Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake media briefing

Japan is keen to assist Sri Lanka in its development due to country’s new political and economic reforms created by the present government, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said.

He said this is why Japan pledged a Yen 44 billion loan to Sri Lanka for various development projects.

Minister Karunanayake made these remarks at a media briefing in Colombo today.

Japan is also considering a Sakura bond issue to give US$ 1.2 billion at a low interest rates.

President Maithripala Sirisena also requested the Japanese Prime Minister to provide Sri Lanka with liquid natural gas instead of coal and this proposal is also under consideration. This assistance will be used for mega development projects including monorail instead of construction of houses and roads, other infrastructure facilities and welfare projects, he said.

“We have to repay the debts that the Rajapaksa regime took. We first must get out of the debt trap created by taking massive loans. Otherwise, the debt burden could further rise and the economy of the country would be in a trouble. We are getting the loans at very low interest rates and this is the difference between our government and the former regime,” Karunanayake said.

“Moreover the repayment period for the Japanese loan is 40 years and is at a very low interest rate of .01 percent. Today, people have to bear all these debt burden and we expect to save the people from the debt trap by developing this country on a systematic economic plan. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will present this plan by June and it will require least a couple of years for the development to take place,” the minister said.

Minister Karunanayake also said that the expenses for the expressway construction has come down by 21 percent since this government took office.

“This is because we have not received commissions. Even though the previous government spent Rs.10 million, we are now able to reduce the cost for Rs. 8 million. We can further reduce expenses by calling for a tender procedure in the future,” the minister said.

Elephants pose a threat in Kataragama - Buttala Road

A herd of seven elephants including a tusker pose a danger to motorists along the Kataragama - Buttala Road running through Yala National Park Zone 3 as they are in the habit of blocking the road in anticipation of fruits and other food items to satiate their hunger.

Motorists who offer them food are allowed to pass the area while others who are unaware of this elephant habit have to stop their journey briefly and wait in fear until the pachyderms leave the road and return to the jungle.

On May 28, a three wheeler toppled when a group travelling in it panicked when an elephant blocked the road expecting food causing the death of a 51-year- old mother traveling in it.

One of the elephants named Raja is a harmless animal as it had been domesticated by security forces personnel who manned bunkers in Yala by regularly offering it fruits and food items.

Raja of course is a different disposition and does not pose a threat to passers by.

It is reported that certain SLTB bus drivers manning buses running along this route pet the pachyderms by stopping over and allowing the animals to poke their trunks inside the buses to grab food offered by commuters.

This sometimes drives fear into other commuters who tremble at the sight of the animals.

A wildlife official said this practice of people offering food had made the elephants forget their cumbersome habit of foraging for food in the jungle and look for food the easy way.

Special legislation should be brought to prevent people from offering food items to the elephants on the way.

Security forces lift boycott on Eastern Province Chief Minister

The Tri-Forces have decided to revoke the decision to ban Eastern Province Chief Minister Nazeer Ahamed from entering any of their camps and not to attend any functions attended by him, the Army Spokesperson said.

The decision has been taken with effect from today (29), Spokesperson Brigadier Jayanath Jayaweera said.


The Tri-Forces had earlier decided not to attend any functions attended by the Chief Minister and has prohibited him from entering any of their camps.   

The Eastern Province Chief Minister had verbally abused a Navy officer in public at an event held last week during the opening ceremony of a science lab and computer unit at the Sampur Maha Vidyalayam.   

US Ambassador Atul Keshap was a guest at the event while Governor of the Eastern Province, Austin Fernando was the Chief Guest. Footage showed the Chief Minister verbally abusing the Navy officer on stage at the event after accusing him of failing to understand protocol.

Gorilla shot dead after 4-year-old boy gets into enclosure

A 4-year-old boy was lucky to be alive Saturday after falling into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo in a horrifying incident that ended with the 400-pound primate being shot dead.

The unidentified child crawled through a barrier and fell roughly 12 feet into the gorilla cage about 4 p.m., officials said.

A hulking 17-year-old male gorilla named Harambe grabbed the child and carried him into a moat. “It seemed very much by our professional team...to be a life-threatening situation,” Cincinnati Zoo President Thane Maynard said in an afternoon press conference.

