News
Bandara says his son is his coordinating secy
COPE Chairman Prof. Ranjith Bandara has said that his son Kanishka Bandara holds the position of coordinating secretary to the COPE Chairman and as such the latter had been allowed to attend the official functions of the COPE.
When contacted for comments on social media reports going viral on Kanishka Bandara attending a COPE meeting on Sri Lanka cricket, Prof Bandara said Kanishka was attending the COPE meetings since Oct 05, 2022. It was the duty of Kanishka to attend COPE meetings. Kanishka has been doing so with permission given by parliamentary authorities and attended the COPE sessions in his official capacity,” Prof Bandara said.
Asked to comment on the matters pertaining to conflict of interest he is alleged to have owing to his links with SLC, Prof Bandara said that he had been teaching economics at the University of Colombo before his assuming duties as an MP. “I have been consulted by many institutions for their plans and concept papers etc. Former SLC administration led by Thilanga Sumathipala had entered into an agreement with the Colombo School of Business and Management for a consultancy role. The Colombo School of Business and Management had provided its services to the former SLC administration from 2017 to May 2018,” he said.
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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