News
Sajith accuses govt. of hiding behind IMF and not having a strategy to overcome crisis
By Saman Indrajith
The government did not have a social contract with the people, Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa told Parliament on Monday (21).
The government had to tell people what its strategy for overcoming the crisis was and secure the cooperation of all stakeholders, he said.
“We are facing a serious crisis. We are not the only country to face a crisis. Many governments have successfully faced similar crises and they have done this by coming into a social contract with the people. The Ranil Wickremesinghe government has no contract with the people. The only contract the President has is the one with the 134 MPs that voted him into power,” he said.
Premadasa said that MPs have been debating the 2023 budged for days. However, the rationale behind the budget is not revealed to the MPs, the opposition leader said.
“The government has come to a staff level agreement with the IMF and all its policies are based on that. However, the MPs have not seen it. The Parliament is supposed to determine state finances, but this is not true. Everyone knows this. The government is also using the IMF agreement to fleece the people. If anyone criticizes the economic policy of the government, its leaders say that this is what the IMF wants, and that Sri Lanka will be in deep trouble without IMF funding. I don’t know about the IMF, but rich henchmen of the government are benefitting,” he said.
Premadasa added that the budget 2023 has many inconsistencies. It talks about encouraging exports while burdening exporters with taxes.
“The ministers talk about an environmentally friendly budget and about digitization. This is good but where is the money allocated for this? This is not different to the 2022 budget presented by Basil Rajapaksa. The average Sri Lankan is taxed while people involved in corruption are given tax breaks. The sugar scam had cost the state 45 billion rupees. The state is not taxing cigarettes. Officials don’t want to tax tobacco because they are getting money from big tobacco,” he said.
Basil Rajapaksa reduced the taxes on tobacco, Premadasa said. Under a Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) government those who had stolen state funds will be punished and these individuals will have to pay what they owe the state, he said.
“The government is trying to embezzle EPF money again by introducing an insurance scheme for the private sector. 20 percent of the money allocated for welfare will be used for administration work. We need to change this. How do we identify poor people and ensure that the money doesn’t go to cronies? I heard a professor saying that the best way to identify the poor is to look at people’s electricity consumption. This is a good method. We need to do a survey on poverty. We should have done this after COVID. If we had done research and taken steps, we wouldn’t be seeing this level of poverty,” he said.
In terms of the provisions of the Establishments Code on payment of festival advance to government officers, there’s a possibility of obtaining rupees 10,000/- as an advance for celebrating festivals of Theipongal, Ramazan, Sinhala and Hindu New Year, Wesak, Deepavali, and Christmas as well as for pilgrimages (Sri Paada pilgrimage and Hajj pilgrimage).
Provisions have been given to recover the said advance in 08 installments or if required earlier without interest. It has been proposed by the Budget 2026 to increase the said festival advance up to rupees 15,000/-.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by the Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local governments to revise the relevant provisions so that the festival advance can be increased up to rupees 15,000/- .
As per the approval given by the cabinet meeting held on 02-06-2025, action is being taken at present to offer the underutilized lands/properties of the Sri Lanka State Plantation Corporation, the Janatha Etate Development Board, and the Elkaduwa Plantation Company which are under the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure which have been identified under stage one to suitable investors.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Plantations and Community Infrastructure to provide following lands/properties on a lease basis to the suitable investors for optimal utilization following the prescribed procurement procedure.
• underutilized lands/properties identified under stage two owned by the Sri Lanka State Plantation Corporation, the Janatha Estate Development Board, and the Elkaduwa Plantation
Company,
• The Mawarala watte land and the Tea factory 40.48 hectares in extent, located in Matara District belonging to the Tea Shakthi Fund.
• The underutilized land of 1,541 hectares in extent of Kondachchi Estate is enjoyed by the Sri Lanka Cashew Corporation.
The drafting of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy has commenced with the objective of equitable distribution of the benefits of the fisheries industry and the sustainable management of fisheries and aquaculture. This policy has been updated from time to time according to current requirements. However, steps have not been taken to obtain the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers for that purpose.
According to the policy declaration of the present government, ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendor’ the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy has been redrafted, updating the aforementioned policy in line with the economic and development objectives of the government.
The recommendations of the Department of National Planning have been received for the drafted policy.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Marine
Resources to implement the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy, integrating it with other relevant policies.
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Trump to meet Venezuelan opposition leader Machado at the White House
Festival advance for government officers to be increased
Providing underutilized lands/properties to suitable investors for optimal utilization.
Implementation of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy
Expressions of Interest called to develop selected locations within the Pelawatte Sugar Factory premises
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