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Former COPE Chairman: Budget will facilitate land grabs

Published

3 years ago

2022/11/17

By Saman Indrajith

SLPP dissident MP Prof Charitha Herath on Tuesday said Budget 2023 contained proposals to place state lands under the purview of District and Divisional Secretaries on the pretext of promoting cultivation.

Participating in the second reading debate on Budget 2023, Prof. Herath said the proposal, if implemented, would enable the cronies of the ruling party to get hold of government lands. “The LRC lands had been misappropriated for the political gains by every government, since 1977. There are some wrongs in the manner of LRC lands were utilised. Now this Budget is proposing to give legitimacy to that wrong procedure. We summoned the LRC, two or three times before the Committee on Public Enterprises, and investigated the matter, to find that there had been many shortcomings in the LRC land utilisation process. We instructed the officials to right those wrongs. Now Budget 2023 proposes that these LRC lands should be placed under District Secretaries and Divisional Secretaries and allow them to decide to whom those lands should be given for the purpose of cultivating them. The proposal would prune down the powers of the Lands Minister.

“We do not approve the status quo of the LRC because every lands minister has placed the LRC under his or her friends who in return placed the lands at LRC under the mercy of the Minister. This should come to an end but not in the manner that has been envisaged by Budget 2023.

“I call on those SLPP members thinking to vote to pass this Budget to take this proposal seriously and consider amending it. People who had voted for the SLPP did not vote us to be a part of such wrong acts, such as robbing the LRC lands in the guise of distributing them for cultivation,” Prof Herath said.

He added that the Budget proposals seem to achieve some political agendas rather than finding answers to the woes of the people who have been hit hard by the economic crisis.

“Some of these proposals are similar to what Ranil Wickremesinghe had promised during the presidential elections campaigns in 1999 and 2005. People have rejected them by voting against him. It is sad to notice that some of our SLPP MPs are planning to vote for these proposals which are against the wishes and aspirations of those who had voted for us.

“I personally do not think that most of these proposals are feasible. They are not feasible because they are fundamentally wrong. For example, the National Development Committee proposed in the Section 17.2 of the Budget proposals is to become a cabal of a few henchmen of the President. That would be one similar to the Paskaralingam, and a few, who ran the government affairs in 2015. This cabal is to be placed above the Cabinet of Ministers and the Cabinet would be rendered inactive. This committee is to be given powers of monitoring and screening development projects. It is that committee that would select the development projects not the Cabinet which would be forced to give consent.

“In addition, I do not think that some of the proposals are serious. Eight months back, Ranil Wickremesinghe presented a mini-budget to this very same House. When we compare it with the latest one, we find many contradictions. The proposals for the same area or same subject matter are diametrically opposite from each document. It is sure that there are two groups of authors for these two proposals.

“In the mini-budget proposals read to this House on Aug 30, it was promised to set up a Debt Management agency. No such agency has been set up nor is there a single word about it in the present Budget. There had also been a proposal for a National Agency for Public-Private Partnership in the mini-budget. Budget 2023 has not even mentioned it. Also the mini-budget spoke of setting up of a series of companies as youth agriculture companies. That too is absent in the new Budget. The mini-budget promised a road to recovery but that concept has totally been forgotten in the new Budget. So it is clear that these Budget proposals are only a word game to fool the people and international community. These words have no meaning in practical level,” Prof Herath said.

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Govt. extends ban on LTTE

Published

49 mins ago

2026/01/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

The NPP government has issued a new extraordinary gazette renewing and extending Sri Lanka’s long-standing ban on the LTTE and several Tamil diaspora organisations and individuals, continuing to designate them as “terrorists”.

The gazette, published recently, replaces a previous gazette issued in May 2025 and reaffirmed the proscription of a wide range of Tamil political and advocacy bodies operating around the world, alongside dozens of named individuals. The government alleged both the organisations and individuals listed are involved in “terrorism-related activities”.

The organisations blacklisted by the Sri Lankan government include:

• Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

• Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO)

• Tamil Coordinating Committee (TCC)

• World Tamil Movement (WTM)

• Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE)

• World Tamil Relief Fund (WTRF)

• National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT)

• Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO)

While the majority of the designations mirror those contained in the May 2025 gazette, the latest document updates identification details and addresses for a number of individuals and introduces at least one additional organisation to the list. All entries have been reissued under new reference numbers for 2026, though the underlying allegations and framing remain unchanged.

Successive governemnts have maintained a sweeping proscription regime against Tamil diaspora groups and individuals. A ban can make it a criminal offence for Sri Lankan citizens to maintain contact with these organisations or their members, severely restricting political engagement and stifling links between the diaspora and the Tamil homeland.

The original mass listings were introduced in 2014 under the administration of Mahinda Rajapaksa. Despite repeated outcry, subsequent governments have continued to uphold and renew the proscription regime, even after the Rajapaksas were voted out of power.

News

Police obtain court order banning Wimal’s protest

Published

49 mins ago

2026/01/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa addresses a gathering outside the Education Ministry on Monday before launching a protest demanding the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya as Education Minister over the inclusion of a link to an adult content website in the Grade 06 English module. (Pic by Thushara Atapattu)

Police yesterday (12) obtained an injunction order from the Kaduwela Magistrate’s court against the protest launched by National Freedom Front (NFF) leader and former Minister Wimal Weerawansa opposite the Education Ministry, Isurupaya, at Battaramulla.

Police informed Weerawansa of the court order. In line with the court order, the police informed Weerawansa that the road near the Ministry should not be obstructed and that no sound amplification equipment be used while the GCE Advanced Level (A/L) examination is in progress. The examination, put off due to Cyclone Ditwah, recommenced yesterday.

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expresses optimism that Sri Lanka is on the right path to progres

Published

51 mins ago

2026/01/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

FM Herath with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Vijitha Herath held productive discussions with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi today (12/01), during the latter’s brief visit to Sri Lanka.

The meeting aimed at further strengthening bilateral engagement and advancing the Strategic Cooperative Partnership between the two countries. Both Ministers reaffirmed the longstanding friendship and time-tested cooperation between Sri Lanka and China rooted in centuries of exchanges and consolidated since the establishment of diplomatic relations seven decades ago. The discussion also focused on enhancing partnership in the areas of trade, investment, development cooperation and tourism.

Minister Herath extended deep appreciation to the Government and the people of China for the steadfast support extended to Sri Lanka following cyclone Ditwah and requested further support for the second phase of resettlement, relocation and rebuilding, particularly for the restoration of affected infrastructure including identified roads, railways and bridges that are vital to connectivity, economic recovery and daily lives of people. Minister Wang assured China’s fullest support for this initiative and expressed confidence that Sri Lanka will continue its rapid recovery under the leadership of President Anura Kumara Disanayaka. He also welcomed the people-centric policies of the Government and expressed optimism that Sri Lanka is on the right path toward fulfilling aspirations of its people.

Minister Herath expressed appreciation for China’s constructive role in international fora and reiterated Sri Lanka’s firm commitment to the One China Policy and China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Both Ministers also recalled the successful high level exchanges in the recent past, including visits of the President and the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka to China in 2025.