News

Chinese projects underway in East

Published

3 years ago

2023/01/23

Hu Wei, Chargé d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka, has explained ongoing projects undertaken by China in the Eastern Province, while disclosing future projects.

Hu Wei released the following text: A month ago, I paid a short, but productive visit, to the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka, bringing to the students of two local schools and residents of two villages rice, stationery, fuel and solar street lamps, donated by China, and having a good talk with the Hon. Governor Anuradha Yahampath and local civil society representatives. I learned a lot during this visit at the local communities. On one hand, I can better feel for the hardship that local people is enduring that makes me keep thinking about how we can do more to help them. On the other hand, I did feel how deep-rooted the China-Sri Lanka friendship is and how eager the people of the Eastern Province are for achieving development. In this regard, China has both willingness and ability to help them live a better life at an early date.

“What left the deepest impression on me was Kaluwankerny, a remote fishing village, with a nearly 50 minutes’ drive from the town of Batticaloa. This village has been hit hard by COVID-19 pandemic, economic crisis, and grave poverty. I visited several families in the village and found out that only one of them had a bed. Many families had no choice but to live in thatched shacks. The Eastern Province was caught in a rare rainstorm in those days, which added to the hardships of the villagers who live in shacks and make a living out of fishing. Fortunately, the Chinese Embassy had funded the building of several brick houses for the village, giving shelter for many villagers, against wind and rain. During this visit, I was heartened by the villagers who were not overwhelmed by poverty. When they were standing in muddy road and welcoming me at the village entrance, all I saw were smiling faces and when we were talking together under the simple awning, I could feel their aspiration for a better life, not to mention the great vitality in the clear eyes of the village kids. I believe their future must be full of hope! Moving from thatched shacks to brick houses, getting rid of poverty and living a better life is not mission impossible, but a real story that has happened countless times in China.

“Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, China has won the largest battle against poverty in human history. In the past decade, a total of 128,000 impoverished villages and close to 100 million poor rural residents have been lifted out of poverty. A total of 1.1 million km highways has been reconstructed in the rural arears. More than 9.6 million poverty-stricken people have moved into new resettlement houses. Millions upon millions of children from poor families have fair access to education. With all these achievements, local people’s live have undergone tremendous changes. The fact that China eradicated absolute poverty, finished building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and thus completed the First Centenary Goal has become a major event of great immediate importance and profound historical significance. In the progress of advancing rural revitalization across the board, people in China’s rural areas will surely lead a better life.

“China’s experience in poverty alleviation indicates that poverty is not unconquerable. By applying the people-centered philosophy, highlighting poverty alleviation as top agenda of governance and eradicating poverty through development, huge number of villages in China had successfully got rid of poverty and even become rich. We would like to share experiences with Kaluwankerny residents and more Sri Lankan friends and provide necessary support to help them live an ideal life as early as possible. As China believes that one swallow does not make a summer, building a human community with a shared future is the way forward for all the world’s peoples.

“The world today is undergoing momentous changes unseen in a century. The world economy is in face of serious challenges and the geopolitical environment remains tense. Food and energy crises are compounded with one another. Factors of instability, uncertainty and unpredictability are mounting in the international landscape. Faced with these challenges, it is imperative that all countries advocate peace, development, and win-win cooperation and embrace the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind. As a responsible major country with a global vision, China will continue to promote all parties to replace division with unity, confrontation with cooperation, and exclusion with inclusiveness, and join hands to solve the common challenges of humanity and create a better future together. China, as Sri Lanka’s good and genuine friend, will continue to contribute to Sri Lanka’s early recovery and development. We welcome more Sri Lankan friends to communicate with the Chinese Embassy so that we can better understand your difficulties and help you in urgent need.

“Finally, I would like to share some good news with Eastern Province friends. First, the Chinese Embassy has funded the building of another batch of brick houses in Kaluwankerny so that more villagers will be able to bid farewell to their shacks. The second good news is for the residents of Morawewa, the other village I visited. To solve your difficulties in gaining access to drinking water, the Embassy has decided to provide financial support for constructing well and laying water pipes in the Division. Last but not least, China and the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka are exploring more cooperation in areas such as agriculture, fisheries, tourism and education. We never pay lip service when it comes to China-Sri Lanka friendship. We are willing to work together with all walks of life in Sri Lanka with concrete actions, to bring more benefits to people of all ethnic groups of the two countries.”

All News Advertisement

News

Govt. assures UN of readiness to introduce ‘vetting process’ for troops on overseas missions

Published

2 mins ago

2026/04/28

Sahan Weerasooriya

Thuyakontha

Defence Secretary (retd.) Air Marshal Sampath Thuyakontha has discussed with UN officials in New York the deployment of Sri Lankan troops in Haiti, under a new UN authorised force, tasked with tackling heavily armed gangs operating in the violence ravaged country.

The UN is in the process of building up a force comprising approximately 5,500 officers and men for deployment in Haiti.

The Sri Lankan delegation included Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN, former Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya. The UN has tagged the deployment Gang Suppression Force (GSF).

