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Govt. allocates Rs 10 billion more to purchase urea

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By Ifham Nizam

The government yesterday allocated Rs.10 billion for the purchase of urea fertiliser for this year’s Yala cultivation.

An Agriculture Ministry official said that at present the warehouses of Lanka Fertiliser Company and Commercial Fertiliser Company had about 30,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser. Arrangements had been made to purchase another 25,000 tonnes, it said.

Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said the purpose of the allocation of funds was to provide urea fertiliser needed for paddy cultivation, maize cultivation and other crops in the Yala season by maintaining a reserve of 100,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser.

The Ministry of Agriculture is planning to provide all three types of fertilisers necessary for paddy cultivation namely, TSP, MOP and Urea without any shortage in the 2023 Yala season.

Accordingly, arrangements had been made to provide the TSP at the beginning of the Yala season to all paddy farmers, free of charge. The fertiliser ship is scheduled to reach Colombo port in the middle of this month, carrying 36,000 tonnes of manure.

They also said that there was a surplus of about 35,000 tonnes of MOP fertiliser with the fertiliser companies.

A reserve of about 60,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser would be maintained by the end of this month, and with the urea fertiliser to be purchased, under the allocated amount of Rs.10 billion, it would be possible to maintain a reserve of nearly 100,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser, the official added.



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PNS Shahjahan departs after successful naval exercise

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The Pakistan Naval Ship (PNS) Shahjahan which arrived in Colombo on 02nd June 2023 on a two-day official visit, departed the island on 04th June 2023.

 

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EC opposes govt. move to appoint its henchmen to monitor local councils

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By Priyan de Silva

The Election Commission (ECSL) has opposed a move by the government to appoint representatives of the Chairpersons of the Regional Development Committee to monitor local government institutions.

ECSL Chairman Nimal G. Punchihewa told The Island that the government had informed the ECSL of its plan to appoint representatives of the Chairpersons of the Regional Development Committee to monitor the local government bodies and the ECSL had decided to write to the Ministry of Local Government opposing the move, he said. A Chairman of a regional development committee ESD a representative of a particular political party and it would be unfair by other parties for such appointments to be made, the EC Chairman said.

Punchihewa said that the administration of local government institutions could be done through Municipal Commissioners and Divisional Secretaries.Many political parties had complained against the government move, he said.

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JVP says govt. has enough funds for elections

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By Saman Indrajith

The JVP would file a fresh application before the Supreme Court against the government for not holding the local council polls, JVP MP Vijitha Herath said yesterday.Addressing the media at the party headquarters in Pelawatte, Herath said that his party had ascertained fresh information by invoking the Right to Information Act about the funds needed for the holding of the elections and his party would file another fundamental rights case against those responsible for conducting elections.

“The LG polls were to be held on 09 March. They were postponed until 25 April, and later they were put off indefinitely. The President appoints Governors to the provinces and the local councils are under them. Now, he says no party commands the support of 50 percent of voters.

Is this reason why he is not holding elections? His claim that there are no funds for elections is not acceptable. The Election Commission (EC) has, in a letter to the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, asked for Rs 1,100 million in installments for conducting local government elections. The Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, on 07 March, informed

the EC that the latter’s request had been referred to the Minister of Finance on the same day. But so far the money has not been released. As per a report released by the Treasury, the government revenue was Rs 177,900 million in January this year alone. Of that amount, Rs 156,760 was allocated to government institutions. The Treasury has Rs 21,410 million. In February, the government revenue was at Rs. 271,750 million and of that Rs. 208,620 million was spent. The balance was Rs 63,130 million. In January and February, the Treasury had Rs 84,270 million. These figures have been officially confirmed by a Deputy Treasury Secretary. The EC is seeking only Rs 2,460 million for elections. So, the claim that there is no money for elections is false as per official records. We will submit this information to the Supreme Court when we file a fresh application. We will prove that the government has lied to people,” Herath said.

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