News
National Movement for Consumer Rights Protection urges govt to plug revenue drains through Budget
by Saman Indrajith
The National Movement for Consumer Rights Protection yesterday called on the government to think out of the box and set up new mechanisms through the upcoming budget to rope in illicit and unlicensed liquor, tobacco businesses and thereby prevent losses to the tune of Rs 180 billion a year to government coffers.
Addressing the media at the Center for Society and Religion in Maradana yesterday, President of the NMCRP, Ranjith Withanage said that it was usual for the government to introduce new taxes on liquor and tobacco through the annual budget to increase government revenue. “But in reality when the taxes of those items increased, the majority would move for cheaper products––the illegal tobacco and illicit toddy. Owing to the illicit liquor and tobacco, the government loses over Rs 180 billion a year. We hope this government will be able to plug this drain.
“We look at this problem from the perspective of the consumers. On coming 17, the government is to present a new budget which is expected to provide relief to people. In order to achieve the economic prosperity the government should think of bringing about new policies. It should strengthen the regulation mechanism of using Excise and Police Departments to enforce laws strictly against those who have been increasing their income whenever the government jacks up the prices of alcohol and tobacco.
“It is estimated that owing to illicit liquor and tobacco the government loses around 100 billion rupees and because of illicit toddy around 80 billion rupees a year.”
He said that there are other areas the government should pay its attention to if it wanted to increase the government revenue. “For example, high ranking officials of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and its engineers are using public funds to pay their income tax. The CEB has decided to pay the direct tax – the taxes paid when the high ranking officials and the engineers earn their income, again. That had to stop, he said, adding that it caused a loss of about Rs 800 million loss to the state coffers.
Withanage said that there were reports to the effect that companies operating under the provisions of Betting and Gaming Levy Act operated not paying taxes to the government. “As per the laws the owners of these establishments should pay taxes separately for each of their centres but they pay only for one such centre each. We do not think that the tax collectors are not aware of this. We hope that this year’s budget would rectify these errors.”
He said that NMCRP had submitted a set of proposals to the government, calling for suggestions from the public at the time of preparing budget proposals and they had included proposals on how the government should increase its revenue by streamlining tax collection.
The Government’s ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ Fund, established to provide relief and support to communities affected by Cyclone Ditwah, continues to receive financial contributions on a daily basis.
Accordingly, the Containers Transport Owners Association made a financial contribution of Rs. 1.5 million, while the Association of SriLankan Airlines Licensed Aircraft Engineers contributed Rs. 1.35 million to the Fund.
The respective cheques were formally presented to the Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, at the Presidential Secretariat on Friday (19).
The occasion was attended by W. M. S. K. Manjula, Chairman of the Containers Transport Owners Association, together with Dilip Nihal Anslem Perera and Jayantha Karunadhipathi.
Representing the Association of SriLankan Airlines Licensed Aircraft Engineers were Deshan Rajapaksa, Samudika Perera and Devshan Rodrigo handed over the cheque.
A meeting between Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and a delegation of UNICEF representatives was held on Saturday, (December 20) at the Prime Minister’s Office.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister explained the measures taken by the Government to ensure the protection of the affected student community and to restore the damaged school system, as well as the challenges encountered in this process.
The Prime Minister stated that reopening schools located in landslide-prone areas would be extremely dangerous. Accordingly, the Government is focusing on identifying such schools and relocating them to suitable locations based on scientific assessments.
The Prime Minister further noted that financial assistance has been provided to students affected by the disaster, enabling parents to send their children back to school without an additional financial burden. Emphasizing that school is the safest place for children after their homes, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that the school environment would help restore and improve students’ mental well-being
The Prime Minister also highlighted that attention has been given to several key areas, including the relocation of disaster-affected schools, restoration of school infrastructure, merging and operating certain schools jointly, facilitating teaching and learning through digital and technological strategies, and providing special transportation facilities. She emphasized that the Government is examining these issues and is committed to finding long-term solutions.
The UNICEF representatives commended the Government’s commitment and the initiatives undertaken to restore the education sector and assured their support to the Government. Both parties also discussed working together collaboratively on future initiatives.
The meeting was attended by the UNICEF representatives to Sri Lanka Emma Brigham, Lakshmi Sureshkumar, Nishantha Subash, and Yashinka Jayasinghe, along with Secretary to the Ministry of Education Nalaka Kaluwewa, Director of Education Dakshina Kasturiarachchi, Deputy Directors Kasun Gunarathne and Udara Dikkumbura.
(Prime Minister’s Media Division)
Drug controversy:
“Setting up state-of-the-art drug testing facility will cost Rs 5 billion”
Activists call for legal action against politicians, bureaucrats
Serious questions have been raised over Sri Lanka’s drug regulatory system following revelations that the National Medicines Regulatory Authority’s (NMRA) quality control laboratory is not accredited by the Sri Lanka Accreditation Board (SLAB), casting doubt on both the reliability of local test results and the adequacy of oversight of imported medicines.
Medical and civil rights groups warn that the issue points to a systemic regulatory failure rather than an isolated lapse, with potential political and financial consequences for the State.
Chairman of the Federation of Medical and Civil Rights Professional Associations, Specialist Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa, said the controversy surrounding the Ondansetron injection, which was later found to be contaminated, had exposed deep weaknesses in drug regulation and quality assurance.
Dr. Sanjeewa said that the manufacturer had confirmed that the drug had been imported into Sri Lanka on four occasions this year, despite later being temporarily withdrawn from use. The drug was manufactured in India in November 2024 and in May and August 2025, and imported to Sri Lanka in February, July and September. On each occasion, 67,600 phials were procured.
Dr. Sanjeewa said the company had informed the NMRA that the drug was tested in Indian laboratories, prior to shipment, and passed all required quality checks. The manufacturer reportedly tested the injections against 10 parameters, including basic quality standards,
pH value, visual appearance, component composition, quantity per phial, sterility levels, presence of other substances, bacterial toxin levels and spectral variations.
According to documents submitted to the NMRA, no bacterial toxins were detected in the original samples, and the reported toxin levels were within European safety limits of less than 9.9 international units per milligram.
Dr. Sanjeewa said the credibility of local regulatory oversight had come under scrutiny, noting that the NMRA’s quality control laboratory was not SLAB-accredited. He said establishing a fully equipped, internationally accredited laboratory would cost nearly Rs. 5 billion.
He warned that the failure to invest in such a facility could have grave consequences, including continued loss of life due to substandard medicines and the inability of the State to recover large sums of public funds paid to pharmaceutical companies for defective drugs.
“If urgent steps are not taken, public money will continue to be lost and accountability will remain elusive,” Dr. Sanjeewa said.
He added that if it was ultimately confirmed that the drug did not contain bacterial toxins at the time it entered Sri Lanka, the fallout would be even more damaging, severely undermining the credibility of the country’s health system and exposing weaknesses in health administration.
Dr. Sanjeewa said public trust in the health sector had already been eroded and called for legal action against all politicians and public officials responsible for regulatory failures linked to the incident.
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