The Kandy Municipal Council (KMC) has decided to suspend its proposed 7% rate reduction until the year 2027. This decision was made during a meeting held yesterday.

Kandy Mayor Chandrasiri Wijenayake said that although the rate relief was included in the 2026 budget, its implementation had become problematic. He noted that approximately 60% of the residents had already paid rates for the year. “If we provide this relief now, we would be legally obligated to refund the excess payments to those who have already settled their dues. This would result in a staggering loss of Rs. 150 million to the Municipal Council’s revenue,” the Mayor said, adding that the decision to suspend the rate reduction after consultations with the Commissioner of Local Government and the Governor of the Central Province.

However, the move has drawn sharp criticism from the opposition. Senior Opposition Member (SJB) Vipula Ranasinghe condemned the decision, accusing the administration of placing an undue burden on the public. “The Mayor and the ruling party should have realised the difficulty in refunding rates before passing the budget. They bragged that they could run the council without the opposition’s help, but now they are trapped in their own mismanagement,” Ranasinghe remarked.

He took a swipe at the government’s previous claims: “The NPP government once claimed it had enough funds to support local authorities under its control. This about-turn proves that those were mere lies.”

By S.K. Samaranayake

A Milk Pooja will be held at the Kotahena Sri Muthumari Amman Kovil on Poya Day, 2nd March, at 8.30 a.m. in observance of the “Masi Magam” festival.A chariot procession will also be conducted at 5.30 p.m. to mark the occasion. The event is organised by the temple committee.

Former Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka has said former Ministers Mahindananda Aluthgamage and Nalin Fernando were sentenced to prison for 20 years on charges of causing financial losses to the state, but the law is not similarly enforced in the case of the alleged fraud that has caused billions of rupees in losses to the State through the importation of substandard coal under the present government. The government must not be allowed to let the wrongdoers off the hook by imposing small fines, Ranawaka has argued.

Speaking at a special media briefing held in Colombo recently, Ranawaka pointed out that the case involving former Minister Arjuna Ranatunga was of a similar nature, and therefore called for a comprehensive investigation into the coal racket.

He further said enormous undue profits had been generated through the questionable coal transaction under the National People’s Power Government, and an immediate inquiry should be conducted to find out who has benefited from the racket.

He emphasised that it was impossible to recover the billions of rupees of public funds lost due to the importation of inferior, substandard coal merely through the imposition of fines.