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No show by several parties at Ranil’s reconciliation meet

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By Rathindra Kuruwita

A number of opposition political parties did not attend the all-party conference convened by President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday to promote ethnic reconciliation.Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Uttara Lanka Sabagaya (ULS), and the National People’s Power (NPP), did not attend the meeting.

Several parties which attended the meeting, objected to the President’s proposal to implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution fully. SLPP MP Sarath Weerasekera said he was opposed to the full implementation of the 13th Amendment.

“None of the previous presidents did so. If President Ranil Wickremesinghe allows this to happen, the country will be divided.

ULS MP, Ven. Aturaliye Rathana Thera said that the President was trying to create unrest between ethnicities.

“He has no interest in resolving the problems faced by the Tamils, Muslims, Sinhalese or anyone else. We told him we are not opposed to handing over land to the Northern people. There are many people who deserve land there. But this is different from giving land powers to Provincial

Councils. Moreover, one can’t give lands, that belong to the Forest Conservation Department, or the Wildlife Conservation Department, to the people,” Rathana Thera said.ULS MP Gevindu Cumaratunga said he told the President that he had no mandate to take any serious decisions on the country.

“He wasn’t elected by the people. He was made President by 134 men and women. If he wants to implement the 13th Amendment, he has to go before the people. I told him this. He told me that he is the executive and Parliament is the legislature. He said if the 13th Amendment is in the law, he will implement it. The President said if you don’t want it, you can abolish it,” Cumaratunga said. Meanwhile, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, M.A. Sumanthiran said that the President could implement the 13th Amendment within a day if he so desired.



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Payment of Compensation to the people who have lost their cultivable lands in implementing the Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project

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Approval has been granted at the Cabinet meeting held on 27-06-2012 to provide cultivable agricultural lands from the lower Uma Oya valley to 276 farming families in Hali-Ela, Walimada, and Uva Paranagama Divisional Secretariat Divisions who have lost their cultivable lands due to the acquisition of lands for the
Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project.

However, the aforementioned proposal could not be implemented due to the encroachment of a large portion of the identified lands by unauthorized persons, heavy forest cover, the threats posed by wild elephants, remoteness from their original settlements, and difficulties in adapting to other environmental conditions and social anomalies.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation to pay an estimated compensation of Rs. 12 lakhs for each of these 276 farming families, based on the
recommendations submitted by the Cabinet Sub-Committee appointed to provide solutions for the issues arising in the implementation of the Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project.

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Draft Bill of the Chartered Institute of Media Professionals of Sri Lanka to be Gazzated

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Policy approval was granted at the Cabinet meeting held on 07.04.2025 to prepare a draft bill to establish the Chartered Institute of Media Professionals of Sri Lanka in order to accomplish the requirement of a training institution to carry out studies in order to create chartered media professionals and mould intelligent media personalities with skills in order to enhance the quality and standard of the media society.

Clearance of the Attorney General has been received for the final draft prepared by the Legal Draftsman for the purpose.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Health and Mass Media to publish the draft bill of Chartered Institute of Media Professionals of Sri Lanka in the Government Gazette Notification and thereafter submit the same for the concurrence of the House.

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Telecommunication Levy Act No. 21 of 2011 to be amended

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The Telecommunication Levy Act No. 21 of 2011 has enabled provisions to impose telecommunication levy. The budget 2026 has proposed to introduce amendments for the act including changes imposed from time to time regarding the telecommunication levy.

Accordingly, the Legal Draftsman has formulated a draft bill for
amending the Telecommunication Levy Act No. 21 of 2011 including provisions to extend applicable to envisage all the tax amounts applicable from the year 2015 along with the telecommunication levy existing at present, applicable of taxes on unrecovered revenue (bad debts) and to extend the provisions of that act to cater the telecommunication suppliers.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution furnished by the  President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to publish the said draft bill in the Government Gazette Notification and subsequently to submit the same for the concurrence of the House.

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