News

MONLAR accuses govt. of allowing India to play bigger role in country’s agriculture

Published

5 years ago

2021/11/26

By Rathindra Kuruwita

The government has allowed India to play a bigger role in Sri Lankan agriculture due to its recent actions regarding agrochemicals, moderator of Movement for National Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR,) Chinthaka Rajapakshe alleged yesterday.

Rajapaksa told The Island that the government had banned agrochemicals to break the existing cartel that controlled fertiliser imports and thereby help its business associates.

Rajapakshe said that the actions of successive governments had greatly undermined the country’s food security and sovereignty.

“The government’s impotence was shown during the rice issue. It put out a number of gazette notifications to control the price of rice and the mill owners ignored these gazettes and created a shortage. The government finally allowed mill owners to determine prices. This shows that the government does not understand the ground realities, i. e. that it can’t influence the market because all the tools it has at its disposal are ineffective, and it has no plan.”

Rajapakshe said that since banning the import of agrochemicals, the government had not held any discussions with stakeholders involved in organic agriculture in the country.

“It is now obvious that the government has no intention of going green. All it wants is to ensure that its associates will control the agrochemical market in the future. However, the government is bungling that up, too,” he claimed.

Rajapakshe added that if the government held discussions with those already involved with organic farming, it would have learnt that the first thing to do was to restore the microbes in the soil biodiversity. A healthy soil had a variety of living organisms.

“Plant roots can also be considered as soil organisms in view of their symbiotic relationships and interactions with other soil components. These diverse organisms interact with one another and with the various plants and animals in the ecosystem, forming a complex web of biological activity. Because we have been overusing agrochemicals for decades, most of our soil is dead. While supplying compost is a component of this, it is not everything that we can do. There are so many other things we could have done.”

The government was compelled to ban the import of fertilizers because it faced a dollar shortage, Rajapakshe said. If the government was serious about reducing the cost of importing fertiliser it could have worked with farmers and introduced easy compost making methods, he said. “Instead, the government tried to give their associates an opportunity to mass produce compost and when that failed it resorted to importing organic fertiliser,” he said.

“This has also allowed India to come into our agriculture. Adani is already working in Sri Lanka and he plays a major role in Indian agriculture. I don’t think he is here only for the West Container Terminal,” he said.

MONLAR worked with a large number of farmers and most of them were ready to switch to organic farming if a transparent and feasible path was made available, he said. The ground reality was that the government’s actions were increasingly driving out small scale farmers and those lands were being taken over by large companies.

“This has been happening for a while and farmers are highly suspicious. The government keeps on transferring land owned by small farmers to large companies. These companies are export oriented. During the first phase of shifting to organic agriculture, there has been a drop in the yield. We must take that into account and increase the area of farmlands but we are doing quite the opposite,” he said.

On the other hand, the government had done nothing to educate the farmers on how to engage in organic farming. Those who planted tea used compost the way they used agrochemicals, which is not an effective way of using compost, he said. MONLAR had introduced certain practices used in Andhra Pradesh, India, to some Sri Lankan farmers on recovering lost soil diversity. Those practices have been embraced by farmers with great enthusiasm, he said.

“There are ways of boosting soil biodiversity within days. They have not been explored. Having TV programmes on organic agriculture is not enough, the government has to go to the farmers,” he said.

Moreover, compost is only one component of organic agriculture. There are a number of specialised equipment and machinery needed to successfully engage in organic agriculture. We also need things, like cutters and crushers, to make compost on a large scale. There are a number of Sri Lankan companies that produce these machines, but they have not been given the necessary support to expand production, he said.

Rajapakshe said that Sri Lanka also needed to gear its waste management system towards compost making. Although a large quantity of biodegradable waste was collected daily, most of it was thrown into dump sites. Compost could be created with the biodegradable waste and systems should be introduced to prevent heavy metal contamination.

“Heavy metals can come from things like batteries, bulbs and e-waste. We need to establish protocols to prevent such items from mixing with biodegradable waste,” Rajapakshe added.

