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.
By Akitha Perera
Discussions between the SJB and the UNP on forming a united front for the upcoming general election had collapsed due to the actions of a senior UNP member, SJB Chairman Imthiaz Bakeer Markar. said.
Markar told The Island that initial talks between the two parties had been progressing smoothly until the intervention of a prominent UNP figure.
The early negotiations were headed by SJB General Secretary Ranjith Maddumabandara and UNP Deputy Leader Ruwan Wijewardene. “At one point, I thought the alliance was almost finalised. However, the involvement of the senior UNP member completely derailed the discussions,” Markar said.
The SJB proposed that Wijewardene assume the UNP leadership and Ranil Wickremesinghe be appointed a senior leader. “Wickremesinghe was opposed to this arrangement,” Markar added.
Former Governor Navin Dissanayake revealed on 27 September that MPs who had supported Wickremesinghe in the presidential election had decided to back SJB leader Sajith Premadasa as the prime ministerial candidate.
“At that stage, we thought we were close to an agreement. However, during last few days, the talks have deteriorated, and it now seems unlikely that we will contest the election together,” Markar said.
Nominations for the general election begins today (04) at 22 district election offices across the country with submissions being accepted until noon on 11 October.
By Rathindra Kuruwita
There are between 15,000 and 30,000 street children in the country, according to the last study on the subject, Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa, Chairman of the Professional Forum of Physicians on Medical and Civil Rights, has said.
Speaking at a press conference in Colombo, on Thursday, he said the majority of those children tended to gather near places of worship and large business areas.
Dr. Sanjeewa expressed concern over the vulnerability of the street children, noting that they were often subjected to abuse and easily drawn into transporting narcotics. A significant number also ended up working as sex workers or beggars. He highlighted that many female child sex workers became underage mothers.
Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr. S. Jaishankar will pay an official visit to Sri Lanka today and meet the Sri Lankan leadership.
A communique issued by the External Affairs Ministry of India said that in keeping with India’s Neighbourhood First Policy and SAGAR outlook, the visit underlines the shared commitment of the two countries to further deepen the longstanding partnership for mutual benefit.
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