By Saman Indrajith

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

Chief Government Whip and Health and Mass Media Minister, Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, told Parliament yesterday that the government would never be able to pay the salaries that health workers receive in the UK and Australia because the country simply did not have the funds to do so.

“If anyone hopes to receive salaries similar to those paid in the UK and Australia here, we must remind them of the reality that there are no funds for that,” Dr. Jayatissa said, making a special statement on the token strike action by healthcare professionals.

Dr. Jayatissa emphasised that strikes in the healthcare sector, which endangered patients’ lives, were unacceptable.

He acknowledged the need for fair wage increases but stressed that holding patients’ lives hostage during such strikes was condemnable.

Dr. Jayatissa also stated that despite the government’s efforts to increase basic salaries of healthcare professionals, certain groups had chosen to strike, causing significant disruption to medical services.

Dr Jayatissa said that the Ministry of Finance had arranged for a meeting with the striking groups on 17 March to discuss their concerns. However, the groups announced their strike immediately after the meeting.

The minister said: “As a government, we have given a basic salary increase for the Professions Supplementary to Medicine, and the Interim Medical Services. We have added Rs. 22,000 to the basic salary of Rs. 32,000. For a person with a basic salary of Rs. 37,190 we have added Rs. 26,120. For a person with a basic salary of Rs. 44,520, we have added Rs. 32,010-. For a person with a basic salary of Rs. 54, 590, we have added Rs. 43,320/-.”

Dr Jayatissa said that it was the taxpayers who funded those salary hikes. “It is unfair for senior citizens and other patients to be turned away from hospitals due to the strike.”

“The President is ready to make time to meet and discuss the real issues of the strikers. Instead, they are holding patients to ransom. We have given them a meeting on Wednesday (19) as well. We are ready for talks,” he said.

UN Resident Coordinator Marc-André Franche emphasized that Sri Lanka’s ongoing path of economic recovery and reforms need a more responsive, accountable public service, improved service delivery, economic modernization, and strengthened social dialogue at both national and local levels. The UN official asserted that social dialogue is key to Sri Lanka’s economic recovery and social cohesion.

The UN Resident Coordinator was addressing the second steering committee meeting of the Social Dialogue for Peace and Crisis Prevention in Sri Lanka project, a collaborative initiative between the Government of Sri Lanka, and the United Nations held recently at the UN Compound in Colombo. The meeting, chaired by the UN, Ministry of Public Administration, Local Government & Provincial Councils, and Ministry of Labour, focussed on progress in advancing social dialogue, dispute resolution, and public sector inclusion.

Launched in 2024, the project, is implemented by the UN through the International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The project aims to foster a peaceful, inclusive, and just response to the effects of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. This is achieved through social dialogue and dispute resolution mechanisms at both national and local levels.

The meeting brought together key stakeholders, including representatives from the Ministry of Justice, workers’ and employers’ organization, to discuss the project’s progress and key developments. Highlights of recent efforts include establishing six public sector workplace forums, conducting awareness sessions on social dialogue and workplace cooperation for priority sectors, as well as training on gender responsive public service delivery. These efforts foster conflict resolution, harmonious workplaces, and a culture of social dialogue.

The Secretary, Ministry of Public Administration, Local Government & Provincial Councils, underscored the salient role of the public sector in economic recovery efforts, and the importance of a sector equipped for both a stronger, efficient service delivery to public and private sectors.

The Secretary, Ministry of Labour emphasized the importance of social dialogue in the public sector both within institutions as well as externally which would lead to a collective voice and maintaining industrial peace.

The Additional Secretary, Ministry of Public Administration, Local Government and Provincial Councils, commended the project for creating additional platforms to interact with public officials at all levels.

The pilot phase of the project saw success in the railway sector, where 10 workplace forums were established, helping minimize service disruptions. The project also aims to develop a national industrial dispute database to support policymaking, enhance gender responsiveness in the public sector, and amplify community voices in national policy making structures.

The project is funded by the UN Sri Lanka SDG Fund with support from Canada, European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, the UN Secretary General’s Peacebuilding Fund and the Joint SDG Fund.