News
President instructs authorities to get cracking with rescue and relief measures
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has called on security forces, government officials, and Members of Parliament to prioritise public safety and accelerate relief operations as Sri Lanka faces severe weather risks.
Chairing an emergency meeting at the Parliamentary complex yesterday morning, the President reviewed the emerging disaster situation with government and Opposition MPs, as well as relevant authorities. With heavy rainfall expected to intensify over the next two days, he urged MPs to visit their districts, convene District Coordination Committees and Divisional Committees, and intervene promptly to prevent loss of life and ensure timely relief to affected communities.
The President’s directives focus on multiple priorities, including the continuous supply of cooked meals, dry rations, and medical assistance to displaced and affected populations, the maintenance of irrigation systems, and the protection of highways and infrastructure in landslide-prone areas. He also emphasised establishing a compensation mechanism for destroyed homes and damaged farmland, while ensuring the continuation of educational activities, including the G.C.E. Advanced Level examinations.
Parliament held a special session to coordinate national relief efforts, with the tri-forces and disaster response teams deployed across the worst-hit districts. Evacuation centers have been opened in high-risk areas, and district officials were instructed to maintain uninterrupted relief services.
President Dissanayake highlighted that MPs’ active involvement in relief operations should be balanced with ongoing parliamentary proceedings, and further discussions on disaster management and coordination were scheduled for a Party Leaders’ meeting later in the day.
The government’s unified response aims to safeguard communities, mitigate damage, and maintain essential services as torrential rains continue to batter many parts of the country, he said.
The Opposition yesterday called for the entire Cabinet-of-Ministers to accept responsibility for the coal scam. Addressing the media at the Flower Road Office of UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, former Foreign Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris emphasised that Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody’s resignation, in the wake of the damning report issued by the National Audit Office (NAO), has now implicated the entire Cabinet-of-Ministers.
Prof. Peiris asserted that Jayakody, who had been indicted in the Colombo High Court over alleged corruption, during the Yahapalana administration, stepped down after the NPP failed to suppress the truth on the coal scam.
The ex-Minister declared that Jayakody’s resignation, the first since the formation of new government, with a super majority in Parliament, was a devastating setback for the current dispensation.
The internationally recognised legal scholar said that a future government would move courts against the entire NPP Cabinet. Referring to the NAO report submitted to Parliament, Prof. Peiris emphasised that there was absolutely no ambiguity regards allegations directed at the Energy Ministry. The NAO report proved that the Indian company, Trident Champhar, that won the major contract, didn’t even have the required registration.
Prof. Peiris said that the coal scam was three times bigger than the Treasury bond scams, perpetrated during the Yahapalana time (SF)
The Colombo High Court yesterday ordered that the case, filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against Yoshitha Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and his grand-aunt Daisy Forrest Wickramasinghe, be recalled on June 10.
The case was taken up before High Court Judge Rashmi Singappuli.
At the hearing, State Counsel informed the court that a related case, on similar charges, had been filed before High Court No. 08. The court was further informed that a revised indictment has been directed to be filed in that case, necessitating the submission of a revised indictment in the present case as well.
State Counsel requested time to report on the progress of those proceedings.
Accordingly, the judge ordered that the case be called on June 10 and directed that progress be reported on that date.
The case pertains to three indictments filed by the Attorney General alleging that between March 31, 2009, and December 12, 2013, the accused had committed an offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act by depositing over Rs. 59 million in three private banks, the source of which could not be explained.
A three-judge bench of the Colombo Special High Court yesterday rejected a request by former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundera to introduce additional facts to a statement he had previously made from the dock.
Jayasundera is an accused in the case filed over alleged criminal negligence in failing to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, despite prior intelligence warnings.
The order was delivered by the bench, presided over by Justice Priyantha Liyanage.
Meanwhile, retired Senior Deputy Inspector General (SDIG) Nandana Munasinghe and Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in charge of the Eastern Province, Waruna Jayasundera, appeared before court as defence witnesses.
Opposition holds NPP Cabinet responsible for coal scam, three times bigger than bond fraud
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