easter attack. He said that Maulana, who is seeking permanent residency in a foreign country in the guise of receiving life threats, is levelling baseless allegations.This attack took place six years ago. Why couldn’t he expose this at that time without taking four years to go to Channel 4 and HRC in Geneva? The present Secretary Ministry of Public Security Ravi Seneviratne- who was the former Head of the CID at the time of the bomb blast, the President and the CID are stupid. Can’t they understand the difference between those who have given up arms and the work of ISIS and Muslim extremism? As I didn’t like the arm struggle I entered the political mainstream and became a Chief Minister. How can a person who was in jail from 2015 to 2020 plan such a devastating attack? It is good that the government is planning to get Maulana back to the country. I will corporate with the CID and let the law enforcement authority arrest Maulana for fabricating stories,” Pillayan said.

They then entered the small house, but I was not asked to come in. I remained outside until their three hour meeting concluded. Later Sallay called me personally and said that the only way to get Pillayan released is to get Gotabaya Rajapaksa elected as the President.

The next day, I told Pillayan about this plan. Pillayan said that Sallay has a big plan to bring back Gotabaya into power. Sallay and Zaharan’s group met each other on February 1, 2018. It is Pillayan, Sallay and the Intelligence Services that should take the blame for the Easter attack”.

It is alleged that on February 11, 2019, through Suresh Sallay, Gotabaya Rajapaksa had sent a message for Maulana to come to his house at Balapokuna Road, Kohuwala for a meeting.

Kapila Hendawitharana and General Amal Karunasekara, who was the Directorate of the Military Intelligence at that time, too attended this meeting. From TMVP, one of its party members had attended the meeting with a lawyer. At this meeting Gotabaya Rajapaksa had told Maulana and the others who were present that if he was elected as the next President of the country he could release Pillayan from jail and for that endeavour, for them to work hard for him to get elected.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa had asked them to do what General Zam (pseudo name for Suresh Sallay) says, so that their boss (Pillayan) could be freed easily. 

According to Maulana, two months after this meeting and 14 months after the Sallay- Zaharan meeting at Wanathawilluwa, the Easter attack had taken place. Maulana claims that Gotabaya Rajapaksa too was directly involved in this attack. 

Maulana was in Batticaloa at the time of the Easter attack. While the televisions were showing the visuals of the suicide bombers, Maulana had recognised them as those who had met Sallay at Lactowatte in January 2018. He had immediately paid a visit to Pillayan in jail to inform the latter about this incident.

Maulana further states, Although nobody knew who were involved in this, I quickly understood the conspiracy that had taken place over the past few months. I went to meet Pillayan around 11a.m. to break the news about the spate of blasts. By the time I went, Pillayan had received the news from jailors at the prison. Pillayan said that it was Sallay’s partners that had detonated the bombs and said that it is good for us because at the next elections Rajapaksa’s will come into power.  He wanted me not to talk about this and asked me not to get worried about this incident as well.

The following day news broke out that it was Zaharan and his group that had set off the bombs. On April 23, Zaharan’s bothers Saine and Rilwan together with their father Hashim, set off a bomb and committed suicide when the Army surrounded their house in Kalmunai. Zaharan’s wife and a child escaped”.

A few days after the Easter attack, Gotabaya Rajapaksa returned to Sri Lanka from USA and said that he is willing to contest the upcoming Presidential Elections and his main slogan was to restore national security in the country. Meanwhile, the TMVP, on the instructions of Pillayan had decided to support Gotabaya Rajapaksa candidacy,” the Defence official said.    

The official further alleged that during the election campaign, Mahinda Rajapaksa visited Batticaloa jail to meet Pillayan and had told him that as for the latter there was light at the end of the tunnel.

According to Maulana, when Basil Rajapaksa visited Batticaloa on November 1, 2019, he had gone to see Pillayan in jail and had given an assurance that he would be freed after the Presidential Elections.

Soon after Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s victory, Sallay was appointed Director State Intelligence Service. Until then, any Army personnel hadn’t been appointed to this post, according to Maulana.

The defence official alleged that since Rajapaksa’s failed to fulfill their promise given to Pillayan and on realising that there were no signs of getting him freed for several months after the victory at the elections, Pillayan wanted Maulana to meet him urgently. When Maulana met Pillayan, he had given a letter and wanted it to be handed over to General Zam  

When this letter was given to Sallay on November 16, 2020, he had wanted Maulana to read it for him as it was written in Tamil, the official alleged.

