News
Disaster management: Govt. allocates one million rupees per DS division

By Ifham Nizam
The government had allocated one million rupees per each District Secretariat initially to repair houses, etc., damaged due to heavy rains that wreaked havoc in some parts of the country, Disaster Management Centre (DMC) Assistant Director Pradeep Kodippili said yesterday.
Kodippili told The Island that unlike on previous occasions, damages were minimal. Nearly 43,000 people from some 11,074 families have been affected due to heavy rains on Friday and Saturday. About 853 people from 205 families are currently being sheltered in welfare centres.
The Meteorological Department yesterday forecast several spells of showers in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern and North-western provinces today.
Showers or thundershowers will occur at several places in the Central, Uva, Eastern and North-central provinces during the evening or night.
A Few showers will occur in the Northern Province.
Water levels of several rivers have risen and floods have occurred in some areas owing to the prevailing rainy weather in the country. However, the latest weather report says it is receding in most parts.
The DMC earlier said that the water levels of the Kelani, Kalu, Gin, and Nilwala rivers had risen and the Gin has burst its banks in the Baddegama area.
A minor flood situation has arisen due to the overflowing of the Kalu Ganga in the Millakanda area as well.
Water levels of Attanagalu Oya and Maha Oya have risen and a minor flood situation has occurred due to the overflow of Attanagalu Oya in the Dunamale area.
The adverse weather prevailing in the country since May 13 has affected 61 Divisional Secretariat areas in seven districts.
Four persons were killed and two were injured due to the inclement weather.
The National Building Research Organization (NBRO) has issued landslide warnings in six districts with effect from Saturday.
Accordingly, several areas in Colombo, Kalutara, Matara, Galle, Kegalle, and Ratnapura Districts have been declared as landslide-prone areas.
The Ministry of Power said that the power supply to nearly 150,000 families had been cut off due to inclement weather. The CEB has also received more than 200,000 complaints regarding power breakdowns etc.
Ministry’s spokesman Sulakshana Jayawardena said that measures had already been taken to restore the power supply.
News
Cop who accepted Rs 3000 bribe nabbed by CIABOC

A police officer attached to the Raddolugama police station who accepted a bribe of Rs 3000/- from a motorist has been nabbed by officers attached to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) on Monday (14) evening.
It is alleged that the police officer demanded Rs 3000/- from the motorist to return his driving licence without prosecuting him for a traffic offence.
News
GMOA swings into action on Vithana’s disclosure of MPs’ salaries, etc.

The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has sought an explanation from Parliament regarding how PAYE (Pay As You Earn) is applied to parliamentarians.
GMOA Secretary Dr. Prabath Sugathadasa has written to the Secretary General of Parliament, Kushani Rohanadeera, in terms of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Information was sought on 09 July, 2025, in the wake of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Kalutara district parliamentarian Jagath Vithana posting his pay sheets from January to May this year on his Facebook.
In addition to information on PAYE, the GMOA has posed a number of other questions to the Secretary General regarding the parliamentarians’ salary as well as pensions.
Parliament passed the RTI Act on 24 June, 2016, and it came into effect on 03 February, 2017. This act, introduced through the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, in 2015, is meant to promote transparency and accountability in government.
New controversy has erupted in the wake of Nawa Janatha Peramuna lodging a complaint with the CIABOC seeking an investigation into Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickremaratne abusing public property, a claim denied by the Secretary General of Parliament.
According to Vithana’s May pay sheet, his monthly allowance is Rs. 54,285, entertainment allowance Rs 1,000, telephone allowance Rs 50,000, sitting allowance Rs 5,000, office allowance Rs 100,000, fuel allowance Rs 97,428.92 and transport allowance Rs. 15,000. His take home pay is Rs 317, 760.92 after the deduction of Rs 1,200 for catering, stamp duty Rs. 25 and Advance Personal Income Tax (APIT).
Asked whether he regretted the releasing of pay sheets, lawmaker Vithana told The Island that in the run-up to the last parliamentary elections, held in November 2024, he had promised the Kalutara electorate he wouldn’t draw his salary. The MP said that however, he later felt the salary should be accepted and used in support of public welfare projects undertaken by him. “Therefore, the money was used appropriately,” he said, adding that both the government and Opposition MPs reacted with resentment. “I feel sort of isolated in Parliament. Hardly anyone talks to me,” MP Vithana said.
Dr. Sugathadasa said that having perused the pay sheets posted online, the GMOA had felt the urgent need to seek a clarification from Parliament as the lawmakers appeared to have received special status. The top GMOA official emphasised they wanted to establish the truth and used the RTI law to obtain information regarding the MPs’ salaries, pensions and other related information. “The GMOA made the request on 09 July, 2025. We are confident the Parliament will answer our queries,” Dr. Sugathadasa said.
Parliament meets only eight days a month. Attendance is not compulsory and there is no fixed time for lawmakers to attend sittings. Over the years, sittings have been suspended for lack of quorum.
The Island asked the GMOA official whether they would seek the intervention of the RTI Commission in case the Parliament declined to reveal the information sought by them. Dr. Sugathadasa said that the Executive Committee of the GMOA would decide the course of action if Parliament withheld information.
A few years ago Chamara Sampath, of Wijeya Newspapers, successfully moved the Court of Appeal against the Parliament after the latter refused to disclose names of Members of Parliament (MPs) who had handed over their respective declarations of assets and liabilities in 2018 and list of names of MPs who have handed over their Declarations from 2010 to the time he made the request (21 June, 2018).
The Court on 28 February, 2023, reaffirmed the RTI Commission’s stand that Declarations of Assets and Liabilities Law of 1975 (DALL) didn’t prevail over the Right to Information Act no. 12 of 2016 (RTI Act).
According to the Parliament website, an MP is paid Rs. 54,285, entertainment allowance Rs 1,000, driver’s allowance Rs 3,500 (only if driver is not provided by government). Fuel allowances are paid based on the distance from Parliament to the electoral district which each MP was elected and the approved market price of one litre of diesel on the first day of every month, telephone allowance Rs 50,000, transport allowance for personal staff Rs 10,000, and stamps worth Rs 350,000 issued to each MP annually.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
News
Udaya alleges Prez hasn’t given up efforts to bring in outsider as AG

Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader and former Minister Udaya Gammanpila says President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has delayed making a permanent appointment to the post of Auditor General in a bid to bring in an outsider early next year.
Addressing the media yesterday (14), Attorney-at-Law Gammanpila said that three civil society members of the Constitutional Council, who opposed the President’s move, would be completing their term in early January next year. Instead of appointing Dharmapala Gammanpila as the Auditor General, the President had given him only an extension in service so as to get rid of him at the first available opportunity and bring in his crony from the Kelaniya University.
The former lawmaker said that the success of the President’s plan depended on the appointment of pliant civil society members to the CC, ready to help advance the NPP’s agenda.
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