UNDP, too, consulted

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Parliament in consultation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has reduced the number of Sectoral Oversight Committees (SOCs) to seven.In the previous Parliament there were 17 SOCs. The National People’s Power (NPP) government discussed the matter with the UNDP as the latter funded the strengthening of the SOC process.

A four-member Committee, headed by Assistant Secretary General of Parliament, Hansa Abeyratne, has recommended the establishment of seven SOCs to cover all ministries. Sources said that the Committee on Parliamentary Business, chaired by Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne, on 27 February, had agreed to form seven SOCs, with the government and the Opposition consenting to share the chairmanships four to three, respectively.

The NPP parliamentary group and the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) consists of 159 and 40 MPs, respectively.

The Speaker and UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, Marc-André Franche, discussed the reduction of SOCs from 17 to 7 when the latter paid a courtesy call on the Speaker several weeks before the official announcement made by Parliament following the meeting of the Committee on Parliamentary Business on 27 February.

The Committee of Selection previously declared that Parliament could establish as many as 20 SOCs.

The parliamentary committee system consists of Select Committees, Ministerial Consultative Committees, Legislative Standing Committees, Committees for Special Purposes and Sectoral Oversight Committees.

SOCs were introduced by the yahapalana parliament through a resolution passed on Dec 19th, 2015. Sources said that the Parliament tasked the Abeyratne committee to make recommendations meant to improve performance and cut down on waste.

Sources said the reduction of the number of SOCs was intended to curtail expenditure.

The USAID, now under a cloud over controversial projects in many countries, funded SOC heads’ visit to the US in late 2023 during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s presidency.

by Chaminda Silva

Vice Chairman of the Fuel Distributors’ Association Kusum Sandanayaka yesterday (02) said that they would file a case in the Commercial High Court today (March 3), against the CPC for having violated the terms of a contract that the CPC had entered with fuel distributors.

Sandanayaka said that the CPC Chairman had told the media that some members of the Association had placed orders despite the fuel distributors’ decision against placing orders as a mark of protest against the CPC decision to announce a new commission formula. “We placed those orders before resorting to trade union action,” Sandanayaka said.

Claiming that without the 3% commission, many distributors would be unable to sell fuel, Sandanayake said that although the CPC claimed it was possible to distribute fuel without the commission. “Our association has no opposition if any fuel distributor could sell without any commission. Some fuel station owners have obtained fuel under the new system proposed by the CPC. We decided not to place orders because we are unable to maintain their fuel stations under the current circumstances,” he said.

Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) Chairman D. J. Rajakaruna says he is ready to negotiate with fuel distributors who are opposing the calculation of their commissions based on a new formula.However, he warned that any attempt to sabotage fuel distribution would be severely dealt with according to the law.

Speaking to the media, Rajakaruna said that, as of Saturday, fuel dealers across the country had placed a total of 2,924 orders. He said that while some fuel dealers had suspended petroleum distribution in protest against the reduction in dealers’ commission margins, not all dealers were involved in the protest.

By Saturday morning, 1,696 orders had been placed by CPC dealers, 471 from Indian Oil Corporation dealers, 391 from Sinopec dealers, and 366 from RM Park Shell dealers.

Despite the protests, Rajakaruna assured that orders would continue to be processed throughout the week to meet the demand, which had increased due to panic buying.

The protests began after an association of CPC fuel dealers announced that they would stop placing orders following the reduction in their margins. They also stated they would halt providing fuel on credit to state agencies and hospitals, a practice they had maintained for several months.

Rajakaruna said that dealer margins had increased significantly in 2022 due to the economic crisis. When attempts were made to reduce the margin thereafter, dealers had taken matter to court, and had the CPC decision suspended. He noted that the court order had expired, and the CPC had since implemented the new formula to adjust margins, offering higher margins to smaller petrol stations, particularly in far-flung areas with lower business volumes. Additionally, new dealers were granted higher margins for five years to help them recover their capital costs.

However, Rajakaruna emphasized that the CPC was open to further discussions with dealers. He said that the 3% dealer margin set in 2022 included taxes, which had not been the case in previous years.