News
Customs cleared thousands of ‘marked’ containers sans examination beginning last year

Unions push for DG’s removal, oppose IMF-led anti-corruption plan
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Sri Lanka Customs had cleared thousands of containers, sans examinations, since early last year, though the issue came to light recently as a result of the continuing campaign by unions against the top management, sources familiar with the issue told The Island.
Thee Customs began clearing containers that were marked for examination during President Ranil Wickremesinghe tenure to overcome congestion at the Colombo Port.
The Customs had adopted the controversial strategy early last year to ease congestion, sources said. Clearing of containers had been carried out intermittently during this period, including the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary elections in September and November, respectively.
Stricter internal controls have led to a sharp increase in revenue, with a record collection of over Rs 1 trillion in 2024, compared to the previous year’s Rs 975 bn, sources said.
At one point, amidst the further deterioration of relations between the top management and the unions, the latter had asked the government to remove the Director General of Customs, Sarath Nonis, who received the top post in late July 2022, at the beginning of Ranil Wickremesinghe’s presidency. However, the government hadn’t succumbed to pressure in spite of their own pushing for the changes at the top.
Customs unions, affiliated to the JVP, spearheaded the campaign meant to undermine efforts taken by the top management to enhance revenue as they felt the IMF-led programme hindered their agenda, sources said. For want of a comprehensive coverage of the developments taking place, interested parties influenced the reportage of congestion at the Colombo Port, conveniently not identifying who caused the crisis.
Following the activation of the investigation process that allowed the public to lodge complaints with a special unit, the internal inquiry resulted in the interdiction of four Customs officers.
Both President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation Minister Bimal Rathnayake have been briefed on the developing situation, sources said, alleging that the relevant House committee should inquire into the circumstances where thousands of containers had been released without examination.
Sources stressed that the containers released over the past several months were those categorised for examination. The containers so categorised had been approximately 40% of the total containers cleared, sources said, disclosing as much as 60% of containers were exempted from examination.
The containers categorized ‘red’ were meant to be physically checked and the main Opposition has asked whether the NPP government interfered in the selection of the released containers.
During 2020 the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has assured funding for the establishment of a container yard at Kerawalapitiya. However, the government failed to implement the plan in 2022, thereby paving the way for the present crisis, sources said, appreciating the decision taken by the incumbent government to reactivate the Kerawalapitiya plan.
Sources said that the failure on the part of the government to resolve issues at the Colombo harbour could have catastrophic results. Over the years, successive governments lacked the courage to rein in unions affiliated to various political parties, sources said.
News
Unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation plague most schools, say Principals

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.
News
Julie meets Namal at SLPP HQ

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

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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