News
Minister Amaraweera urges people to work through pandemic to minimise impact on economy
By Ifham Nizam
Sri Lankans should come forward to minimise the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said yesterday speaking at the launch of the Thousand Herbal Forest programme at the Bodhimalu Temple, Medamulana.
Amaraweera also said that COVID-19 clusters would grow further if people did not follow the health guidelines.
“My fear is COVID-19 clusters will form around some liquor bars.”
The world economy was in deep crisis due to COVID-19 and Sri Lanka had already felt its impact, the minister said, adding that mainstays of foreign revenue like fish exports, garment industry and other export industries had been severely affected.
“To minimize the impact of COVID-19 on the economy of our country, we have to continue working in the midst of the epidemic. None can say how long this epidemic will last. We will have to live with COVID-19 whether we like it or not. We cannot stop development work because of COVID-19. But if we follow the instructions given by the health sector perfectly, we can revive our economy and save lives.”
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Transport, Highways, and Urban Development to award the contract for printing and supplying vehicle number plates for the Department of Motor Traffic for a period of five (5) years to M/s South Asian Technologies based on the recommendations of the High-Level Standing Procurement Committee and the Procurement Appeal Board.
The National Lotteries board has been established subject to the Finance Act No. 11 of 1963. Having identified the requirement of amending that act which was imposed around 62 years to cater the current requirements of the lottery market, the Cabinet of Mnisters at their meeting held on 14.02.2017 granted approval to draft a new bill for the purpose.
Accordingly, the National Lotteries Board has recognized further amendments to be performed to the fundamental draft bill prepared by the Legal Draftsmen.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for the
resolution furnished by the President in his office as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to direct the Legal Draftsmen to finalize the formulation of the draft bill for the National Lotteries Board as soon as possible including the proposed new amendments as well.
The Werahara office of the Department of Motor Traffic performs issuance of temporary driving licenses in this country based on the driving licenses issued overseas, and measures have been initiated to render the service from a service window of the Department of Motor Traffic established at the Bandaranayake International Airport from 03.08.2025.
The fees charged for issuing temporary driving licenses have been published in Motor Vehicles (Driving License Levy) Regulations No. 3 of 2022 prepared under the provisions of the Motor Traffic (Authority 203) Act.
But, as the fee of Rupees 2,000/- charged for the service is not sufficient, the requirement of amending the regulations has been recognized.
The regulations for introducing the revised fees have been published in the government extraordinary gazette
notification No. 2463/04 dated 17.11.2025. Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development to
submit the regulations to the Parliament for its concurrence.
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