News
Aragalaya far from dead, warns SF
By Saman Indrajith
SJB Gampaha District MP Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka told Parliament on Friday that the Aragalaya campaign was very much alive and asked his fellow MPs to beware of another wave of popular uprising.
Participating in the debate on President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s recent policy statement in the House, Field Marshal Fonseka said that some boasted that they had put an end to Aragalaya. “They are mistaken. The Aragalaya is not over. It is taking heavy blows of suppression. It will survive this suppression. The youth will regroup and come back to end this rotten system. As always, my blessings are with them. People have no other way but to extend support to the youth, revolting for the system change. I call on the President to stop this suppression, covering behind the Emergency Regulations,” the Field Marshal said.
MP Fonseka said that President Wickremesinghe’s policy statement contained nothing new but the very same projects that the latter had been speaking of for decades. “Yet, this time around he did not promise to turn Trincomalee into a Singapore. Last time, he tried to do that under the Yahapalana government and even paid Rs 250 million to a team to design that project. But nothing happened. This time he did not speak of the project to build an underground road system, to end traffic in Kandy. A fee of Rs 300 million was paid to design that project. Corruption and frauds continue even under this government. Recently a shipload of gas was imported, paying 34 dollars extra per a tonne of gas. It incurred a loss of Rs 1,360 million. When the Yahapalana government came to power, SriLankan Airlines was showing an annual loss of Rs. 65 billion, but the incumbent President, then as Prime Minister, appointed one of his friends as Chairman and increased the salary, for the post, from five million to 10 million rupees a month. I pray that this time he would govern the country without that mindset to misappropriate the public funds.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation to provide the required provisions to purchase the green gram harvest in a competitive manner with the private sector by expanding the program initiated by the National Food Promotion Board, on the advice of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation,
Green gram has been cultivated in an area of about 16,500 hectares in the 2025 Yala Season and intermediate season and a harvest of about 14,600 metric tons of green gram is expected. Currently, green gram harvesting has started in the Hambantota district, and it has been reported that middlemen are buying the harvest for a low price of Rs. 450/- per kilogram.
Approval has been granted at the cabinet meeting held on 08-02-2021 to award 326 bridge construction contracts to the State Development and Construction Corporation for the construction of bridges across the island under the Rural Bridges Program.
The construction of a further 23 bridges has been assigned to the Road Development Authority.
It had been decided in the year 2022, to stop the construction of 184 bridges, where construction had not been initiated. The construction of 45 bridges from the 142 remaining bridges have already been completed.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Transport, Highways, and Urban
Development to recommence the construction of the remaining 74 bridges by the State Development and Construction Corporation and to complete the construction expeditiously.
Policy approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted at their meeting held on 16.06.2025 to repeal the Parliamentary Pension Act No. 1 of 1971 of the State Council.
In keeping with the promise given to all Sri Lankans who supported the vision of ‘A wealthy country – A beautiful life’ which appeared in the policy declaration of the Government, a draft bill has been prepared by the Legal Draftsmen for
repealing the Parliamentary Pension Act with the objective of cancelling pensions rights given to elected members of the Parliament and their spouses.
As the Attorney General has given clearance to the draft bill, the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted to the proposal submitted by the Minister of Justic and National Integration to publish the said draft bill in the government gazette notification and subsequently to be presented to the Parliament for its concurrence.
Vijayakanth Viyaskanth added to Sri Lanka squad for tri-series
Purchasing of 2025 green gram harvest
Cabinet approves the completion 74 bridges under the Rural Bridge Program
‘Heartbroken’ Alcaraz pulls out of Davis Cup Finals
Parliamentary Pension Act No. 1 of 1971 to be repelled
Cabinet nod to appoint Dr. (Eng.) K. Waligepolage as Director General of Irrigation
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
Foreign News2 days agoSearch continues for Royal Navy crew member missing off Donegal coast
-
Sports6 days agoAn opportunity missed for Sri Lanka
-
Features6 days agoMiss Universe 2025 More ‘surprises’ before Crowning day!
-
News6 days agoOxford Walk raises $13,000 for rural communities in Sri Lanka
-
Opinion7 days agoContributions of Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka and its future role
-
Features5 days agoTraffic chaos in Kandy: Urgent government intervention needed
-
Business6 days agoDialog and MEPA Unveil Sri Lanka’s First 5G-Enabled Autonomous Water-Surface Cleaning Robot
-
Features6 days agoThe ‘Art’ of Diplomacy