NEWS
New post for Chandima Weerakkody
MP Chandima Weerakkody has been appointed as the President of the Sri Lanka-United Kingdom Parliamentary Friendship Association on Aug. 08.
The meeting to elect office bearers for the Sri Lanka – United Kingdom Parliamentary Friendship Association of the Ninth Parliament was held at the Parliament under the chairmanship of Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana.
Acting High Commissioner of United Kingdom in Sri Lanka Mrs. Lisa Whanstall was present at the meeting as the Chief Guest. The Deputy Speaker – Ajith Rajapakse, Ministers and Members of Parliament and the Secretary General of the Parliament Ms. Kushani Rohanadeera were also present.
State Minister – Diana Gamage as well as MPs Muszhaaraff and Ashok Abeysinghe were appointed as the Vice Presidents of the Friendship Association. MP M. A. Sumanthiran and MP Harshana Rajakaruna, were appointed as Secretary and Assistant Secretary respectively, while MP Sagara Kariyawasam was appointed as Treasurer.
Speaking at this occasion, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana said that he would like to express his gratitude for all the support given to Sri Lanka through the bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom for seven decades. Furthermore, he also expressed gratitude for providing opportunities for Members of Parliament and Parliamentary staff through seminars, workshops and study tours through the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD).
Addressing those present the Acting High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Sri Lanka, Mrs. Lisa Whanstall said that the United Kingdom is happy to support Sri Lanka through multilateral organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the United Nations to overcome the economic crisis.
Also, she added that she is ready to work with other lenders and the Government of Sri Lanka to restore debt sustainability.
Speaking, MP Chandima Weerakkody expressed his gratitude for appointing him as president. He also stated that through this he hopes to further strengthen and develop the relations between the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka.
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The Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) drew attention to the non-payment of pensions on behalf of a group of retired officers of the Sri Lanka Samurdhi Authority.
This was discussed when the Committee on Public Accounts Chaired by State Minister Hon. Lasantha Alagiyawanna met in Parliament recently (09) to discuss the current status of the directives issued by the Ministry of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment, and the Department of Samurdhi Development on 26.05.2023.
When the COPA met on 26.05.2023, there was a long discussion regarding the non-payment of pension for a group of officers entitled to pension from the date of appointment of the Sri Lanka Samurdhi Authority and the recommendation given on the said date was examined. However, the Members of Parliament who were present pointed out that it is observed that there has not been enough resolution regarding those recommendations. The Members of Parliament also pointed out that the administrative issues of the Department of Samurdhi Development are being observed.
Furthermore, COPA also questioned the non-implementation of the decision given by the court regarding the payment of pension. Thus, when the Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration asked the Attorney General in this regard, the officials present said that the Attorney General had given instructions to implement the court order.
The COPA Chair said that the matter can be dealt with according to the instructions of the Attorney General. Accordingly, he discussed with the Minister in charge in this regard, and recommended that the reply be sent to COPA before September 01, 2023.Furthermore, regarding the issue related to the approved number of employees in this department, the COPA Chair has instructed the Department of Management Services to send a decision to the Ministry Secretary before the 16th of this month.
Furthermore, COPA also advised the officers present to focus on the performance of the tasks assigned to Samurdhi officers and to give specific work targets. Also, the COPA Chair instructed the officers present to give targets for Samurdhi officers at the regional and local levels and prepare a plan to monitor and evaluate the performance of the work on a timely basis.
Furthermore, there was a discussion on how to jointly implement Aswasuma program and Samurdhi program. It was mentioned that subsidy for low-income earners will be done through Aswasuma program and empowerment of these low-income earners will be done through Samurdhi program. As a result, COPA pointed out the need for both these programs to be implemented jointly.
Apart from this, the role of Samurdhi Banks and considering the possibility of disbursement of insurance subsidy through Samurdhi Banks was also discussed.
The Scanner machines placed at the departure section of the Bandaranaike International Airport have been removed to expedite passenger movement, a senior official of the Airport said today.
Mr H. S. Hettiarachchi Head of Airport Management at Airport & Aviation Services Sri Lanka said that as the number of passengers departing the country was on the rise the measure has been taken.
He said daily more than 15,000 passengers including tourists were leaving the country daily and the machines were removed so that the movements of the passengers could be expedited.
He said that in some other foreign countries too the passengers are able to directly reach the counter for checking.
Mr Hettiaarachchi said earlier due to security measures the scanner machines were required.
Another official said that with the removal of the scanner machines the passengers have been seen moving faster.
(sundaytimes.lk)
The Cabinet has rejected a decision to lease Channel Eye owned by Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC), to the Lyca Group.
The relevant decision had been taken by current Chairman of the SLRC – Dr. Prasad Samasinghe.
Although both parties had entered into an agreement in late July for the handover, no prior permission had been taken from either the SLRC Director Board or the Ministry of Mass Communication.
In this backdrop, Mass Media Minister Bandhula Gunawardena had tabled a special cabinet paper before the cabinet of ministers this morning (Aug. 14), to secure covering approval for the agreement, which had been strongly rejected, reports say.It is also said that this measure, which had been carried out without any transparency, had been severely criticized by several members of the cabinet including Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.
The board of directors including the former chairman had proposed to lease the loss ridden ‘Channel Eye’ to a private investor. Accordingly, a public notice request for EOIs for the selection of a Broadcast partner was published on February 03.
With a 17 February closing date, two leading communication institutions forwarded bids.
However, the newly appointed SLRC Chairman had recently taken measures to lease the channel to Lyca Group even without informing the two bidding companies.
It is said that he had already obtained a Rs. 75 million advance payment which he had used to pay off half of the overdue electricity payment of the SLRC.
The public notice published on Feb 03 is as follows :
(Source : theleader.lk)