All News Advertisement

News

Construction of Jet A-1 Aviation fuel pipeline and new oil tank complex at Muthurajawela begins under President’s patronage

Published

12 hours ago

2026/10/4

Priyan

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that the Government’s objective is to maintain a strong state presence in the energy market while providing an efficient service to the people, adding that significant progress has been achieved towards this objective over the past two years and that a strong energy market that does not place a burden on the people is now being built in Sri Lanka.

The President made these remarks on Friday (02) morning while attending the commencement of construction of the Jet A-1 pipeline system of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and two new oil storage tank systems belonging to the CPC and the Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminal Limited (CPSTL).

The projects are being implemented in line with the Government’s national objective of developing infrastructure in the energy sector, with the aim of ensuring the security of aviation fuel supplies, reducing supply costs and providing the capacity required to meet future demand for aviation fuel.

A dedicated pipeline and associated tank complex are being constructed to connect Muthurajawela with the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake, with the aim of meeting the future demand of the country’s aviation sector, ensuring the security of aviation fuel supplies and reducing transportation costs.

Construction has commenced on five new Jet A-1 fuel storage tanks with a total capacity of 92,000 cubic metres. These comprise two large Jet A-1 tanks, each with a capacity of 30,000 cubic metres; two medium-sized tanks, each with a capacity of 15,000 cubic metres; and an additional tank with a capacity of 2,000 cubic metres. The fuel supply pipeline system will be connected to the airport through a 21-kilometre-long underground pipeline with a diameter of 10 inches from the Muthurajawela tank complex. The project is scheduled for completion within 30 months.

Meanwhile, as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen and expand storage and infrastructure facilities in the petroleum industry, the Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminal Limited (CPSTL) commenced construction today of three new storage tanks at the Muthurajawela Terminal.

Upon completion, the three-tank system, comprising two tanks with a capacity of 15,000 cubic metres each and one tank with a capacity of 10,000 cubic metres, will provide an additional total storage capacity of 40,000 cubic metres.

This will further enhance the petroleum storage capacity of the terminal and support the continued development of the country’s petroleum infrastructure. The project has a contractual period of 18 months and is scheduled for completion in April 2028.

The tanks are being constructed in compliance with relevant international standards and recognised industry best practices, ensuring enhanced safety, reliability and operational efficiency. The additional storage capacity will strengthen the country’s fuel reserves, improve operational flexibility and support the reliable and uninterrupted distribution of fuel products to meet the country’s growing energy requirements.

Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation and Minister of Energy Anura Karunathilaka said,

“We are now in an era of energy transition. The world is rapidly moving towards the use of clean energy. The use of electric vehicles is very important in this regard, and our country is also now moving in that direction.

The use of solar energy is also important. We expect to add 1,200 megawatts of solar power capacity to the national grid by 2029.

As a country, we must focus not only on controlling fuel prices but also on controlling fuel consumption. The public also has a major responsibility in this regard.

It is particularly important to change our patterns of energy consumption. Greater energy security can be achieved by avoiding periods of high energy demand, shifting towards electricity use and using fuel-efficient vehicles, particularly electric vehicles.”

Chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation D. J. Rajakaruna said,

“We faced a major challenge due to the war in the Middle East. However, with the intervention of the President, relief was provided to the people and the situation was managed very effectively.

As a result, while diesel prices in the global market increased by 91%, the increase in Sri Lanka was only around 39.5%. While petrol prices in the global market increased by 80%, the increase in Sri Lanka was only around 41%.

Despite providing fuel at lower prices in this manner, the Corporation has recorded a profit of Rs. 28 billion this year. We also recorded a profit of Rs. 36 billion last year.

This may raise the question of why fuel prices are not being reduced when there are such profits.

However, we have used those profits to commence a number of infrastructure development projects at the institution.

These include adding the capacity of 11 tanks, including the construction of six tanks that had previously been abandoned, to increase fuel storage capacity; modernising our oil-filling section, which is more than 90 years old, and establishing a gantry system similar to that at Muthurajawela; laying two new pipelines for unloading fuel from the port to Kolonnawa; constructing a new pipeline to transport Jet A-1 fuel to Katunayake; and upgrading the pipeline system and laying new pipelines, among many other projects.

