News

JVP Leader highlights dire situation country is in

Published

4 years ago

2021/11/30

by Saman Indrajith

JVP leader Anura Kumara told Parliament yesterday that the time had come for people to cry in unison for the harm inflicted on the nation by rulers, since independence.

Participating in the third reading debate on Budget 2022, Dissanayake asked whether anyone could be proud of the way the country had been ruled so far.

“The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation owes USD 3,400 million to the People’s Bank and Bank of Ceylon. What we have is an internationally bankrupt petroleum corporation. The monopoly on petroleum should be in the hands of the state for the sake of national security. Those who call themselves patriots in the government are now trying to break that monopoly. Because of their conduct, the state monopoly on petroleum is in danger,” Dissanayake said.

Dissanayake said that due to the debts of the CPC, stability of BOC and the People’s Bank was also in danger. “These are the burdens on citizens. When opening an LC through BOC and the People’s Bank to import fuel, there should be a three-percent guarantee on the LC from a foreign bank. This is the situation. What are you going to do to solve this crisis? Do you have any plans?” the MP demanded to know.

“A fuel ship arrived in Sri Lanka waters recently and it had to be anchored in the sea for nearly a week because Sri Lanka did not have dollars to pay for the oil. At last, the CBSL had to release USD from foreign reserves. When petrol should be bought on an emergency basis, no one submitted bids. This is the situation. What are you going to do now?”

Not only that, a Cabinet paper was submitted by Minister Udaya Gammanpila to get a loan of USD 2.5 billion from an American Company.

“The interest rate for the loan is three percent while the commission is seven percent. What kind of rubbish is this? According to this, the commission would be USD 175 million. How can the commission be higher than the interest on a loan? What kind of loan is this? Why are you taking loans to pay commissions like this?” the MP queried from the government.

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Navy seize an Indian fishing boat poaching in Mannar seas

Published

2 hours ago

2026/02/24

Priyan

During an operation conducted in the dark hours of 22 Feb 26, the Sri Lanka Navy seized an Indian fishing boat and apprehended twelve (12) Indian fishermen while they were poaching in Sri Lankan waters, in the sea area south of Mannar.

The seized boat and the Indian fishermen were handed over to the Fisheries Inspector of Dikovita for onward legal proceedings.

News

Families of those sentenced to death for killing MP Atukorale seek AKD’s intervention

Published

6 hours ago

2026/02/24

Sahan Weerasooriya

FSL assures legal backing for them

Families of those sentenced to death by the Three-member Gampaha High Trial-at-Bar, over the killing of SLPP MP Amarakeerthi Atukorale, and his police bodyguard, met a senior official of the Presidential Secretariat, yesterday (23), to seek backing for their move to appeal against the verdict.

Having made representations, they addressed the media, outside the Presidential Secretariat, where they declared their intention to move the higher court against the decision.

The SLPP MP and his security officer were killed by an Aragalaya mob on 09 May, 2022, at Nittambuwa. The same day Aragalaya mobs unleashed violence against the then government MPs across the country, torching dozens of their properties.

The Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) yesterday said that they would help the families of those sentenced to death to move court against the Gampaha High Court Trial-at-Bar decision. Responding to The Island queries, FSP spokesman Pubudu Jayagoda said that their representatives had already met the families and necessary work was being done to move the Supreme Court. Twenty three persons were acquitted and four handed six-month prison terms, suspended for five years

Jayagoda said that one of the HC judges differed in the ruling. Asked whether they received backing from any other political party and groups that had been involved in the 2022 protest campaign to defend those who had been found guilty, Jayagoda said such support was lacking.

The JVP/NPP played a significant role in the violent protest campaign that forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down. Pointing out that the Attorney General, too, was appealing against the court decision on the basis that the number of persons sentenced to death should be much higher, Jayagoda said that the Nittambuwa incident couldn’t be examined in isolation without taking into consideration the SLPP goon attack on Galle Face protesters on 09 May, 2022. (SF)

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OPV leaves Baltimore, expected in Colombo in May

Published

6 hours ago

2026/02/24

Sahan Weerasooriya

SLN officers wave to those on the shore as the newly acquired P 628 departs Baltimore, US (pic courtesy SLN)

Offshore Patrol Vessel P 628 of the Sri Lanka Navy departed Baltimore, USA, for Colombo, on 20 February.

The ex-United States Coast Guard Cutter, USCGC Decisive was officially handed over to the SLN on 02 December, 2025, as the latest addition to the SLN fleet, under the Pennant Number P 628.

Measuring 64 metres in length, this ‘B-Type Reliance Class 210-foot Cutter’ is equipped with advanced technological systems and facilities, capable of conducting extensive surveillance operations spanning up to 6,000 nautical miles per patrol.

The vessel’s voyage to Colombo is historic, possibly marking the longest-ever passage undertaken by a Sri Lanka Navy ship. Covering approximately 14,775 nautical miles, the journey will see the P 628 navigate from Baltimore through the Atlantic Ocean, the Panama Canal (a first for a Sri Lankan naval vessel), the Pacific Ocean, and into the Indian Ocean, via the Straits of Malacca. The ship is expected to arrive in Sri Lanka during the first week of May, 2026.