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Around 75 percent of small and medium scale rice mills had been closed down, W.H. Gamini, Tissamaharama Rice Producers Association Chairman, told The Island on Friday.
“Now, we have to pay an additional 2.5 percent social security tax. We have decided to stop buying paddy until we are exempted from this tax,” he said.
Gamini also said that the government had to look into policies that discourage small and medium scale rice mills while encouraging a monopoly by large rice mills.
“Around 60 percent of the rice consumed by Sri Lankans is produced by small and medium scale rice mills. However, we don’t have the political or financial muscle that the big guys have. With the new social security levy we have to pay an extra five rupees to the government from each kilo of rice we produce. We have to pay another five rupees when we release the rice to the market. We can’t increase the price of rice. If this continues 200,000 people will lose jobs,” he said. Meanwhile, Polonnaruwa district Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) MP Kins Nelson said that large scale rice millers are now buying paddy, at a low price, as small scale mills have reduced purchasing, and the government has ceased purchasing paddy completely.
“The farmers are also in trouble. They don’t know what the price of fertiliser will be. They don’t know if they will get enough fuel. Those who farm have their harvest bought off cheaply by a few big players. When the harvesting time came, we asked the government to buy a kilo of paddy at 150 rupees. Some henchmen of big rice mill owners said if this was done the kilo of rice would be sold at 300 rupees. Guess what, a kilo of rice is around 300 rupees while farmers get a pittance,” he said.
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The SJB yesterday (06) alleged that the cash-strapped Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) had declined to answer questions it posed in keeping with the Right to Information (RTI) Act.Colombo District SJB lawmaker Mujibur Rahuman said that the CPC move was meant to suppress continuing waste, corruption, irregularities and mismanagement at every level.
Pointing out that the RTI Act had come into effect on 03 Feb., 2017, the former UNPer accused Petroleum Minister Kanchana Wijesekera and the top management of the CPC of blocking the disclosure of information.
Rahuman emphasised that President Ranil Wickremesinghe couldn’t absolve himself of the responsibility for the actions of his ministers. Responding to another query, MP Rahuman said that he submitted the application on Sept 26, 2022, seeking information pertaining to procurement of relatively low quality crude oil above the market price at the time the country was seeking IMF intervention to stabilize the situation.
The top SJB spokesperson said that the CPC’s RTI officer wouldn’t have declined to disclose information without being directed to do so. “We’ll raise this issue in Parliament,” MP Rahuman said, adding that the CPC was silent on massive losses suffered as a result of the government’s failure to unload fuel carriers. The MP alleged that the cash-strapped government had to pay USD millions as demurrage for the delay in unloading shiploads of diesel and petrol.
In spite of repeated assurances given in Parliament and outside, the situation continued to deteriorate, MP Rahuman alleged, pointing out irregularities and mismanagement couldn’t be suppressed.
The MP said that Parliament on Oct. 18 passed the Petroleum Product (Special Provisions) Bill with amendments. The Bill received the backing of 77 members whereas 17 voted against. The new law was meant to pave the way for new entrants to the market, the MP, urging the government to address the issues at hand.The MP said that the Supreme Court recently laid down two fundamental rights applications filed by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) requesting the Court to direct the government to work out short and long term plans to ensure the supply of essentials, including fuel, electricity, gas, medicine and food.
The SJB official said that the SC was responding to a request made by the BASL. Referring to the reportage of the BASL appeal to the SC, MP Rahuman said that further action was suspended as the petitioner felt the improvement of the situation. “Of course, the BASL is free to suspend action. There cannot be any issue over that. However, the supplies of essentials remain disorganized for want of foreign exchange, the MP said, alleging that a colossal amount of funds had been wasted by compensating shipping lines for delays in unloading fuel shipments.
BASL President Saliya Peiris, PC, told The Island that the FH petitions were laid, not withdrawn. “Our Counsel felt that at the moment there is nothing the Court can do further. It can be revived again.”
MP Rahuman said that though the government suspended loan repayments several months ago claiming the Treasury lacked the wherewithal to meet the obligations, corruption was continuing unabated. The petroleum sector remained utterly corrupt, the MP said, alleging that those who were supposed to protect the interests of the hapless public make massive profits at their expense.
