Chairman Colombo Rubber Traders Association, ( CRTA) Sunil Poholiyadde said recently at the Annual General Meeting (AGM ) of the CRTA that the current performance of the industry was not at optimum. Comparing crop performances in 2015 and 2016 he reported a 79 million kilo drop in production in 2016. Additionally, he also expressed surprise at a very nearly 50 percent drop in production of natural rubber . He confirmed that 70 percent rubber originated from rubber small holders, who did not work their lands because of poor prices last year, seriously affecting production. Prices dropped to Rs. 200. per kilo which rendered such lands liabilities than assets. Additionally, small holders are now felling their rubber trees for timber for the lucrative furniture market. Consequences of such action will gravely affect production. Long term effects would be detrimental to the rubber industry. Poholiadda also said about 2500 hectares have been identified for acquisition as ex rubber lands to be administered by Regional Plantation Companies for expansion for industrial purposes. The drop in prices and reduced extents of rubber plantation resulted in a dismal overall performance. He added Regional Plantation Companies have continued their re-planting programmes but the main production sector, who are the small holders, who were accustomed to sales prices of Rs.600. per kilo, are now faced with insolvency. Poholiadda alluded to the Rubber Master Plan and the expected increase in production by 2045 of 300,000 kilos, inclusive of production of value added products for the export market. He said by that time rubber would contribute about 5 billion dollars in forex earnings. Secretary, Ministry of Plantation Industries Lakna Paranawitharna deputizing for Minister Naveen Dissanayake, who was unwell, confirmed the Rubber Master Plan was operative and its progress was on-going, although he said its progress was slow. At discussion he confirmed the Monaragala rubber project was now productive and some 3000 hectares of new planting were now productive. The target area was 5000 hectares. He, however, said a current shortage of labour was a serious phenomenon affecting production; the need to address this problem was imperative if the industry was to progress. (Daily Island 1.8.2017)
The prevailing drought has left more than one million people without access to drinking water in eight provinces out of the nine, according to the statistics of the Disaster Management Centre (DMC). Accordingly, 1,094,457 people belonging to 314,219 families in 18 districts of Eastern, North Central, Northern, North Western, Central, Uva, Sabaragamuwa and Southern Provinces have been affected. The Northern Province is the worst affected with a total of 462,815 individuals belonging to 133,678 families hit by the drought. The North-Western Province and the Eastern Province follow with a total 281,013 people belonging to 82,513 families and 211, 736 people belonging to 59,003 families affected respectively. In the Kurunegala District, 149,962 individuals belonging to 45,730 families have been affected by the drought. Meanwhile, 79,602 people belonging to 23,285 families in the North-Central, 20,641 people belonging to 5,904 families in the Central Province, 29,868 people belonging to 7,668 families in the Uva Province, 812 people belonging to 183 families in the Sabaragamuwa Province and 7,230 people belonging 1,875 families in the Southern Province have been affected by the drought. Director of Irrigation (Water Management and training) Eng. M. Palugaswewa told The Island that the water levels of all 73 major reservoirs had decreased drastically due to the drought and water could not be released for irrigation purposes. About 70 percent of water had already been issued from the reservoirs and currently people depended on the ground water for drinking purposes which would only last for two to three months. Meanwhile, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) yesterday warned of further restrictions on the supply of electricity due to the reduction of hydro-power generation as the water levels in the reservoirs had dropped drastically to 36 per cent of their capacity. CEB media spokesman Sulakshana Jayawardana said the daily electricity demand in the country had increased by over 2,400 megawatts (MW) with 44 Gigawatt-hours (GWh) used in the day-time alone. County’s total capacity is 4,000 MW and from that 1,350MW was generated using large scale hydro-power plants while another 350 MW was generated by small-scale hydro-power plants, he added. (Daily Island 1.8.2017)
Foreign inflows to the stock market originating from Australia indicate a figure of Rs. 626.4 million year-to-date, which is an all-time record for foreign purchases from Australia in a calendar year. The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) in association with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) hosted a series of Invest Sri Lanka Investor Forums to promote Sri Lankan capital market investment in Australia during March 2017. Rs. 593.4 million, which attributes to 95% of the purchases this year, have been recorded since the Invest Sri Lanka forums. Record inflows from Australia also place the country as the 10th ranked contributor in terms of overall net foreign flow in 2017, a noteworthy development considering the fact that an actual outflow of funds to Australia amounting to Rs. 80.2 million was recorded in 2016. A strong community of individuals with a Sri Lankan origin eager to look at new Sri Lankan investment opportunities and the celebration of 70 years of diplomatic ties between Sri Lanka and Australia presented the CSE with a unique opportunity to promote the capital market in Australia this year. (Daily Island 2.8.2017)