We are implementing these projects using those profits. Therefore, we have returned the benefits to the people through these investments.”

The Minister of Science and Technology, Professor Chrishantha Abeysena; Deputy Minister of Energy, Arkam Ilyas; Member of Parliament Kumara Jayakody; Secretary to the Ministry of Energy and Senior Additional Secretary to the President, Russell Aponso; foreign ambassadors; government officials including officials of the Ministry of Energy and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation; and representatives of Sinopec were among those present at the occasion.

President’s Media Division (PMD)

News

Lanka enters new phase of prosecutions as hurdles clear

Published

22 hours ago

2026/10/4

Thilina Walpola

MONETABRIEF –The prosecution of high-profile individuals from the former Rajapaksa administrations is set to escalate this month with the clearing of legal hurdles and administrative bottlenecks, according to officials involved in the process.

Former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s attempt to secure an order preventing his arrest in connection with the Easter Sunday massacre was turned down by the Court of Appeal on Thursday.

An overseas travel ban has been in operation against Rajapaksa since June, but the Criminal Investigations Department made no move to question him. He instead filed a writ application seeking an order preventing his possible arrest.

President of the Court of Appeal Rohantha Abeysuriya noted that the court would not interfere with the investigative process. Any attempt by the court would amount to an obstruction of the investigation.

In an unrelated case, the same court rejected an application by opposition legislator Dilith Jayaweera seeking the quashing of a contempt charge filed against him by the Fort magistrate. The charges against Jayaweera and a few other opposition politicians are expected to be taken up in the coming week.

Jayaweera and other opposition politicians — Wimal Weerawansa, Udaya Gammanpila, Sugeeshwara Bandara, and Asanka Navaratne

— were hauled up over their remarks relating to the arrest of Suresh Sallay, the former head of the State Intelligence Service.

SLPP academic Mahinda Pathirana is also charged over his public comments about Sallay’s arrest in February under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son, legislator Namal Rajapaksa, is already in remand custody following his arrest in connection with three cases of bribery and money laundering relating to the 2013 Airbus deal and the Krrish property development in Colombo.

Although Namal has been granted bail in the Airbus money laundering charge, he is in custody until October 13 over the bribery charge relating to the same Airbus transaction. His arrest is under a provision of the Anti-Corruption Act that does not allow a magistrate to grant bail unless under exceptional circumstances.

Meanwhile, his mother Shiranthi Rajapaksa, who had been asked to report to the Financial Crimes Investigations Division on September 24, was a no-show and was yet to return from Singapore.

She had travelled overseas on September 16, and a family spokesman said she was handed the FCID summons at the departure lounge of Bandaranaike International Airport just before she boarded a flight to Singapore.

At the time, the family spokesman said she was due to return in three days.

“We will see greater momentum in the legacy cases in the coming weeks,” an official involved in the prosecutions said.

“We have cleared the legal hurdles to press ahead with more arrests,” he said.

“We are working on a few administrative issues which will be resolved very soon.”

The controversial prosecution of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe is dragging on without him being formally indicted since his arrest in August last year. The Fort magistrate has listed the case again for November 11, when the Attorney-General is expected to report on his decision regarding action against Wickremesinghe.

News

Police warn: Court evaders face property seizure

Published

22 hours ago

2026/10/4

Thilina Walpola

Police have reminded the public that courts have the power to take legal action against individuals who evade arrest or remain in hiding after warrants have been issued against them.

Police said that under Section 60 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act No. 15 of 1979, a court could issue a written proclamation requiring a person evading arrest under a warrant to appear at a specified place and time.

The proclamation must allow the person at least 30 days to appear before court, Police said.

If the person fails to appear even after the proclamation has been issued, the court may take further action under Section 61 of the Act.

This includes issuing an order for the attachment of the movable or immovable property belonging to the person concerned.Police issued the reminder highlighting the legal measures available against persons who deliberately evade arrest and remain in hiding after warrants have been issued.