The ape was dragging around the boy for about 10 minutes before the zoo's Dangerous Animal Response Team moved in and shot the endangered primate.

“It's a sad day all around," Maynard said. “They made a tough choice and they made the right choice. Because they saved that little boy's life. It could have been very bad.”

Maynard acknowledged that the gorilla wasn’t attacking the child but “all sorts of things could happen in a situation like that.”

The child was swiftly plucked out of the primate pen and rushed to an area hospital. He was initially reported to be in serious condition with non-life-threatening injuries.

Mattala Names As The World's Emptiest International Airport

Hardly anybody goes to Sri Lanka’s Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) because they have a flight. No, the air transport hub is currently a daily flight or two away from being completely defunct, and the people who do go there tend to be tourists making a side trip from the nearby wildlife parks to see the stunning, fully modern airport in the middle of the jungle for themselves.

I arrived at HRI, which is located in Sri Lanka’s southern Hambantota district, in the mid-morning to find a group of tourists huddle together in front of its passenger terminal. I asked them why they wanted to visit an empty airport.

“It is a really beautiful building,” one of them told me matter-of-factly.

This airport is a landmark, a sign of progress in this region of Sri Lanka, which is located in a forested area a 250 kilometer drive from Colombo. The airport has a 12,000 square meter terminal building, 12 check-in counters, two gates, a runway long enough to handle the largest commercial jets, and capacity for one million passengers per year.

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Eastern Province Chief Minister condemns boycott by tri- forces

In a letter, Eastern Province Chief Minister Nazeer Ahamed condemned the decision taken by the tri- forces to boycott events he attended.

The CM went on to say the decision made by the forces was political, whose leaders appeared to have joined hands to look at the issue from the limited perspective of protecting the offenders within their ranks and not from the broader prospect of establishing truth and justice.

“In any event, the issue has broader implications. It would be in the best interest of the country for the responsible officers to apologise,” the letter read.

The CM also said he would not hesitate to express his unequivocal regret and apologies to all those who were present, including the staff and students of the school, the foreign dignitary and the concerned naval officer for his strong but justifiable reaction.

Full letter

Sampur Maha Vidyalaya is a school under the Eastern Provincial Council. It is not a national school.

A well- known business organisation in Colombo had volunteered through the Sri Lanka Navy to donate computers and other items to the school. In appreciation of this good gesture, in my capacity as the Chief Minister of the Eastern Province, I attended the function held at the school. The Hon. Minister of Education of the Eastern Province Hon. Thandayuthapani also attended the function. The function was organised by the school.

As I arrived at the function, the Hon. Governor’s name and the name of HE Atul Keshap, the Ambassador of the USA in Sri Lanka were announced by the compeer who was the English teacher of the school. My name or the name of the Minister of Education of the province was not announced, though both of us had arrived. The Hon. Governor perhaps, noticing the lapse, signaled me to come up to the stage.

When I came up on stage, a naval officer who was acting as the ‘master of ceremonies’, physically obstructed me from proceeding to take my place on the stage. It may be due to the fact that he was trying to stop the media personnel getting on to the stage. His grossly offensive conduct, an offence under the Penal Code, shocked me. I censured him, questioning him as to who he was to stop me. I also blamed the Hon. Governor for not directing the officials to follow proper protocol. I felt insulted in the presence of a foreign dignitary and a large public gathering.

Though it was clearly a usurpation of the functions of the Eastern Provincial Council and in violation of the country’s Constitution, I attended the function without raising any issue, out of respect to Your Excellencies and the foreign guest in attendance in the province of which I happened to be the Chief Minister.

I also understand that the Tri-Forces have today decided to boycott functions attended by me even before Your Excellency the President had looked into the matter. I condemn this as a political decision by the forces whose leaders appear to have joined hands to look at the issue from the limited perspective of protecting the offenders within their ranks and not from the broader prospect of establishing truth and justice.

In any event, the issue has broader implications. It would be in the best interest of the country for the responsible officers to apologise. I would not hesitate to express my unequivocal regret and apologies to all those who were present, including the staff and students of the school, the foreign dignitary and the concerned naval officer for my strong but justifiable reaction.