Foreign Minister and former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake yesterday vehemently denied any involvement in the leasing or the subsequent purchase of a penthouse at Monarch Residencies in Colombo 03. He said all those matters had been handled by his family. Karunanayake made the daring denial before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry probing the alleged bond scams in Colombo. The Foreign Minister, however, on being questioned said that he, his wife and children were still living in the same penthouse. Minister Karunanayake said he had got to know about Walt and Row Private Ltd., being involved in leasing out the apartment only later and it had been purchased by Global Transport Logistics (GTL) Company he had set up, Karunanayake admitted in answer to queries raised by Justice Prasanna Jayawardena. The Minister said it was a company belonging to his family and it had purchased the penthouse. Karunanayake claimed that though he lived there with his family, he had not seen the lease agreement and was not aware that it had been leased out by Walt and Row from Anika Wijesuriya as all those matters had been attended to by his family. Asked whether he knew that Arjun Aloysius controlled Walt and Row Company, which had paid the monthly lease rental of Rs 1.45 million, the Minister said his family members had reimbursed the money and he had receipts. President’s Counsel Livera told the Commission that Karunanayake’s evidence was contrary to the statement Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had made in Parliament on March 17, 2015 and sworn testimonies given to the Commission by Treasury officials. At the time, the urgent need was for Rs. 15 billion, the PM had said, the SASG de Livera noted. Similarly, the Secretary to the Treasury the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury and the Director General of the Treasury Operations Department had, in their evidence before the Commission, stated that they knew nothing about the letter issued by Karunanayake as Finance Minister stating that Rs. 75 billion was needed urgently. (Daily Island 3.8.2017)
A major concrete pour of 6500 cubic meter was done in ITC One Colombo One project located in the 5.87 acres of land in Galle Face Road, Colombo – 01 adjacent to the Taj Samudra hotel on 06.08.2017. ITC One Colombo One project is a mixed use development project of two tall towers on the Galle Face road, consisting of 135 units of High end Residential Apartments in a 224 meter tall tower and a five star hotel of 350 Keys in another tower of 140 meters tall. The project has a unique Feature of a Sky Bridge with a swimming pool at 100 meters height connecting the Residential Tower with the Hotel Tower. The major construction work in the project started in the month of January 2017 with the mobilization of the General Contractor, Larsen & Toubro Limited, a major Engineering organization from India working in various countries across the globe. Subsequently Sri Lankan sub-contractors were finalized for the Civil & Structural work. The Residential Tower which is the taller one is being constructed by M/s International Construction Consortium (Pvt) Ltd (ICC), one of the highly reputed Sri Lankan Engineering Construction Company. The major concrete pour is for the raft foundation of the Residential Tower in the project has been done with some special features. As per the available records, this single pour of 6500 cu/mt concrete is the largest pour in Sri Lanka. It is done with a special mix design of C50 grade concrete, the ingredients proportion being used first time in Colombo. The concrete pour has 1250 MT of reinforcement work. Concrete Core Temperature of 70 Degree Celsius was maintained throughout. The concrete was meticulously planned in segments for operational ease. Special care has been taken to ensure no inconvenience is caused to the neighbors and general public. (Daily Island 9.8.2017)
Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake resigned from his post after making a special statement in Parliament yesterday and left his front row seat to become a backbencher.”The media and some Opposition politicians demand that I be crucified over being probed by a presidential commission of inquiry. I decided to resign to set an example in keeping with the good governance policy we introduced and I do so without regret. I am proud to sacrifice my position. I do so for my party and people whom I always considered above me and my personal gains.” Karunanayake said: “Allegations have been made against me during the recent past in media and social media. There has been a debate over this issue and some members raised it here in Parliament as well. A no-confidence motion, too, has been submitted against me. Therefore, I need to make an explanation to this House. I have given evidence with regard to this before the Treasury Bond Commission. I have a house in Battaramulla and it was under repair. I needed to find a new place. I do not have an official residence. My family members, too, were looking