News

Marikkar accused of misleading parliament

Published

4 years ago

2020/12/4

By Saman Indrajith

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, yesterday, accused Colombo District SJB MP S. M. Marikkar of misleading Parliament and asked him behave without wasting the time of the House.

MP Marikkar during the question time got up raising a point of order and said that 28 Sri Lankans who had arrived at the Bandaranaike Airport, Katunayake were stranded because officials had asked them to pay for quarantine at luxury hotels. “Authorities are not releasing them until they make the payments,” MP Marikkar said.

Speaker Abeywardena stopped the MP from speaking further warning him not to abuse the privilege of raising point of order and to raise any questions the MP had separately following due process.

Later, when he was given the microphone, the MP said the government should give orders to its officials not to exploit the people coming home after serving abroad to nurture the local economy. “They are to be sent back to Oman. This is very unfair.”

The Chair prevented the MP proceeding and asked him to use the microphone for the given purpose.

Chief Government Whip Highways Minister Johnston Fernando:

I need time to make a clarification because MP Marikkar is misleading the House. Either he is telling lies deliberately or someone is feeding him with lies and he repeats them here. This amounts to misleading the House. After his allegation I made inquiries. There is no such incident at the Katunayake International Airport. What actually happened was that Oman Airline had brought down 28 Sri Lankans and the Airline had not paid for PCR tests for 22 passengers. As per the guidelines in place, it is the responsibility of the Airline to pay for the PCR tests of the passengers. The delay has been caused by that. Now, the government has decided to pay for the tests and submit the results to the airline. You should not mislead the House.

MP Marikkar:

Yes. There are only 22 passengers because others have been permitted to leave the airport. The airline is not paying for the PCR tests.

Minister Fernando:

You knowingly misled the House. I do not say you are lying. But either you are telling lies or someone else is feeding you with lies.

Speaker Abeywardena:

MP Marikkar should have raised the question in an appropriate manner without wasting the time of the House.

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News

French Navy Ship ‘BEAUTEMPS BEAUPRE’ sets sail from Colombo

Published

5 hours ago

2025/05/14

Priyan

The French Navy Ship ‘BEAUTEMPS BEAUPRE’ which arrived in Sri Lanka on a goodwill visit (09 May 25), departed the island on Tuesday (13 May).

The Sri Lanka Navy bade customary farewell to the departing ship at the Port of Colombo, following naval traditions.

During the ship’s stay in Colombo, crew members of ‘BEAUTEMPS BEAUPRE’ visited some tourist attractions in the country. In addition, the Commanding Officer and a group of
crew members of the ship called on senior officers of the Sri Lanka National Hydrographic Office (SLNHO) to discuss key hydrographic matters of bilateral importance.

News

“Clean Sri Lanka” joins hands to Improve facilities and sanitation at Kotmale Regional Hospital

Published

5 hours ago

2025/05/14

Priyan

Following the bus accident in the Garandiella area of Kotmale, a large number of injured individuals were admitted to the Kotmale Regional Hospital for treatment. In response, the “Clean Sri Lanka” programme has collaborated to improve the facilities and sanitation of the hospital.

Accordingly, the “Clean Sri Lanka” programme actively worked to clean the hospital ward complex and the hospital premises, aiming to create a comfortable environment for the patients’ treatment and to enhance other facilities.

A notable aspect was the voluntary participation of the local community in this effort. The “Clean Sri Lanka” secretariat appreciates the dedication shown by the doctors and hospital staff of the Kotmale Regional Hospital, who provided emergency treatment to those injured in this unexpected incident despite having access to limited resources.

News

Battle for control of CMC rages; SJB draws fire for alleged bid to appoint defeated candidates

Published

8 hours ago

2025/05/14

Sahan Weerasooriya

Flaws in law blamed for chaos

The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) is in turmoil over naming of members to the Colombo Municipal (CMC) where it won 29 slots – 14 elected and 15 on the list at the recently concluded Local Government elections.

Political sources said that resistance was growing within the party over moves to accommodate defeated candidates as well as those listed at the expense of successful candidates. Among the defeated is SJB’s mayoral candidate Dr. Ruvaiz Haniffa.

Sources said that in terms of the Local Government Election Act there was no restriction in the number of defeated candidates that could be accommodated at the expense of those who were elected. As 25% of the members of a particular council has to be women, more successful members had to be dropped, sources said, pointing out that none of the female candidates were among the 14 SJBers elected at ward level.

The National People’s Party (NPP) won the CMC by securing 48 seats, including six from the list. Political sources said that in spite of both NPP and SJB declaring that they could a secure majority in the 117-member CMC. NPP polled 81,814 votes (48 seats), SJB polled 58,375 votes (29 seats), UNP polled 26,297 votes (13 seats), SLPP polled 9,341 votes (05 seats), SLMC polled 8,630 votes (04 seats) Independent Group 03 polled 5,934 votes (03 seats), Independent Group 05 polled 4,659 votes (02 seats)

United Peace Alliance polled 4,473 votes (02 seats), Sarvajana Balaya polled 3,911 votes (02 seats), Independent Group polled 3,640 votes (02 seats), People’s Alliance polled 2,754 votes (01 seat), National Freedom Front polled 2,398 votes (01 seat), United Republican Front polled 2,157 votes (01 seat), Independent Group 01 polled 1,909 votes (01 seat), Independent Group 02 polled 1,791 votes (01 seat), Democratic National Alliance polled 1,370 votes (01 seat) and National People’s Party polled 950 votes (01 seat).

Political sources said that the Local Government Election Act had caused much turmoil with many of those who had been elected by the people deprived of an opportunity to serve their respective local government body. Sources alleged that the system in place at Local Government was far worse than appointing defeated candidates to Parliament through the National List. In terms of the Parliamentary Election Act, an elected member could be replaced only by the candidate who polled the next highest number of votes at the election from the same district, sources said, pointing out Local Government winners at ward level were axed to accommodate both defeated as well as those on respective lists of political parties.

Sources said that once the appointment of all CMC members was finalised the number of elected people axed by political parties could be known. Sources said that perhaps political parties and election monitoring groups should inquire into the shortcomings in the Local Government Election Act.

by Shamindra Ferdinando