News
Lanka awash with face masks a new headache
by Ifham Nizam
The government was concerned about the importation of 140 million face masks weighing more than 495 tonnes between March 17 and October 31, Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said.
Amaraweera told the media yesterday if those masks were not properly disposed, that would lead to serious environmental issues.
The health sector has reported that about 100 companies have approved the import of 15 million KN 95 masks by the end of November, the Minister said.
Amaraweera also said the Covid-19 pandemic was likely to get worse in the future and the virus could spread to water sources, thus the manner of disposing face masks was of great concern.
He also noted that a number of face mask factories had been set up in the country and all those could add to serious environmental problems.
Environment Ministry Secretary, Dr. Anil Jasinghe, said that the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) had submitted a series of guidelines to local government institutions on the proper disposal of face masks.
The matter should be regulated by the Ministry of Health, but in the future the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Health would take steps to put in place a mechanism to tackle the issue, he said.
Himantha Randiva Wimalaratne, a Grade Nine student of Ananda College, Colombo, presented to the Minister a new invention which could destroy contaminants including face masks.
Minister appreciated the interest shown by the media in new inventions, and presented a certificate of appreciation to the student for introducing a useful new invention to the country without wasting time when schools are closed due to Covid-19.
The Minister was the first to appreciate the child’s talent. Ananda College Principal, S. M. Keerthiratne expressed his gratitude to the Minister and to Dr. Anil Jasinghe, the Secretary to the Ministry, who is an old Anandian.
The Student’s mother Anoma Ranjani Jayatilake and the teacher in charge of the class, Darshani Perera were also present.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Transport, Highways, and Urban Development to award the contract for printing and supplying vehicle number plates for the Department of Motor Traffic for a period of five (5) years to M/s South Asian Technologies based on the recommendations of the High-Level Standing Procurement Committee and the Procurement Appeal Board.
The National Lotteries board has been established subject to the Finance Act No. 11 of 1963. Having identified the requirement of amending that act which was imposed around 62 years to cater the current requirements of the lottery market, the Cabinet of Mnisters at their meeting held on 14.02.2017 granted approval to draft a new bill for the purpose.
Accordingly, the National Lotteries Board has recognized further amendments to be performed to the fundamental draft bill prepared by the Legal Draftsmen.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for the
resolution furnished by the President in his office as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to direct the Legal Draftsmen to finalize the formulation of the draft bill for the National Lotteries Board as soon as possible including the proposed new amendments as well.
The Werahara office of the Department of Motor Traffic performs issuance of temporary driving licenses in this country based on the driving licenses issued overseas, and measures have been initiated to render the service from a service window of the Department of Motor Traffic established at the Bandaranayake International Airport from 03.08.2025.
The fees charged for issuing temporary driving licenses have been published in Motor Vehicles (Driving License Levy) Regulations No. 3 of 2022 prepared under the provisions of the Motor Traffic (Authority 203) Act.
But, as the fee of Rupees 2,000/- charged for the service is not sufficient, the requirement of amending the regulations has been recognized.
The regulations for introducing the revised fees have been published in the government extraordinary gazette
notification No. 2463/04 dated 17.11.2025. Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development to
submit the regulations to the Parliament for its concurrence.
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M/s South Asian Technologies awarded contract to supply vehicle number plates
A new act for National Lotteries Board to be introduced
Motor Vehicles (Driving License Levy) Regulations No. 3 of 2022 to be amended
Mrs. P. K. L. S. Panduwawala appointed to the post of Surveyor General
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