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Minister Devananda pledges to provide PCR machine to Vavuniya General Hospital

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By Dinasena Ratugamage

District General Hospital Vavuniya, too, would be given a PCR testing machine soon, Minister of Fisheries Douglas Devananda said, on Thursday, in Vavuniya. He said that in the Northern Province only the Jaffna Teaching Hospital currently had a PCR machine.

At a meeting with health officials in Vavuniya, the Minister said that the number of COVID-19 positive cases was increasing in the North and the Jaffna Teaching Hospital alone couldn’t handle the PCR samples.

“Once the District General Hospital Vavuniya gets a PCR machine, we can test the samples obtained from Vavuniya, Mannar and Mullaitivu here. The machines at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital and the Jaffna University can be used to test samples from Jaffna and Vavuniya.”

Minister Devananda, responding to a question posed by journalists, said that the impact of the sinking of the Singapore-flagged MV X-Press Pearl would not affect the Northern fishermen.

“There are a number of fishermen who have been affected, in other areas. We are giving them a monthly allowance of Rs. 5,000 each, at first. Thereafter, they will be compensation, according to the findings of a study which is now underway.”



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Opposition holds NPP Cabinet responsible for coal scam, three times bigger than bond fraud

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Prof. G. L. Peiris

The Opposition yesterday called for the entire Cabinet-of-Ministers to accept responsibility for the coal scam. Addressing the media at the Flower Road Office of UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, former Foreign Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris emphasised that Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody’s resignation, in the wake of the damning report issued by the National Audit Office (NAO), has now implicated the entire Cabinet-of-Ministers.

Prof. Peiris asserted that Jayakody, who had been indicted in the Colombo High Court over alleged corruption, during the Yahapalana administration, stepped down after the NPP failed to suppress the truth on the coal scam.

The ex-Minister declared that Jayakody’s resignation, the first since the formation of new government, with a super majority in Parliament, was a devastating setback for the current dispensation.

The internationally recognised legal scholar said that a future government would move courts against the entire NPP Cabinet. Referring to the NAO report submitted to Parliament, Prof. Peiris emphasised that there was absolutely no ambiguity regards allegations directed at the Energy Ministry. The NAO report proved that the Indian company, Trident Champhar, that won the major contract, didn’t even have the required registration.

Prof. Peiris said that the coal scam was three times bigger than the Treasury bond scams, perpetrated during the Yahapalana time (SF)

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Case against Yoshitha and Daisy Forrest postponed

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The Colombo High Court yesterday ordered that the case, filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against Yoshitha Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and his grand-aunt Daisy Forrest Wickramasinghe, be recalled on June 10.

The case was taken up before High Court Judge Rashmi Singappuli.

At the hearing, State Counsel informed the court that a related case, on similar charges, had been filed before High Court No. 08. The court was further informed that a revised indictment has been directed to be filed in that case, necessitating the submission of a revised indictment in the present case as well.

State Counsel requested time to report on the progress of those proceedings.

Accordingly, the judge ordered that the case be called on June 10 and directed that progress be reported on that date.

The case pertains to three indictments filed by the Attorney General alleging that between March 31, 2009, and December 12, 2013, the accused had committed an offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act by depositing over Rs. 59 million in three private banks, the source of which could not be explained.

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Three-judge bench rejects request by ex-IGP Pujith

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 A three-judge bench of the Colombo Special High Court yesterday rejected a request by former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundera to introduce additional facts to a statement he had previously made from the dock.

Jayasundera is an accused in the case filed over alleged criminal negligence in failing to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, despite prior intelligence warnings.

The order was delivered by the bench, presided over by Justice Priyantha Liyanage.

Meanwhile, retired Senior Deputy Inspector General (SDIG) Nandana Munasinghe and Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in charge of the Eastern Province, Waruna Jayasundera, appeared before court as defence witnesses.

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