News
Weather wreaks havoc on vegetable cultivations
By Rathindra Kuruwita
Heavy rains in the upcountry have had a devastating impact on the supply of vegetables, Prashan Rajapakshe, Manager – Welisara economic Centre says.
Rajapaksa told the media yesterday that Nuwara Eliya had been experiencing torrential rains for three months almost continuously and that had reduced the quality and quantity of the agricultural produce as well as the extent of the land area under cultivation.
Rajapakshe said that low country vegetables were seasonal unlike the upcountry varieties. Therefore in certain times of the year the supply of low country produced vegetables dropped drastically and that had been the case for decades.
“Right now, there is a shortage of low country vegetables because this is the beginning of the planting season. Farmers have just started planting crops in the main low country farming areas and their produce will only come to the market after 15 January 2022,” he said.
There was also a drop in the supply of upcountry vegetables and it was mainly due to the continual rains in the Central Province, he said, adding that in the month of November, there had been only three days of sunshine in Nuwara Eliya.
“The first week of December was dry but it has been raining since. This affects vegetable production in many ways. If we take Nuwara Eliya for example, there are farms located on the sides of hills and in the lowlands. Due to the heavy rains a lot of cultivations on hill sides have been destroyed by landslides. The cultivations in the low-lying areas have been flooded. This has caused significant damages to the produce,” he said.
The lack of sunshine had also affected the quality and the volume of the vegetables, Rajapakshe said. Consumers judge upcountry vegetables by their colour and the lack of sunshine affected their colours, he said.
“The heavy rains are affecting the cultivation in the low country too. There are heavy rains in many agricultural hubs and the farming is going slow. Mahaweli H Zone, Puttalam, Embilipitiya are among the main zones of agriculture in the low country. If one area is affected by any reason there is a serious effect on the supply of vegetables,”Rajapakshe said.
In a swift search and rescue (SAR) operation, the Sri Lanka Navy on 22 Jun 2026 rendered assistance to a one-day fishing trawler that had failed to return to its intended destination.
Reportedly, the fishing trawler and its 02 crew members ran into trouble due to adverse weather conditions off the north coast of the island. The rescue mission was launched
immediately following an alert from the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources regarding the overdue trawler.
Responding to the distress call, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Colombo, coordinated the deployment of naval craft for the SAR operation.
During the operation, naval personnel located the distressed trawler and its 02 fishermen in the seas off the Analaitivu Island and they were brought to safety.
Maintaining a round-the-clock vigil, the Sri Lanka Navy, through the coordination of MRCC Colombo, remains constantly prepared to deploy assets and extend vital lifesaving assistance to the naval and fishing communities facing perils within the Sri
Lankan Search and Rescue Region.
The NPP government has not taken a final decision regarding filling of the vacancies in the judiciary.
A group of Opposition MPs, led by SJB leader Sajith Premadasa, on 12 June, requested Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickremeratne to take up the issue of judicial vacancies with President Dissanayake. Opposition sources said that there were four vacancies, each in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, and the inordinate delay had adversely affected the judiciary.
Government sources indicated that there was no change in the status quo as regards filling of vacancies. Referring to the government proposal to extend the retirement age of judges, authoritative sources said that no final decision had been taken yet.
SJB lawmaker Dayasiri Jayasekera told The Island that they would raise the issue in Parliament this week.
He said that the deliberate delay in making appointments to superior courts and the move to extend the retirement age couldn’t be taken separately.
The MP noted that the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, the Lawyers’ Collective, the Colombo High Court Lawyers’ Association, Colombo Magistrate’s Court Lawyers’ Association and the Bar Association of Badulla had opposed the government move.
There hadn’t been any public statements in support of the government move, MP Jayasekera said, urging the government to end uncertainty in the judiciary.
by Shamindra Ferdinando
SJB leader Sajith Premadasa has invited the UNP and other political parties to join his party. Premadasa, who is also the leader of the Opposition, has emphasised that the UNP and the SJB could reach a consensus on policies but his party wouldn’t, under any circumstances, accept whatever formula to share positions. Premadasa said so, speaking to the media over the weekend, after meeting the Mahanayaka Thera of the Malwatta Chapter of the Siyam Nikaya Most Venerable Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera.
A statement issued by the Opposition Leader’s Office quoted MP Premadasa as having extended an invitation to all political parties to give up extremist policies and join the SJB.
The SJB leader alleged that the NPP government feared facing elections and that was the reason for the inordinate delay in holding Provincial Council polls. PC polls were last held in 2012, 2013 and 2014, on a staggered basis. Premadasa said that if PC polls were held his party would definitely win the majority of PCs.Premadasa also urged the government to reduce electricity tariffs and fuel prices.
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