News
Pseudo-patriots selling national assets, ECT first to go – JVP
JVP Central Committee members and former MPs Sunil Handunnetti and Wasantha Samarasinghe addressing the media yesterday.
By Saman Indrajith
The Gotabaya Rajapaksa government will sell national assets to foreigners by giving Colombo Port’s East Container terminal to an Indian company, says the JVP.
JVP Central Committee member and former MP Sunil Handunnetti said yesterday: “Selling off the Eastern Terminal of the Colombo Port to an Indian company will be the first step towards selling national assets. The remaining oil tanks in Trincomalee, mineral sands deposit in Pulmuddai, Eppawela Phosphate deposit will be gone thereafter. We have information that the lands belonging to the Galle harbor have also been earmarked for sale.”
He was ddressing the media at the JVP Headquarters in Pelawatte.
“The Cabinet has approved the sale of the Colombo Port East Container Terminal. This will initiate a process of selling off the remaning national assets. Ports and airports are strategically important assets for this country, given its location. The government says Sri Lanka Ports Authority’s income is not sufficient to develop the East Container Terminal of the Colombo Port and therefore it should be disposed of. The Colombo Port, which ranked high in the region, has now come to this position due to mismangement. A part of it has already been given to China. Several sections of the port have been privatised. The SLPA reports indicate that its share of loan resettlement amounts to 24.8 percent of its income. It is paying nearly 11 billion rupees as debt installments to the local lenders alone.
“It was earlier planned to give the terminal to a joint company between India and Japan. But on Monday the Cabient decided to give it to an Indian company by the name of Adani Ports and Logistic Group. The Cabinet paper justifies the sale of the terminal to Adani group stating that it is responsible for 30 percent of India’s container operations and it has six container terminals. We call upon people to come foward to save the Colombo Port.”
JVP Central Committee member and former MP Wasantha Samarasinghe said: “Rajapaksas came to power as an alternative to a governments that sold off national assets to foreigners. Now it is doing likewise. We have information that in addition to the sale of the East Terminal of the Colombo port, lands belonging to Galle Port are also to be leased off for 35 years. Adjacent lands including those now occupied by the Police are to be leased for 99 years. And who is giving these away? The party that has assumed the role of patriots and saviours of national assets. We are warning that people should not let this happen. If we lose this vital terminal the SLPA would be reduced to a mere sign board.”
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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