for a suitable place. They told me that there was a house available at Monarch Residencies and it belonged to Nahil Wijesuriya’s daughter, who is a friend of my daughter. We moved to that house. Nahil Wijesuriya’s daughter did not want to rent the house to a politician. Therefore, my daughter proposed to rent the house to a company belonging to Arjuna Aloysius, who is a school friend of both my daughter and Nahil Wijesuriya’s daughter. The house was rented to that company and later my daughter reimbursed it. As the owner of the house decided to sell it, our family thought of purchasing it. We obtained a loan from the Seylan Bank for that purpose. I tabled the documents pertaining to the loan facility No Seylan Bank REF No WTL/CRD/2016-1535, 29 September 2016. I have no need to acquire a house through illegal means. Many MPs in this House know that I have a house at Battaramulla. Not only those on our side but also those in the opposition have visited that house. They came there to have political discussions, as friends, to eat and drink and enjoy and sometimes to crossover to this side. I have worked tirelessly 32 years for my party. I have been with the party during the times of hardships. I faced numerous challenges on behalf of the party. I received death threats. There were cases against me. There was one case of foreign exchange and it was heard for 10 years to harass me. Finally, the court set me free of all charges. In that case, Raj Rajaratnam, too, had been accused. Indrajith Coomaraswamy, who worked for Rajaratnam, is the Governor of the Central Bank, today. I tell these matters to show how those in the Opposition harassed us and took political revenge. They took political revenge then and are now engaged in character assassination. My family members, too, were subjected to harassment. They once sent a skull to my paralysed mother. They also sent human body parts to my wife and children. But, I worked for the benefit of our party members. I prevented the split in the party. I worked to defeat conspiracies against party leadership. I always protected my party and party leadership. I will always protect the party, its members and its leadership. I have put the party before self. The history will decide my place. I did not take the decision to resign with regret. I am proud to set this example. I am a proud person to make this decision for my party and my country. (Daily Island 11.8.2017)
An Emirates A380 aircraft landed at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) Katunayake Monday, helping Sri Lanka and the airport achieve an aviation milestone. Sri Lanka’s Minister of Transport & Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva M.P. was at the airport to greet Abdul Hameed Abdul Fattah Kazhim Al-Mulla, UAE ambassador to Sri Lanka and Emirates’ Senior Vice President Commercial (West Asia & Indian Ocean) Ahmed Khoory who were among the VIPs on the flight, the first A380 commercial flight to the country. Arranged to celebrate the BIA’s recently resurfaced and upgraded runway, the special one-off A380 flight operated as EK654 from Dubai, replacing the B777 aircraft usually deployed by Emirates on flights to Sri Lanka. The iconic aircraft was on ground for more than six hours to enable airport executives, VIPs, trade partners and media to enjoy guided static tours of its cabins and unique amenities like the first class suites, shower spas and the on-board lounge. (Daily Island 16.8.2017)
The country had recorded the highest number of Sri Lankan migrant workers migrating to South Korea for employment last year, Foreign Employment Minister Thalatha Athukorala said. According to the Minister a total of 6,635 Sri Lankans migrated to South Korea in 2016. However, in 2015, the number of migrant workers serving in that country was 5,007. So far this year 2,134 workers have left for South Korea. According to the statistics of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), a majority of Sri Lankans have gone to South Korea for jobs in the manufacturing sector. Last year, 4,334 Sri Lankans were recruited for employment in the production sector. In 2015 the number was 3,512. So far this year 1, 799 Sri Lankans have been employed in the manufacturing sector. She told The Island that there was a good job market for Lankans, in South Korea and, therefore it was the responsibility of those who were working there to return to the country once the employment agreement was concluded. Minister Athukorala requested Sri Lankans overstaying visas in South Korea to return to return home by making use of the common amnesty period. “Currently, there is a common amnesty period granted for migrant workers who have been overstaying in South Korea. Therefore, this will be a good opportunity for Sri Lankans to return during this period.” It is compulsory for job seekers in Korea to pass the Korean Language Proficiency Examination (KLPE). According to the bureau, this year 4,294 candidate have passed last month’s KLPE out of 13,088 candidates. In addition, Minister Athukorala stressed that even though there was a good demand for Sri Lankan migrant workers in Israel, now there was a risk of losing employment opportunities in that country due to the overstaying by Lankan workers. So far it had been reported that over 61 such migrant workers were overstaying visas in Israel, she noted, threatening legal action against them. (Daily Island 16.8.2017).
