News
Party leaders decide to continue debate on PCoI report on Easter carnage on March 25 and 26

By Saman Indrajith
The party leaders at a meeting yesterday decided to continue with the debate on the Presidential Commission of Inquiry report on the Easter Sunday carnage, for two more days (25 and 26 March).
The two days of the next sitting week have been allocated for the debate, which commenced on March 10.
The Party Leaders, who met with Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena presiding, yesterday morning decided to convene Parliament for four days in the next week from March 23 to 26, Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake said.
Parliament will convene on March 23 at 10.00 am and one hour will be allocated for questions from MPs and a resolution under Section 10 of the Customs Ordinance regarding import duties, two regulations imposed by the Minister of Finance under the Imports and Exports Act and an order under the Sri Lanka Export Development Act will be taken up for debate, which is scheduled to end at 4.30 pm.
Two regulations under the Motor Traffic Act are listed for the debate on the following day from 11.00 am to 4.30 pm.
The Party Leaders also agreed to allocate one hour for questions of MPs, on Thursday, and to allocate full sittings time on Friday for the debate without questions time.
Leader of the House and Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said that steps would be taken to set aside a day or two for answering questions raised by MPs. He said so in answer to a question from Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella regarding the adjournment of questions.
The Party Leaders discussed the possibility of having a debate on the report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Political Victimisation and the report of the Presidential Commission of inquiry into the incidents of fraud and misappropriations which have allegedly taken place at public institutions from January 14, 2015 to December 31, 2018.
Chief Government Whip and Minister of Highways Johnston Fernando, Ministers Chamal Rajapaksa, Nimal Siripala de Silva, Mahinda Amaraweera and Prasanna Ranatunga, Members of Parliament Gayantha Karunatilake, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, M. A. Sumanthiran and Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, who is not a Member of the Committee, were present at the meeting.
News
Unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation plague most schools, say Principals

By Pradeep Prasanna Samarakkone and Chaminda Silva
Around 500 schools across the country lack access to safe drinking water for students, Piyasiri Fernando, Secretary of the Sri Lanka Principals’ Association, has said.
Fernando told The Island that a significant number of schools did not have facilities to store water properly. He said many schools lacked sanitary facilities.
Fernando also noted that in some schools in the Eastern, North Central, Uva, North Western, and Central provinces, as well as in approximately 20% of schools located near coastal areas, there are no proper toilet facilities. Despite the issuance of circulars specifying the number of toilets to be built, based on the number of students, some schools still did not have sanitary facilities as per those guidelines, the Secretary of the Principals’ Association said.
According to the School Census -2023 (2024) conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics there were 3,882,688 schoolchildren, 830,021 in National Schools and 3,052,667 in Provincial Schools.
Out of 10,096 schools, 1,506 have 1-50 students, 1,638 have 51-100 students and 2,128 have 101-200 students. Only 67 schools have 3,001-4,000 students, while only 33 have more than 4,000 students. 3,117 or 30.9 percent schools have fewer than 10 teachers.
News
Julie meets Namal at SLPP HQ

US Ambassador, Julie Chung, visited the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) office on Friday (14) for discussions with party representatives.
Ambassador Chung arrived at the SLPP Headquarters around 10:00 a.m. and engaged in talks for over an hour and a half. Her visit followed a request by the SLPP to meet her.
During the meeting, she held discussions with SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam, former Members of Parliament Sanjeewa Edirimanne, C.B. Ratnayake, and Jayantha Ketagoda, as well as current MP D.V. Chanaka. Milinda Rajapaksha, an advisor to former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was also present.
The visit comes amid calls from SLPP MP Namal Rajapaksa for an investigation into USAID fund recipients in Sri Lanka.
News
Speaker agrees to probe allegations of ‘unethical funding’ by USAID

By Saman Indrajith
Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne informed Parliament on Friday (14) that he intended to take necessary action regarding requests made by MPs concerning allegations over USAID funding in Sri Lanka.
He made this statement in response to a question raised by Opposition MP Dayasiri Jayasekara, who sought a clarification on the matter.
Jayasekara noted that SLPP MP Namal Rajapaksa had sent a letter to the Speaker calling for the appointment of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to investigate reports about unethical USAID funding in the country. He questioned whether such a committee would be formed and the matter formally examined.
In response, Speaker Wickramaratne confirmed that he was planning to take appropriate action on the issue.
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