News
Corruption in coal procurement: Prof Peiris wants heads to roll
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Rebel SLPP MP Prof. G.L. Peiris says that the recent resignation of Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapaksa, PC, and Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, PC, from a ministerial subcommittee inquiring into procurement of coal for Lakvijaya coal-fired power plant complex at Norochcholai revealed the failure on their part to take tangible action against corruption.
The former External Affairs Minister said that the two President’s Counsel couldn’t absolve themselves of the responsibility for what was going on in utterly corrupt coal procurement process by quitting the ministerial subcommittee.
Prof. Peiris also took up this issue at Wednesday’s special media briefing at Nawala, where he dealt with the government’s efforts to put off Local Government polls scheduled for March 09.Prof. Peiris asked his former Cabinet colleagues whether they really believed their resignations were sufficient at a time organised racketeers were bleeding the country.
The subcommittee was appointed to inquire into procurement of 720,000 tonnes of coal.Referring to their letters of resignations addressed to the Cabinet Secretary, Prof. Peiris said that both Rajapakse and Sabry owed a lucid explanation.
The former minister asked whether it was fair by the hapless public that ministers tasked with cleaning up coal procurement process conveniently gave up their responsibility claiming the absence of cooperation from those involved in the process.
Following their resignations, a new ministerial subcommittee has been constituted with Industries and Plantation Industries Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Environment Minister Ahamed Nazeer Zainulabdeen, Education Minister Susil Premajayantha, and State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe.
Prof. Peiris said that the resignations proved corruption was continuing though the cash-strapped government repeatedly urged the public to bear up hardships.
The SLPP National List lawmaker alleged that procurement of coal seemed to be beyond proper scrutiny at any level whereas the public were repeatedly told the government lacked wherewithal to pay for new coal shipments.Prof. Peiris called for careful examination of those directly responsible for procurement process as bankrupt Sri Lanka couldn’t afford to have the current fraudulent system continuing.
Prof. Peiris called the media briefing in the wake of the government deciding to procure 720,000 metric tonnes of Russian coal from two companies–China’s Combasst Industries Development Ltd and Dubai’s Coral Energy DMCC. The original plan was to buy the said amount of coal from Indonesia’s PT Arista Mitra Jaya. That plan has fallen through.
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.
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
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.
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Animal Welfare Draft Bill to be Gazetted
Legal provisions on marking voters using indelible ink during elections removed
Showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts
Court vacancy row throws Parliament into turmoil; sittings disrupted
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‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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