News
SJB requests SC to nullify Cabinet decision to ban chemical fertilizers
By AJA Abeynayake
The main opposition party, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has filed a fundamental rights petition in the Supreme Court seeking annulment of the Cabinet decision to ban the use and import of chemical fertilizers.
The petitioners say the decision to ban the use and import of chemical fertilizers taken by the cabinet of ministers on April 27, this year violates their fundamental rights.
SJB General Secretary MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Chairman of the Samagi Govi Jana Peramuna Hemakumara Nanayakkara and Secretary P. Harrison filed the petition.
Minister of Agriculture Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Secretary to the Ministry Udith K. Wijesinghe, National Fertilizer Secretariat, Department of Agriculture, and Attorney General have been named as respondents.
The petitioners state that the President has taken steps to ban the import and use of chemical fertilizers in Sri Lanka as per a resolution approved by the Cabinet on April 27.
The petitioners state that the government has claimed that this step was taken with the intention of uplifting the use of organic fertilizer in the country.
However, due to the decision to ban the import of chemical fertilizers, the petitioners have pointed out that the agricultural sector is currently facing a severe crisis and the production costs of farmers and cultivators have gone up and the yield has come down.
Accordingly, they point out that farmers have been severely prejudiced by this decision.
The petitioners have stated that they are not opposed to the decision to promote the use of organic fertilizers but it should be done in a proper manner.
Accordingly, the petitioners request the Supreme Court to issue an order nullifying the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers on April 27 prohibiting the use and import of organic fertilizer, violating their fundamental rights.
The petitioners further request that an interim order be issued to prevent the implementation of the resolution passed by the Cabinet on April 27 until the final verdict is pronounced after hearing the petition.
Accepting deposits from political parties and independent groups who intend to contest the forthcoming Local Authorities Election ended at 12noon today [19].
Deposits were accepted at respective District Secretariats from 3rd March 2025.
The Elections Commission has announced that the deadline for the accepting of nominations for the LA poll is set to conclude at 12:00 noon tomorrow (20).
It has been reported that the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon has appeared before the Matara Magistrate’s Court this morning (19),
The former IGP had been evading arrest after the Matara Magistrate’s court had ordered his arrest regarding a shooting incident that took place in front of the W15 Hotel Pelena, Weligama, Matara, in 2023.
The government has begun recovering funds obtained by former Lands and Land Development, Environment and Wildlife Resources Minister SM Chandrasena for the Janatha Lanka Chilli Marketing Limited (JLCML), which he headed, Parliament was informed yesterday.
Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation Minister Namal Karunaratne said that as the Chairman of JLCML, Chandrasena had obtained a loan of Rs. 1,275,000 from the Mihintale Govijana Seva Bank in 2001.
The principal of the loan had not been repaid until the end of last year. “After we came to power, we demanded that the loan be settled. Then, we discovered that the interest on the loan had not been paid for the past 24 years, and attempts had been made to have the loan written off. We stopped that and are now in the process of recovering the interest of Rs. 1,975,233 on the loan,” Karunaratne said.
Karunaratne added that JLCML was registered as a company with the Registrar of Companies on March 21, 2001. As Chairman of the company, Chandrasena requested a loan of Rs. 10 million on April 19, 2001, for the purpose of purchasing chillies from farmers in 12 farmer colonies in the Mihintale Agrarian Service area.
The request was approved by the Mihintale Agrarian Service Committee on the same day and referred to the Anuradhapura District Agrarian Operations Committee, which approved it on April 23, 2001. However, the Agriculture Development Commissioner General recommended that a loan of Rs. 1.2 million would suffice for this purpose. JLCML took the loan and failed to repay it until the end of last year. When the matter was raised, the principal was paid, and we are now in the process of recovering the interest that was not paid for the past 24 years,” Karunaratne added.
By Saman Indrajith
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