News
PM directs Customs to immediately clear essential food items in port
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has instructed Sri Lanka Customs to immediately clear all essential food items currently in the port.
The prime minister has issued this directive during the Cost of Living (CoL) Committee meeting held on Sept. 24 via video conference, the PM’s Office said. He issued the directive to the Imports and Exports Controller General and the Director General of Sri Lanka Customs.
It had been decided during the meeting to ensure that the essential food items cleared from the port are distributed to the general public through the Sathosa outlets and through the importers of essential goods, expeditiously.
It was emphasized that the Ministry of Trade and agriculture officers should take responsibility to release rice and other essential food items to the market without any shortage.
Approval was also granted to the request made by State Minister D. B. Herath to obtain animal feed including maize from the international market under the existing system until the local maize crops are harvested.
Meanwhile during the meeting, Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena requested the Prime Minister to expedite the investigation into the complaint made by him regarding the allegations made by the former Executive Director of the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) who resigned recently.
The prime minister made a phone call to the IGP at that moment and informed him to expedite the investigation, the PM’s Office said
Accepting deposits from political parties and independent groups who intend to contest the forthcoming Local Authorities Election ended at 12noon today [19].
Deposits were accepted at respective District Secretariats from 3rd March 2025.
The Elections Commission has announced that the deadline for the accepting of nominations for the LA poll is set to conclude at 12:00 noon tomorrow (20).
It has been reported that the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon has appeared before the Matara Magistrate’s Court this morning (19),
The former IGP had been evading arrest after the Matara Magistrate’s court had ordered his arrest regarding a shooting incident that took place in front of the W15 Hotel Pelena, Weligama, Matara, in 2023.
The government has begun recovering funds obtained by former Lands and Land Development, Environment and Wildlife Resources Minister SM Chandrasena for the Janatha Lanka Chilli Marketing Limited (JLCML), which he headed, Parliament was informed yesterday.
Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation Minister Namal Karunaratne said that as the Chairman of JLCML, Chandrasena had obtained a loan of Rs. 1,275,000 from the Mihintale Govijana Seva Bank in 2001.
The principal of the loan had not been repaid until the end of last year. “After we came to power, we demanded that the loan be settled. Then, we discovered that the interest on the loan had not been paid for the past 24 years, and attempts had been made to have the loan written off. We stopped that and are now in the process of recovering the interest of Rs. 1,975,233 on the loan,” Karunaratne said.
Karunaratne added that JLCML was registered as a company with the Registrar of Companies on March 21, 2001. As Chairman of the company, Chandrasena requested a loan of Rs. 10 million on April 19, 2001, for the purpose of purchasing chillies from farmers in 12 farmer colonies in the Mihintale Agrarian Service area.
The request was approved by the Mihintale Agrarian Service Committee on the same day and referred to the Anuradhapura District Agrarian Operations Committee, which approved it on April 23, 2001. However, the Agriculture Development Commissioner General recommended that a loan of Rs. 1.2 million would suffice for this purpose. JLCML took the loan and failed to repay it until the end of last year. When the matter was raised, the principal was paid, and we are now in the process of recovering the interest that was not paid for the past 24 years,” Karunaratne added.
By Saman Indrajith
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