Surveys have revealed that 40% males and 2.4% females in the country drink alcohol.Mental Health Director of the Health Ministry Dr. Chitramali de Silva said it had also been revealed the females who consumed alcohol were above 15 years. About 10% of the youth were addicted to drinking alcohol and 9% of them to smoking, the specialist said. These revelations were made by Dr. Ms. De Silva at a media briefing held at the Colombo Health Education Bureau yesterday in view of the International Youth Day. (Daily Island 17.8.2017)
President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday appointed an officer from the Tamil minority to head the navy for the first time since a separatist war erupted 45 years ago. Rear Admiral Travis Sinniah is the first Tamil to head a wing of the military since 1970, even though Tamils make up around 15 percent of Sri Lanka’s population. In 1972, the separatist Tamil Tigers took up arms and launched a bloody guerrilla war for a separate state for the ethnic minority that only ended in May 2009 when they were crushed in a no-holds barred military offensive. “Rear Admiral Travis Sinniah, who has served Sri Lanka navy with immense loyalty for many decades, took office as the navy commander today,” the president said on Twitter. Sri Lanka’s separatist war claimed the lives of at least 100,000 people between 1972 and 2009, according to UN estimates. The conflict discouraged the mainly Hindu Tamil community as well as Muslims — Sri Lanka’s second largest minority — from joining the armed forces and police. Only a few of them remained across the military. The Tamil Tigers had cited discrimination in jobs and education among the key reasons for their campaign for a separate state. (Daily Island 19.8.2017)
Natural disasters which wreaked havoc on the country recently have caused damage estimated at Rs. 109 billion, according to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Several districts were affected by devastating floods and landslides which left at least 202 dead and more than 80,000 displaced. Speaking at a meeting in Matara, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said the government had already allocated Rs. 60 billion to help the disaster victims rebuild their lives. He said more funds would be set aside for that purpose. The Prime Minister was in Matara to review the progress of welfare programmes which got underway following disasters. The PM said the government would do everything in its power to help the disaster victims. (Daily Island 19.8.2017)
Embattled Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe criticised President Maithripala Sirisena’s coalition government yesterday saying it had failed the nation and urged Buddhists monks to lead a campaign for political change. Rajapakshe, who faces possible expulsion from the cabinet, took Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne head on accusing him of interfering in the affairs of the justice ministry and took thinly veiled swipes at Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe too. Speaking at a public meeting at Rambawe in the Anuradhapura district, the Justice Minister said his cabinet colleague Senaratne was not worried about the spread of chronic kidney disease and dengue and instead poked his nose in the affairs of others. “Even if everyone in the country is affected by kidney failure and everyone dies of dengue, our health minister has more important things to worry about, such as the AG’s department and the justice system…,” he said. He was referring to Senaratne’s comments last week as cabinet spokesman that the government wanted speedy prosecutions in the high profile corruption cases. Minister Senaratne had said the Attorney-General’s department which initiates prosecutions should function more efficiently. The cabinet was also seeking the establishment of more High Courts to reduce laws delays. The minister said the two-party system dominated by his own UNP and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) of President Sirisena had failed the country for the past 70 years. “We tried a unity government with the UNP and the SLFP coming together and that too has proved to be a failure,” he said. “The Buddhist leaders and others should decide on an alternative political leadership.” He indicated that he was championing Sinhala Buddhist nationalism . “When I speak about the problems faced by the Sinhala Buddhist majority, they call me a racist, they say I am a ‘gothrikaya’ (a tribal), but when minorities talk about their issues, they are patriots.” Prime Minister Wickremesinghe had been empowered by the UNP working committee to decide on Rajapakshe’s fate amid calls for his immediate sacking from the cabinet. UNP members had accused the justice minister of dragging his feet and not prosecuting high profile individuals of the former regime despite pledges of the new government to swiftly bring them to justice. (Sunday Island 20.8.2017)
More than 1,300,025 individuals of 377,123 families had been affected due to the prevailing drought, Assistant Director of the Disaster Management Centre Pradeep Kodippili said yesterday. He said that 20 Districts including 143 Divisional Secretariat Divisions were affected following the drought and the highest number of victims had been reported from the Kurunegala District at 231,121 “Measures have been taken to expedite the process of distribution of drinking water to the affected areas. We have also taken prompt action to mitigate the condition and provide victims with necessary requirements,” Mr. Kodippili said. The Director General of the National Disaster Relief Services Centre Chaminda Pathiraja told the Daily Mirror that the Treasury had allocated Rs. 1.83 billion to distribute dry rations, “The largest amount of Rs. 400 mn had been allocated for dry rations distributed among the people in the Kurunegala District,” he said. “We have started distributing dry rations on August 15 and we have almost finished distribution in 17 Districts. (Daily Island 24.8.2017).
