News

Kerosene queues to continue until refinery fully operational

Published

4 years ago

2022/06/4

By Shiran Ranasinghe

The kerosene queues will continue until the re-opened Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery commenced operations fully, a senior Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) official said yesterday.He added that during previous weeks the CPC had released a large amount of kerosene to refuel aircraft.The official said that the chemical composition between jet fuel and kerosene was negligible.By Thursday (02) night, CPC only had 386 MT of jet fuel, he said.The official added that the kerosene consumption in the country was about 600 MT per month, but the CPC was not in a position to supply that quantity.Sri Lanka last week received a crude oil shipment and the Refinery was expected to produce large amounts of kerosene from the crude oil.

“Until Sapugaskanda is fully operational, we will continue to have kerosene queues. There were kerosene queues in urban centres and in areas where there are a lot of fishermen and in the estate sector. We understand the suffering of the people. But there is nothing we can do,” he said.

The official added that CPC had no idea how it would import fuel after the Indian credit line was exhausted.He said that there were adequate quantities of fuel to last two weeks. Although the government had planned to buy fuel through spot tenders, a lot of companies were hesitant to supply fuel due to the country’s economic woes.By 02 June, the CPC had 18,825 metric tonnes of Diesel, 42 MT of Super Diesel, 33,498 MT of 92 Octane Petrol, 13,067 MT of 95 Octane Petrol, and 386 MT of jet fuel.

However, the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery was expected to be fully functional by next week after a technical hiccup last week and that was the only silver lining for the country, he said.The CPC official said that the government should focus on importing crude oil because the refinery could produce by-products like kerosene, furnace oil and jet fuel.

According to him the Refinery needs to be provided with a continuous supply of crude oil because shutting it down and restarting the refinery is an expensive and a time-consuming endeavour.In 2021, there were those who claimed that importing diesel and petrol directly was more feasible than operating a refinery, he said. “However, we have seen the result of this. Kerosene queues are a permanent fixture of daily life. Many industries face furnace oil shortages and there is a shortage of tar. Crude oil should be at the top of the government’s import priorities,” he said.

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News

Animal Welfare Draft Bill to be Gazetted

Published

8 hours ago

2026/06/24

Priyan

A specialists committee has been appointed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation adhering to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers dated 29.12.2025 for submitting appropriate recommendations analyzing the provisions of the draft bill formulation in regard to Animal Welfare.

Based on the recommendations of the said Committee, the Legal Draftsman has been instructed at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers held on 18.05.2026 to prepare the final bill on the animal welfare.

Wherefore, the Legal Draftsman has formulated the draft bill and the clearance of the Attorney General has been received in the connection.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation to publish the said draft bill in the
Government Gazette Notification and subsequently forward the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.

News

Legal provisions on marking voters using indelible ink during elections removed

Published

8 hours ago

2026/06/24

Priyan

Under the legal provisions for elections in this country since 2004, it is mandatory for voters who come to mark their votes to verify their identity through a valid identity card, and it is also mandatory for all such voters to be marked with an appropriate mark using indelible ink. The dual purpose of these two functions is to prevent a voter from voting more than once in a single election.

It has been observed that having to follow two different
methods at the same time to achieve the same objective hinders the efficiency of the duties performed at the polling stations and also incurs additional costs to the government.

Therefore, it has been deemed appropriate to remove the legal provisions regarding the use of indelible ink and marking the voter with the appropriate mark from all election acts.

Accordingly, the development activities of the province, as well as national security, will benefit. Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the
President to take necessary steps to remove the legal provisions

• Section 36 of the presidential Election Act, No 15 of 1981
• Section 38 of the Parliamentary Election Act, No 01 of 1981
• Section 36 of the Provincial Council Election Act, No 02 of 1988
• Section 53 A of the Local Government Elections Ordinance (262 Authority)
• Section 21 of the Referendum Act No 7 of 1981

News

Showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts

Published

8 hours ago

2026/06/24

Priyan

WEATHER FORECAST FOR 24 JUNE 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 24 June 2026 by the Department of Meteorology

Several spells of showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts. Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in the Uva province and in Ampara and Batticaloa districts after 2.00 p.m.

Fairly strong winds about (30-40) kmph can be expectedat times over the Western slopes of the central hills, the Northern, North-central, North-western and Southern provinces and in Trincomalee district.

The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.