I wish to leave any further steps in this regard in the hands of Your Excellencies.

Rangana Herath completes 300 wickets in Test Cricket

Rangana Herath has been the backbone of Sri Lanka’s spin bowling after the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan  from International Cricket. Herath has reached 300 wickets now in Tests with the wicket of Steven Finn on Day 2 of second Test.

It took him 29 overs to take a wicket in this innings. Herath with the wicket of Alex Hales on day 2 of the first Test match between Sri Lanka and England, went past Derek Underwood’s record for second-most wickets in Test Cricket by a left-arm spinner after Daniel Vettori.

Before this match Herath had 299 wickets under his belt. He started posing problems for the English batsmen from the first ball he bowled in 20th over of first innings. he remianed wicketless at the end of the Day of 2nd Test. He gave 74 runs in his 24 overs at Stumps.

Herath was the only impressive bowler in their practice match against Leicestershire, taking two wickets at an economy rate of 1.63. Not only he stopped the flow of runs but created pressure on the batsman to trick the batsman into making a mistake. He also had an adventure with the bat, scoring a fifty when Sri Lankan middle had a crisis situation against the home team. He scored 55 runs, sharing a 174 run stand for eighth wicket with Dasun Shanaka.

Rangana is the only spin bowler who has managed to play for Sri Lanka regularly, cementing his berth in the side.  He has taken 300 wickets in 69 matches in a career span of 16 years which is quite similar to that of Derek Underwood. He has a crucial role to play in this tournament as England batsmen tend to struggle against spin bowling.

He is the senior most bowler in the Sri Lankan side and has the weight of guiding the youngsters to take wickets on overseas pitches. With the retirement of Sri Lanaka’s legends Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and injured Lasith Malinga. Sri Lanka are now in  a rebuilding face after a humiliating T20 Asia Cup and T20 World Cup. They will be seeing this series as an opportunity to regroup and give some exposure to the youngsters and future of Sri Lankan Cricket. (cricketcountry)

Sri Lanka Vehicle prices increase again

Prices of motor vehicles with a cylinder capacity between 1000 cc and 1500 cc and three-wheelers have risen as a result of the increase in the Unit Rate Tax from midnight yesterday, the Vehicle Importers Association of Sri Lanka (VIASL) said today. 

The VIASL President Indika Sampath Merenchige said the Unit Rate Tax has increased from Rs.2.6 million to Rs.3 million resulting in the price of a Toyota Prius increasing from Rs.3.3 million to Rs.7.7 million and would likely discourage people from importing Japanese vehicles in the future. 

“This is the highest tax increase on vehicles in recent history. The excise duty which was maintained at a lower level during the past three weeks has also been increased,” Mr. Merenchige said. 

The prices of electric vehicles will be increased according to its battery capacity while the Customs duty on electric vehicles with battery capacity of 100KW has been reduced.   

As such the Customs duty of Rs.2.9 million on a Nissan Leaf electric vehicle would be reduced to Rs.1.7 million. Tax on vehicles such as lorries, buses and vans have not been increased. “If this practice continues, only vehicles below 1000cc engine capacity will be imported to the country in the future.  

The imports of motor vehicles with cylinder capacity between 1000cc and 1500cc would be reduced by 85 per cent,” Mr. Merenchige said. Meanwhile, Chairman of Lanka Vehicle Importers' Association Mahinda Sarathchandra said prices of vehicles with cylinder capacity exceeding 1599cc (1600cc) would be increased because of the newly introduced Transected Value or Unit Rate Tax according to the Extraordinary Gazette Notification issued yesterday. He said the tax on a Nissan X-trail which is currently taxed at Rs.4 million would increase to Rs. 8 million, a two-fold increase in the price. A Mazda Axela now costing Rs.3.8million would rise to Rs.8 million. 

Petrol Prado 150 was increased by Rs.5 million, a Land Cruiser 202 was increased by Rs.10 million. “This price increase is an unusual increase by the government and it is unfair to have such vehicle price increases again in a situation where vehicle prices increased repeatedly in a short time, Mr. Sarathchandra said. (Chaturanga Pradeep)