A large procession has commenced on foot from the St. Sebastian’s church in Katuwapitiya to mark 04 years since the brutal Easter Sunday bombings.

The procession had commenced after a special evening mass at 7.00pm with a large number of victims in attendance.

The procession is heading towards the St. Anthony’s shrine in Kochchikade.

Several dansels have also been organised to held in the route of the procession, which hopes to reach the St. Anthony’s shrine by 8.00am tomorrow (21).

The Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Gunadasa Samarasinghe has confirmed that it was not the Chinese government but a private Chinese company that had requested to import 100,000 toque macaque monkeys from Sri Lanka.

Speaking to a radio programme at the Government Information Department, Samarasinghe said that the privately-owned animal breeding Chinese company, connected to zoological gardens, had made this request.

He has also said that it has not been requested to send 100,000 toque macaque monkeys at one go.

Although we cannot agree immediately, we are compelled to consider this as the agriculture ministry due to the vast crop damages caused by these monkeys, he added.

He also emphasised that they will not be taken from conserved areas. The focus will be only in the cultivation areas,” Samarasinghe added.

Initial reports of this plan caused outrage among environmentalists and general public.

Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy in Sri Lanka on Wednesday issued a clarification with regard to recent media reports claiming that a 100,000 Toque macaque monkeys in Sri Lanka are to sent to China.

Related News :

China clarifies on Toque macaque issue

Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera says the highest electricity demand in recent times was recorded yesterday (19).

According to the Minister, net generation of a total of 49.53 GWh was required yesterday.