News
Don’t protect perpetrators through committees – Cardinal
Easter Sunday carnage
By Norman Palihawadana
Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith yesterday asked the government not to appoint any more committees to delay action against those responsible for the Easter Sunday attacks. He made this statement after visiting a number of churches in Colombo and the suburbs yesterday.
The Cardinal said that the government had time till 21 April to take action against the perpetrators of the attacks and Catholics will take to the streets if their request went unheeded.
“We won’t be fooled again. Please, don’t try to mislead us. The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) on Easter Sunday attacks took 18 months to submitted its report. There is no need to delay to act on its recommendations. If taking action, based on this report, is delayed further it is an indication that there is no law in this country.”
Cardinal Ranjith also criticised former President Maithripala Sirisena. The PCoI report clearly said that President Sirisena had prior warning of the imminent attacks, the Cardinal said.
“He is still a political party leader. He wants to contest elections. I would like to ask him whether he has no shame. He went abroad ignoring prior warnings of the attacks. How can he go before the people again? The PCoI report says he is guilty. There is no need to delay taking legal action against him.”
The Cardinal added that the PCoI report also mentioned about a senior police officer, who is in now a SDIG in the Central Province. He urged the government to implement the recommendations of the report.
Meanwhile, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa vowed to take action against the perpetrators of the Easter attacks. Issuing a message, President Rajapaksa said that “the sorrowful memory of pain and loss caused by this tragic incident had not faded away from the broken hearts of the suffering people even today.”
The President also said that the government would ensure that such tragedies will not recur.
The Paddy Marketing Board has approximately 115,000 metric tonnes of paddy stocks purchased from farmers, which are currently stored in the Board’s warehouses, and it has been planned to retain a sufficient buffer stock from these reserves and sell the remaining quantity in order to provide the necessary storage space and financial resources for the purchase of paddy from farmers during the upcoming Yala season.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation to sell the aforementioned paddy stocks
following a formal tender procedure.
The Promotion of Export Agriculture Act, No. 46 of 1992 provides the legal provisions for regulating and promoting the export agriculture sector in this country.
Taking into consideration administrative changes and sectoral developments that have taken place over time, approval was granted at the Cabinet Meetings held on 2023-09-04 and 2025-08-11 to amend the said Act, which has not been updated for over 30 years.
The proposed amendments are intended to amend the designations of the Head of the Department of Export Agriculture and other officials, and to provide a clearer definition of the term “the export agricultural crop.”
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation to publish in the Government Gazette the Draft Export Agriculture Promotion (Amendment) Bill, prepared in all three languages by the Legal Draftsman to amend the Export Agriculture Promotion Act, No. 46 of 1992, and thereafter submit the same to Parliament for its concurrence
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