Connect with us

News

SJB blames country’s woes on govt. lacking credibility here and abroad

Published

on

Foreign assistance to overcome Sri Lanka’s financial crisis will not be available as the international community has no trust in incumbent government, says the main opposition SJB.

Addressing the media at the Opposition Leader’s office in Colombo recently, Chief Opposition Whip and Kandy District SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella said that international community would not extend any support to the government which has no mandate from the people. “They do not trust this government. How could one expect foreigners to trust this government when Lankans living abroad do not trust it? Even during the times of war we received eight billion US dollars per year as remittances from Lankans working abroad. Today this amount is less than one billion US dollars because they know that money sent home is misappropriated by this government. Since our own Lankans abroad do not trust this government. Will foreigners trust it,” Kiriella queried.

He said that any government ruling this country needs to find at least 12 billion US dollars. “We need six billion US dollars to pay for food, medicine and such other needs, and six more billions of USD to pay the loan installments. This is the situation up to 2025. Any ruler has to find that amount. We have been asking the government in parliament how it would find this amount but never got an answer,” Kiriella said.

SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara and MP Harshana Rajakaruna also addressed the briefing.



Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

News

PNS Shahjahan departs after successful naval exercise

Published

on

By

The Pakistan Naval Ship (PNS) Shahjahan which arrived in Colombo on 02nd June 2023 on a two-day official visit, departed the island on 04th June 2023.

 

Continue Reading

News

EC opposes govt. move to appoint its henchmen to monitor local councils

Published

on

By Priyan de Silva

The Election Commission (ECSL) has opposed a move by the government to appoint representatives of the Chairpersons of the Regional Development Committee to monitor local government institutions.

ECSL Chairman Nimal G. Punchihewa told The Island that the government had informed the ECSL of its plan to appoint representatives of the Chairpersons of the Regional Development Committee to monitor the local government bodies and the ECSL had decided to write to the Ministry of Local Government opposing the move, he said. A Chairman of a regional development committee ESD a representative of a particular political party and it would be unfair by other parties for such appointments to be made, the EC Chairman said.

Punchihewa said that the administration of local government institutions could be done through Municipal Commissioners and Divisional Secretaries.Many political parties had complained against the government move, he said.

Continue Reading

News

JVP says govt. has enough funds for elections

Published

on

By Saman Indrajith

The JVP would file a fresh application before the Supreme Court against the government for not holding the local council polls, JVP MP Vijitha Herath said yesterday.Addressing the media at the party headquarters in Pelawatte, Herath said that his party had ascertained fresh information by invoking the Right to Information Act about the funds needed for the holding of the elections and his party would file another fundamental rights case against those responsible for conducting elections.

“The LG polls were to be held on 09 March. They were postponed until 25 April, and later they were put off indefinitely. The President appoints Governors to the provinces and the local councils are under them. Now, he says no party commands the support of 50 percent of voters.

Is this reason why he is not holding elections? His claim that there are no funds for elections is not acceptable. The Election Commission (EC) has, in a letter to the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, asked for Rs 1,100 million in installments for conducting local government elections. The Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, on 07 March, informed

the EC that the latter’s request had been referred to the Minister of Finance on the same day. But so far the money has not been released. As per a report released by the Treasury, the government revenue was Rs 177,900 million in January this year alone. Of that amount, Rs 156,760 was allocated to government institutions. The Treasury has Rs 21,410 million. In February, the government revenue was at Rs. 271,750 million and of that Rs. 208,620 million was spent. The balance was Rs 63,130 million. In January and February, the Treasury had Rs 84,270 million. These figures have been officially confirmed by a Deputy Treasury Secretary. The EC is seeking only Rs 2,460 million for elections. So, the claim that there is no money for elections is false as per official records. We will submit this information to the Supreme Court when we file a fresh application. We will prove that the government has lied to people,” Herath said.

Continue Reading

Trending