News
Professionals warn Lanka not to be lulled into complacency over US withdrawal of MCC
By Rathindra Kuruwita
The United States and its allies would not halt their attempts to secure a foothold in Sri Lanka although the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact had been discontinued and that the decision was a strategic one to lull Sri Lankan public into complacency, professional and civil society organizations yesterday warned.
General Secretary of the Professionals’ National Front (PNF), Engineer Kapila Perera said that the MCC compact was not a grant, but a part of the Indo-Pacific strategy pushed by the US and India.
Perera said: “The MCC is part of their strategy to use Sri Lanka and other nations for military and strategic purposes.
The MCC compact does not stand alone but it should be taken with Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) and, Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement (ACSA).’
Perera said that PNF and other patriotic forces had identified the danger posed by the MCC and the public too understood the peril the country faced.
“The committee appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa also came to the same conclusions we did. We are grateful for the stance this committee took.”
Dr. Samantha Ananda, senior vice chairman of the PNF said that the US and its allies would not give up their attempts to secure a foothold here. He added that there might be plans afoot to achieve the objectives of MCC, i.e. securing the Trincomalee harbour and obtaining data about Sri Lanka’s land, by other means.
Ananda said: “This is not over. The US and its allies have not been defeated. Politicians and officials will knowingly or unknowingly try to push imperialist agendas. We must be weary and be ready.”
The Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR) too warned that although the MCC Compact was no more, the land reforms attempted to meet advance the imperialist agenda were being slowly implemented by the incumbent government.
MONLAR Moderator, Chinthaka Rajapakshe said that relaxing land laws and creating large swathes of land available for foreign investors was an underlying objective of the MCC compact.
“The government has been slowly attempting to relax land laws. For example the decision to hand over the control of ‘other state forest lands’ to Divisional Secretaries and opening lands to large scale commercial agriculture are a part of a larger design. This is not something that started with Gotabaya started; nor will it end with him. Successive governments have promoted imperialist ideology and the only thing that has stopped them is public outrage. We must remain vigilant because trouble is not over.”
A meeting between President Anura Kumara Disanayake and Admiral Samuel J. Paparo, the Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), was held today (21) at the Presidential Secretariat.
During the discussion, Admiral Paparo extended his best wishes to President Disanayake and the new government on their planned initiatives. He also acknowledged Sri Lanka’s continued support in ensuring the security of the Indian Ocean region and maintaining a peaceful maritime environment.
Furthermore, Admiral Paparo reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to strengthening the enduring bilateral ties between the two nations and expressed support for Sri Lanka’s new governmental policies.
President Disanayake conveyed his appreciation for the assistance provided by the United States in enhancing human resources within Sri Lanka’s defence sector. The President also acknowledged the longstanding support extended by the U.S. in this regard.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Vijitha Herath, Senior Additional Secretary to the President Roshan Gamage, U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung, Lieutenant Colonel Anthony C. Nelson of the U.S. Army, and Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the United States Indo-Pacific Command David Ranz were also present at the meeting.
SriLankan Airlines has announced that SriLankan Airlines flights UL 503 (Colombo to London Heathrow), scheduled to depart at 12:50 hrs and UL 504 (London Heathrow to Colombo), scheduled to depart at 20:40 hrs today [21 March 2025], have been cancelled.
Passengers requiring assistance are encouraged to contact the SriLankan Airlines Customer Centre at 1979 (within Sri Lanka), +94117 77 1979 (international) or +94744 44 1979 (WhatsApp chat) or reach out to their nearest SriLankan Airlines office or their travel agent.
The United Kingdom’s Heathrow airport has closed until midnight on Friday due to a power outage, throwing the plans of tens of thousands of travellers into chaos.
London’s main airport, which is Europe’s busiest gateway, said on Friday that it had suffered a “significant” power failure due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the facility.
“To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March,” Heathrow airport said in a post on X.
“Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should contact their airline for further information. We apologise for the inconvenience.”
Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 said the shutdown would affect “at least” 1,351 flights.
“We’re trying to stop passengers from travelling to the airport, and then work with airline partners on flights that are delayed, diverted, or cancelled,” a Heathrow spokesperson told Al Jazeera. “Passengers can reach out to airline partners to work on rebooking.”
Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull, reporting from London, said the roads leading to the airport were blocked, causing “traffic chaos locally”.
“But local traffic disruption is nothing compared to the air traffic disruptions that will be spreading around the world,” he said.
Heathrow is one of the most globally connected airports and regularly ranks among the top five busiest gateways worldwide.
The airport serves more than 200 destinations in nearly 90 different countries and territories, and last year handled nearly 84 million passengers, the largest number on record.
[Aljazeera]
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