Commenting on President Ranil Wickremesinghe recently finding fault with Parliament for delay in implementing proposals for far reaching systemic changes, MP Rahuman stressed that the reappraisal of the executive, legislature and judiciary was required. It wouldn’t be fair to hold Parliament accountable for such delays without taking into consideration other factors, the MP said.
SYDNEY NOVEMBER 06, 2022 (PTI): Sri Lanka cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka, who was with the national squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia, has been arrested on charges of sexual assault, team sources said on Sunday.It has been learnt that the 31-year-old Gunathilaka was arrested and taken to Sydney City police station in the wee hours of Sunday following an investigation into an alleged sexual assault of a woman on November 2.
“Danushka Gunathilaka has been arrested for an alleged rape. The Sri Lankan team has left Australia without him,” a source close to the Sri Lankan team told PTI.
The Sri Lankan team was eliminated from the tournament after losing to England on Saturday.The left-handed batter played against Namibia in the first round match of the ongoing T20 World Cup and was out for a duck. Later, he was ruled out of the tournament due to an injury even as the team qualified for the Super 12 stage. The Lankan team finished fourth in Group 1.
The New South Wales police, on its website, has also mentioned about the arrest of an unnamed Sri Lankan national.
“Sex Crimes Squad detectives have charged a Sri Lankan national following an investigation into the alleged sexual assault of a woman in Sydney’s east last week,” the report said.According to details on the wesbite, a 29-year-old woman had been sexually assaulted at a residence in Rose Bay earlier this week.
“The woman met with the man after communicating with him for a number of days via an online dating application; it’s alleged he then sexually assaulted her on the evening of Wednesday 2 November 2022.
“As part of ongoing investigations, a crime scene examination was undertaken by specialist police at an address in Rose Bay yesterday. Following further inquiries, a 31-year-old man was arrested at a hotel on Sussex Street, Sydney, shortly before 1am today (Sunday 6 November 2022),” the report added.
Sri Lanka Cricket confirmed that it was notified by the ICC that player Danushka Gunathilaka has been arrested on the allegations of sexual assault of a woman in Sydney, and Gunathilaka is due to appear in court on Monday (7).SLC will closely monitor the proceedings in court and, in consultation with the ICC, will expeditiously initiate a thorough inquiry into the matter and take stern action against the player if found guilty.
At least 5.7 million people, or 26 percent of the population in Sri Lanka, require humanitarian assistance, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has said in a report.The IFRC Needs Assessment Report for October 2022 warned that without immediate humanitarian assistance, and ‘upstream’ interventions to address the fragility of systems, services and facilities, this number will multiply, and the consequences will deepen.
Food security and livelihoods have suffered directly because of the economic crisis, while access and availability of basic services, such as education and healthcare, including hospital maternity care, and sexual and reproductive health services have been disrupted. Notably, in addition to the impact on education, child protection risks have risen. A serious decline in domestic agricultural output, brought on by an unsuccessful agricultural transition to organic farming, has deepened the crisis.
Unless critically damaged systems, services and facilities (crucially, the agriculture and fishing, health and social care, and education sectors) are urgently restored, it is likely that those who are already vulnerable will be pushed further down a pathway towards destitution. Householders and families across the country are already employing negative coping strategies, such as reducing meals, postponing medical care, taking children out of school and employing children to provide income, and depleting and selling their assets. People are now more often becoming the victims or perpetrators of crime and theft, people are migrating in search of employment, human trafficking is said to have increased, and families are breaking up.
At the community and family level, the macroeconomic collapse in Sri Lanka has translated into a complex humanitarian emergency, as millions of people are increasingly suffering, with severe shortages of food, fuel, cooking gas, medicine and other essentials
The assessment found that household purchasing power is constrained by food inflation and that disruptions to livelihoods and food insecurity have increased, raising worries about malnutrition. People are suffering from poorer health because the healthcare system has become compromised. Household economic stresses have resulted in rising concerns over basic needs and protection for the most vulnerable (such as those already living below the poverty line, people with disability, and marginalised people).
The assessment report includes an analysis and recommendations based on a face-to-face household-level survey of 2,871 respondents in 11 districts across nine provinces, a separate case study of 300 households from 10 estates in Nuwara Eliya, 24 focus group discussions (FGDs), 15 key informant interviews (KIIs), and an anticipatory analysis, framed by extensive secondary data.
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