More than 1,300 foreigners were not allowed to enter Sri Lanka by Immigration authorities last year — many of them from four countries whose citizens are subjected to clearances from the State Intelligence Service (SIS) before being issued Sri Lankan visas, according to the Department of Immigration and Emigration. Pakistani, Afghan, Egyptian and Syrian citizens require clearance from the SIS in view of the global security situation that had arisen in 2014, the Department said in its performance report for 2016 tabled in Parliament this week. Among the 1134 foreign nationals refused entry were 239 Pakistanis, 166 Afghans, 41 Egyptians and six Syrians. Entry was also refused to 217 Indians, 210 Chinese and 78 Nepalese, the report said. Last year, more than 2.1 million foreigners visited Sri Lanka. Of them, more than a million were Asians with around 800,000 coming from Europe. A majority arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport with only 1,417 using the Mattala airport and about 26,000 using sea ports.
A total of 1,485,004 Sri Lankans also came back to the country and of them, only 845 used the Mattala Airport. Meanwhile, the Department issued 658,725 passports, including 401 diplomatic passports, last year. (Sunday Times 27.8.2017)
Over 80 per cent of Sri Lanka’s 21 million people use either a debit card or a credit card for their financial transactions, according to Central Bank (CB) data.Responding to a RTI request from the Business Times on data on credit and debit cards and the exposure, the CB said there was a total of 17,093,239 debit cards and 1,355,704 credit cards in use, making it a sum total of 18.4 million cards. While credit cards permit the cardholder to buy goods on credit, the debit card confines purchases based on one’s bank balance. The total amount owed to banks as at March 31, 2017 was Rs. 77.7 billion from both categories of cards, the banking regulator said adding that the CB has not placed a cap or limit on the total exposure of banks to these cards. The CB said customers can demand information on interest rates charged on card balances. If a bank refuses to accede to such requests, the issues can be referred to the Bank Supervision Department of the CB and the Financial Ombudsman of Sri Lanka. In terms of provisions of the Banking Act, the CB has the authority to sue non-compliant banks. However, prior to initiating litigation the CB ensures that all other corrective measures have been taken to ensure compliance with the regulatory requirements. (Sunday Times 27.8.2017)
The Sri Lankan economy has suffered a severe blow from the Qatar-Gulf crisis and low oil prices following a drastic drop in remittances from Lankan migrant workers in West Asia. Experts pointed out that there had been a significant slowdown in workers’ remittances in June 2017 with a 13.5 per cent reduction on a year-on-year basis amounting to USD 557.6 million during the month. Central Bank economists said the continued decline in workers’ remittances could be attributed to the adverse economic and geopolitical conditions prevailing in the Western Asian region. Consequently, inflows from workers’ remittances declined by 7.2 per cent on a cumulative basis to USD 3,354.7 million during the first half of this year in comparison to the corresponding period of last year. Economic analysts predict an economic crisis here due to the decline in foreign remittances in the face of ever increasing import expenditure. In comparison to the first half of last year, the import expenditure of the country increased from USD 9,321 million to USD 10,151 million during the first half of this year. As a result, the trade deficit, too, had increased by 8.9 per cent during the first half of this year, Central Bank sources said. The increase in import expenditure was mainly due to the rising prices of fuel, rice and gold imports, sources said.A ccording to the World Bank sources migrant workers’ remittances to south Asia fell 6.4 per cent last year after years of steady increases. Remittances to India slumped 8.9 per cent in 2016 — the second consecutive year of decline — to USD 62.7bn, down from USD 72bn two years earlier. (Daily Island 28.8.2017)
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