In it Pillayan has stated, Gen. Zam, this is to remind your President how he and his government came into power. I cannot stay in the jail anymore. If no further action is taken to get me out, everyone will have to face the consequences. I helped you all to win the election. Then Gotabaya Rajapaksa became the President and you became the Director SIS, but I am still in jail. Now you all, get ready to go to jail”.

When the letter was read out, Suresh Sally had grabbed it from Maulana, torn it into small pieces and burnt it, the official alleged.

Soon afterwards, Sallay had called the then Defence Secretary and since there wasn’t any response, he has contacted President’s Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundara. As he too did not respond, he had given the contact details of Basil Rajapaksa to Maulana.

When help was sought from Basil Rajapaksa, he had given Maulana a contact number of a lawyer. He was Anil Silva PC. When Maulana met Anil Silva, he had taken over the case and said that he would appear on behalf of Pillayan considering Basil’s request, the Defence official alleged. When PC Silva appeared for Pillayan, though there was no chance for him to get bail for his client, Suresh Sallay had advised Maulana to ask the lawyers not to settle the case quickly and to push for a postponement. As per the request, Anil Silva PC had adopted that ploy.

Pillayan had known that this was a difficult case for him to win. Meanwhile, to ensure his security he was given a separate large cell at the Batticaloa prison. He had even used a mobile phone within the jail.

Afterwards, Maulana had requested Basil Rajapaksa to get Pillayan released at the earliest. Basil had told Maulana that Attorney General (AG) Dappula de Livera was adamant that Pillayan should not be released, the official alleged. Hence, Basil Rajapaksa had asked Maulana to request PC Silva to make an appeal as he had met one of the Judges who had promised to help Pillayan to get out of jail.

Maulana further says, He gave a contact number of this Judge. When this judge was contacted, he wanted me to meet him at a coffee shop in Colombo. At this meeting, I handed over to him the entire case file. He wanted me to come and see him in three days at his office at Hulftsdorp Road. He said that the case is very difficult as all the primary evidence are very strong, but wanted me to ask PC Silva to appeal the case in Batticaloa against the verdict, so that the case will come to him. He said that if the case is referred to him, he will put the case to Court No: 201 where there are two Judges and that he will ask them to reject the source of evidence.

When the case was taken up in October, the judgement was delivered in Pillayan’s favour and he was granted bail on November 24, 2020 by the Batticaloa High Court”.

Meanwhile, the Defence official alleged that Basil Rajapaksa appointed Sanjaya Rajaratnam PC as the Deputy Attorney General to get all cases against Pillayan dropped. On January 13, 2021, the Attorney General’s Department dropped all cases against Pillayan.

Following that, the opposition members revealed in parliament that Zaharan had worked hand in glove with the SIS. On April 15, 2021, Sallay had wanted Maulana to visit his office. At the entrance to Sallay’s office, his security guards had seized his mobile before allowing him to enter.

At this meeting, the official alleged that Sallay had pulled out his laptop and showed Maulana, MP Harin Fernando’s speech in parliament where he had said that this attack was a conspiracy to bring Gotabaya Rajapaksa into power and that Zaharan was in touch with State Intelligence. Thereafter, recordings of a zoom meeting was shown where Bishop Malcom Cardinal Ranjith and Fr. Cyril Gamini spoke. They too had said that this is a conspiracy and that Sallay was involved in this attack and this has to be investigated thoroughly.

The third video was of MP Nalin Bandara who says that Zaharan was working with the SIS and it was they who provided security and money to the terrorist group.

At the Easter Commission and even in Parliament MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake and MP Manusha Nanayakkara revealed how Suresh Sallay had met Zaharan at Lactowatte in Vanathawilluwa.

The official alleged that Sallay had then threatened Maulana that it was he (Maulana) and Pillayan who knew that he (Sallay) had met Zaharan, but Pillayan did not know every detail other than Maulana. Sallay, at that time, had made severe warnings.

It is alleged that Sallay had further stated that at the Security Council and the President had inquired about this and had ordered an inquiry to find out how such information was leaked. 

Following this, Maulana had spoken to Pillayan seeking his assistance.  Since all his attempts had failed and as his life was in danger, Maulana had left to India and from there to the Europe, from where he had decided to reveal the truth.