According to the Defence Ministry, Sri Lanka negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding the GSF. Although Sri Lanka has contributed to UN-led missions, the proposed deployment differed due to the nature of the operation, sources told The Island.

The delegation has assured that all personnel, assigned for UN missions, including the proposed GSF deployment in Haiti, would be subjected to a comprehensive screening process, in line with UN standards. War-winning Sri Lanka has declared, in New York, that the country was in the process of developing, what the Defence Ministry here called, National Human Rights Vetting Mechanism in consultation with the UN Resident Coordinator in Colombo.

The US has backed the deployment of Sri Lankan troops under UN command. Various interested parties, over the years, protested against the deployment of Sri Lankan troops on the basis of unsubstantiated war crimes allegations.

Thuyakontha has assured that troops would maintain highest standards of discipline during overseas missions. Sri Lanka brought the war here to a successful conclusion in May 2009 against predictions of contrary outcome by so-called experts.

The US and Panama proposed the GSF to replace a Kenya-led multinational force undermined by a lack of funding. Its strength hovered around 1,000, rather than the desired 2,500. The U.N. Security Council authorised the 5,500 strong force on September 30, 2025, with the new power to arrest gang members.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

News

Lawyers cannot be denied right to represent a suspect – Udaya

Published

4 mins ago

2026/04/28

Sahan Weerasooriya

Sallay

Sallay’s case:

Attorney-at-law Udaya Gammanpila yesterday (27) said a lawyer could not be deprived of his or her right to represent a client.

The former Minister and leader of Pivuthuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) Gammanpila said so addressing the media at the party headoffice at Pita Kotte. Gammanpila was responding to recent media reports that he had been prohibited from representing retired State Intelligence Service (SIS) Chief Maj. Gen. Suresh Sallay. Therefore, there was absolutely no basis for claims that he had been barred from meeting the retired officer, now named the third suspect in the Easter Sunday case, the ex-parliamentarian said.

Gammanpila emphasised that in terms of the Constitution a suspect’s right to be represented by a lawyer was recognised as a fundamental right. The Criminal procedure Code, too, guaranteed the suspect’s right to consult a lawyer, the ex-lawmaker said, pointing out that the Judicial Organisation Act underscored the same.

Declaring that the retired officer’s wife had named him as Sallay’s lawyer in a letter addressed to Director, CID, Gammanpila said that the courts, police and the Attorney General’s Department couldn’t under any circumstances interfere with his right to represent Sallay.

The CID arrested Sallay on 25 February and detained him under Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for a period of 90 days. Sallay has filed a writ petition before the Court of Appeal through his lawyers, challenging his arrest and detention by the CID under the PTA.

Former Minister Gammanpila said that even if a Magistrate had the power to prohibit a lawyer from representing a particular suspect, such a course of action couldn’t be resorted to without giving the lawyer concern an opportunity to explain his/her actions.

Declaring that in case of misconduct on the part of a lawyer only the Supreme Court could take disciplinary action, the PHU leader said, adding that he sought a certified copy of the proceedings of the day when a section of the media reported the Magistrate’s declaration of the purported ban. Gammapila said that he was really keen to know what happened during the proceedings on that day.

Sallay served as Director, Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) from 2012 to 2016 and received the appointment as head of SIS following the 2019 presidential election. Sallay held that appointment till early October, 2024.

Gammanpila said that he couldn’t be barred for speaking to the media after meeting Sallay, currently held under PTA, or for authoring a book on the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage. According to Gammanpila as long as the suspect had no objections to his lawyer sharing some information with the media it shouldn’t be an issue for Additional Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

News

Police seek Interpol help to probe monks nabbed with narcotics at BIA

Published

6 mins ago

2026/04/28

Sahan Weerasooriya

Police investigating the thwarted a bid made by 22 Buddhist monks to smuggle in narcotics, with a street value of Rs 660 mn via BIA, from Thailand, over the weekend, believe the monks who organised the clandestine operation had sent groups of monks to Thailand before.

Sources said that they had brought in narcotics on earlier occasions.

Police have seized the mobile phones used by the suspects and sought INTERPOL assistance.

Earlier, the Negombo Magistrate’s Court remanded those 22 monks, arrested in connection with the largest drug bust in the airport’s history.

The monks were produced before the Negombo Magistrate’s Court and ordered to be held in custody until 02 May, as investigations continue into the alleged smuggling operation and any wider networks involved.

However, other sources said that more than 110 kilogrammes of suspected Kush and Hashish, with an estimated street value exceeding Rs 1.1 billion, had been found, concealed in false-bottoms of their suitcases. The bags reportedly packed with school supplies and sweets are said to have contained over five kilogrammes of narcotics per individual.

The arrests followed a raid by the Police Narcotics Bureau on Saturday night. Investigators have also recovered mobile phone evidence indicating that the group had travelled to Bangkok on 22 April using airline tickets allegedly given by a sponsor. Authorities allege that the suspects were photographed in civilian clothing, while overseas, engaging in activities deemed suspicious.

Police say this marks the first reported instance of a large-scale narcotics operation via the airport involving Buddhist monks. The suspects are young monks from different parts of the country.

By Norman Palihawadana