News
Sajith signs MoU with several upcountry parties, promises to empower estate sector
By Rathindra Kuruwita
Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa yesterday emphasised that empowering the estate sector will be a top priority of a future SJB government.
Premadasa said so after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with several political parties representing the estate community. The event was attended by Democratic People’s Front (DPF) leader Mano Ganesan, National Union of Workers (NUW) leader Palani Thigambaram, and SJB MP M. Udayakumar.
“This document, consisting of seven chapters and 48 clauses, outlines the estate sector community’s aspirations to be fully integrated into the political, administrative, economic, and social fabric of Sri Lanka. It is not an agreement about the distribution of ministerial portfolios in an SJB administration,” said Premadasa.
Premadasa further pledged to establish a presidential task force dedicated to uplifting the estate sector community within 48 hours of his election as President. The Opposition leader also promised that under his administration, estate sector workers would be transformed into tea smallholders.
Speaking at the event, Ganesan said the estate sector community has been marginalized for 200 years. The agreement with the frontrunner in the coming election is a victory in itself, he said
Earlier in the day, Premadasa met with coconut cultivators and pledged to introduce a national policy for the coconut industry. The cultivators presented him with a policy framework they had developed, and Premadasa promised to establish a presidential task force to integrate all institutions involved in coconut cultivation.
“We currently earn around 740 million U.S. dollars from exporting coconut products, but we need to increase this to at least 2.5 billion dollars,” he stated.
Premadasa also noted that the country produces three billion coconuts annually, with a goal to boost production to 4.5 billion.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Transport, Highways, and Urban Development to award the contract for printing and supplying vehicle number plates for the Department of Motor Traffic for a period of five (5) years to M/s South Asian Technologies based on the recommendations of the High-Level Standing Procurement Committee and the Procurement Appeal Board.
The National Lotteries board has been established subject to the Finance Act No. 11 of 1963. Having identified the requirement of amending that act which was imposed around 62 years to cater the current requirements of the lottery market, the Cabinet of Mnisters at their meeting held on 14.02.2017 granted approval to draft a new bill for the purpose.
Accordingly, the National Lotteries Board has recognized further amendments to be performed to the fundamental draft bill prepared by the Legal Draftsmen.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for the
resolution furnished by the President in his office as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to direct the Legal Draftsmen to finalize the formulation of the draft bill for the National Lotteries Board as soon as possible including the proposed new amendments as well.
The Werahara office of the Department of Motor Traffic performs issuance of temporary driving licenses in this country based on the driving licenses issued overseas, and measures have been initiated to render the service from a service window of the Department of Motor Traffic established at the Bandaranayake International Airport from 03.08.2025.
The fees charged for issuing temporary driving licenses have been published in Motor Vehicles (Driving License Levy) Regulations No. 3 of 2022 prepared under the provisions of the Motor Traffic (Authority 203) Act.
But, as the fee of Rupees 2,000/- charged for the service is not sufficient, the requirement of amending the regulations has been recognized.
The regulations for introducing the revised fees have been published in the government extraordinary gazette
notification No. 2463/04 dated 17.11.2025. Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development to
submit the regulations to the Parliament for its concurrence.
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M/s South Asian Technologies awarded contract to supply vehicle number plates
A new act for National Lotteries Board to be introduced
Motor Vehicles (Driving License Levy) Regulations No. 3 of 2022 to be amended
Mrs. P. K. L. S. Panduwawala appointed to the post of Surveyor General
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