News
CB salary controversy: Issue is not increase but size of it, says Harsha
… asks for reappraisal of pay structure
CB never opposed pay hikes for anyone: Governor
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Chairman of the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) Dr. Harsha de Silva on Tuesday (05) said what was at issue was the sheer size of salary increase granted to Central Bank (CB) employees.
The SJB lawmaker said so when Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe sought an explanation from the House Committee whether the MPs found fault with the Central Bank over the salary increase granted to employees with effect from January 1 this year or the amount (percentage) given in terms of a Collective Agreement.
Dr. Weerasinghe appeared before the CoPF after having responded to questions raised at the party leaders’ meetin chaired by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.
Political sources said that the party leaders’ meeting, as well as the CoPF proceedings, commenced simultaneously. Of the seven Governing Board (GB) members, only Dr. Weerasinghe appeared before the party leaders and subsequently joined GB members, namely A.N. Fonseka, Dr. Ravi Ratnayake, Anushka S Wijesinha, Vish Govindasamy, Rajeev Amarasuriya and Manil Jayesinghe.
Responding to CoPF’s Chairman’s declaration that the Parliament felt that salaries of Central Bank employees shouldn’t have been increased by so much, Dr. Weerasinghe emphasised the need to explain their position in this regard.
Dr. Weerasinghe said that the Central Bank had never advised the government not to increase the salaries of state sector employees. Everyone’s income had to go up for the economic crisis to be resolved. “Salaries of both public and private sectors should be increased as soon as possible depending on the availability of funds.”
Dr. Weerasinghe said that the Parliament could say that the salary increase granted with effect from January 1 this year should have been delayed by one year. They could debate whether the increase granted to Central Bank employees was morally right now or a year later, he added.
Dr. Weerasinghe said that the government granted salary increases to an extent it could. The Governor was referring to the salary increase announced by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Finance Minister in the 2024 Budget.
Dr. de Silva pointed out that the House Committee had raised the issue over the size of the latest Central Bank salary increase and not the salary increase itself.
A statement issued by Janakantha Silva, Director Administration and Acting Director Communication, disclosed that during the party leaders’ meeting with the Central Bank team it transpired that as a result of the latest increase their monthly salary bill would go up by Rs 232 mn.
Dr. de Silva said that the Central Bank was a regulated monopoly. Therefore there was no competition. The former UNP State Minister emphasized that the Central Bank was regulated by Parliament.
Dr. Weerasinghe reiterated that the Central Bank was not of the view that salaries shouldn’t be increased.
Responding to Dr. Weerasinghe contention that the Central Bank had to look after its employees, Colombo District MP de Silva said all establishments faced that issue and it was not limited to the Central Bank. Economists weren’t the only category affected by the current crisis but doctors, engineers as well as other categories of workers.
Dr. de Silva urged the GB to reconsider the size of the salary increment.
Dr. de Silva yesterday told The Island that the House Committee believed the CB Governing Board would address the concerns raised by Parliament at the level of CoPF and the party leaders as well.
In spite of big boasts of rapid economic recovery and all sorts of claims, the country was in a precarious situation and the unexpected situation caused by the Central Bank salary increase could undermine public faith in the government, Dr. de Silva said.
CBSL officials appearing before CoPF (pic courtesy parliament)
An Australian woman has given birth to rare, naturally-conceived identical quadruplets after a pregnancy described as “extremely high risk” by the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
The four girls, who were delivered via caesarean section at 28 weeks and four days on 14 July, were monozygotic quadruplets – where a single fertilised egg splits into four embryos.
The hospital said the girls’ mother, 34-year-old Jenitar Na’amoana, and her husband Jortham, already had four children and were taken by “immense surprise” when told to expect quadruplets.
Dr Alexa Bendall, who cared for the mother from the start of her pregnancy, estimated identical quadruplets occur “at one in every 15 million pregnancies” and said “but to share the same placenta – this is unheard of”.
Bendall, who is a maternal foetal medicine specialist and obstetrician, said such a pregnancy was very high-risk, with the hospital admitting Na’amoana as an inpatient at 25 weeks so she could be monitored.
“We always said that if we could get her to 28 weeks, we would be doing well,” Bendall said.
“So the fact that we’ve got four beautiful, healthy babies born at 28 weeks and four days is incredible and we’re very happy to be a part of it,” she added.
“Jenitar has taken everything in her stride from day one… she has somehow dodged every complication and risk for both herself and her babies,” Bendall said.
The newborn girls have been named Emily, Harriet, Catherine, and also Alexa, after Alexa Bendall, who described it as “a beautiful tribute”.
The babies will stay in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit until they grow to full term and are “currently doing extremely well”, Bendall added.
The parents’ other children are between one and 10 years old and the mother has recently launched an online fundraising campaign to help buy a van with at least 10 seats.
In a message alongside the fundraiser, which has already received over A$37,000 (£19,261) in donations, Na’amoana wrote: “Our four precious miracles have arrived safely, and while our hearts are overflowing with gratitude, the reality of caring for four newborns at once has brought challenges we never could have imagined.”
Naturally conceived quadruplets are extremely rare, with doctors estimating the odds at about one in 700,000 births.
(BBC)
… bribe giver departs Colombo port
The Merchant Shipping Secretariat (MSS) is investigating a complaint received from the Captain of an Indonesian flagged vessel Sensho that he had to pay an official USD 5,000 bribe to facilitate what our sources called port state control inspection.
Sources said that the cement carrier arrived at the Colombo Port, on Friday, and departed after having passed the rigorous inspection. Responding to queries, sources said that after paying the bribe, the vessel’s Captain has lodged complaints with MSS and the Commission to Investigate Allegation of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC).
In spite of the government’s high profile anti-corruption drive there seemed to be fresh cases, sources said, adding that MSS had received a comprehensive complaint. The vessel had departed Colombo for Jeddah, sources said.
“The issue at hand is whether there have been unreported cases of MSS personnel receiving bribes,” sources said, acknowledging that the Captain, instead of immediately bringing the demand for USD 5,000 bribe to the MSS, had paid it and departed Colombo. (SF)
An opposition political group, styled as Dinana Dakuna, has accused the Committee of Public Finance (COPF) of protecting the masterminds behind the USD 2.5 mn theft from the Treasury.
Commenting on the recent COPF report on the theft, the group has alleged that the all-party parliamentary grouping made an attempt to shift the blame to the Central Bank as part of a cover-up. It has described the COPF report as a deliberate attempt to suppress the truth.
The group said that the COPF conveniently asserted that the theft took place due to the inexperience of officers concerned, thereby diverting the attention from those who perpetrated it.
An alleged attempt to portray the collapse of the administrative set-up that led to the USD 2.5 mn theft as a human resource problem, has also been questioned by Dinana Dakuna.
Rare identical quadruplets born in Australia
Showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts
Merchant Shipping Secretariat probes bribery scandal
Theft of USD 2.5 mn: Dinana Dakuna claims COPF trying to protect mastermind
COPF chief slams security sticker scam
CAA urged to protect soap users
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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