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‘All those in authority who failed to avert Easter Sunday attacks will be punished’ – PM

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Based on PCoI findings

By Norman Palihawadana

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said on Friday that punitive action will be initiated against all persons who failed to avert the devastating 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks, based on the findings of the ongoing Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the carnage.

“Notwithstanding their positions and standing in society, we will file legal action against those identified by the Commission for their failure to prevent the coordinated scourge of terror”, the premier assured.

The Prime Minister was responding to Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith’s public statement that justice should be meted out to the Easter Sunday victims and those responsible for the dastardly attacks brought to book “without shedding crocodile tears over the incident”.

Speaking during his homily for the National Day of the Sick at the basilica of Our Lady of Lanka in Tewatte last week, the Cardinal said the presidential commission investigating the Easter Sunday bombings has only identified the public faces of those who failed to prevent the attack, but the “people behind the scenes, who funded these attacks, who planted the bombs, have not been found”.

“If any government tries to hide and release the culprits without punishing them, I will oppose that government”, he said.

“We will ensure justice”, Rajapaksa stressed, while adding that “however mighty and powerful those responsible for preventing the grisly attacks may be, they will be made to face the full force of the law”.

It was a grave lapse on the part of those in authority to have ignored intelligence warnings on the imminent terrorist attacks, which plunged not only the Catholic community but the entire country into unspeakable grief, the Prime Minister noted.



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Unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation plague most schools, say Principals

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By Pradeep Prasanna Samarakkone and Chaminda Silva

Around 500 schools across the country lack access to safe drinking water for students, Piyasiri Fernando, Secretary of the Sri Lanka Principals’ Association, has said.

Fernando told The Island that a significant number of schools did not have facilities to store water properly. He said many schools lacked sanitary facilities.

Fernando also noted that in some schools in the Eastern, North Central, Uva, North Western, and Central provinces, as well as in approximately 20% of schools located near coastal areas, there are no proper toilet facilities. Despite the issuance of circulars specifying the number of toilets to be built, based on the number of students, some schools still did not have sanitary facilities as per those guidelines, the Secretary of the Principals’ Association said.

According to the School Census -2023 (2024) conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics there were 3,882,688 schoolchildren, 830,021 in National Schools and 3,052,667 in Provincial Schools.

Out of 10,096 schools, 1,506 have 1-50 students, 1,638 have 51-100 students and 2,128 have 101-200 students. Only 67 schools have 3,001-4,000 students, while only 33 have more than 4,000 students. 3,117 or 30.9 percent schools have fewer than 10 teachers.

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Julie meets Namal at SLPP HQ

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Rajapaksa and Kariyawasam with Ambassador Chung

US Ambassador, Julie Chung, visited the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) office on Friday (14) for discussions with party representatives.

Ambassador Chung arrived at the SLPP Headquarters around 10:00 a.m. and engaged in talks for over an hour and a half. Her visit followed a request by the SLPP to meet her.

During the meeting, she held discussions with SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam, former Members of Parliament Sanjeewa Edirimanne, C.B. Ratnayake, and Jayantha Ketagoda, as well as current MP D.V. Chanaka. Milinda Rajapaksha, an advisor to former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was also present.

The visit comes amid calls from SLPP MP Namal Rajapaksa for an investigation into USAID fund recipients in Sri Lanka.

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Speaker agrees to probe allegations of ‘unethical funding’ by USAID

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Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne

By Saman Indrajith

Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne informed Parliament on Friday (14) that he intended to take necessary action regarding requests made by MPs concerning allegations over USAID funding in Sri Lanka.

He made this statement in response to a question raised by Opposition MP Dayasiri Jayasekara, who sought a clarification on the matter.

Jayasekara noted that SLPP MP Namal Rajapaksa had sent a letter to the Speaker calling for the appointment of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to investigate reports about unethical USAID funding in the country. He questioned whether such a committee would be formed and the matter formally examined.

In response, Speaker Wickramaratne confirmed that he was planning to take appropriate action on the issue.

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