A cross-party delegation from the US House of Representatives met with the Tamil National Alliance on Thursday during a visit to Sri Lanka. The delegation which included the Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and Congressman Henry Cuellar of Texas, were accompanied by the US ambassador to the island, Atul Keshap, and met with the leader of the TNA, R Sampanthan and the TNA spokesperson and MP, M A Sumanthiran. They also met with Sri Lanka's prime minister, president and Spekaer of Parliament. "This visit demonstrates the strong...
The Asian Human Rights Commission in a statement on Thursday urged action over the death of a Tamil boy who was killed during a police chase by Sri Lanka's Special Task Force. "The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information about Mr. Sathasivam Madisam of Karadiyanaru in the Batticaloa District," the AHRC said in its statement. "On 24 July, Sathasivam along with his brother and several other friends went to the Mundeniyaru Lagoon to swim. While they were in the water, they observed large numbers of STF officers with weapons approaching the area. All the boys were frightened. The...
Sri Lankan military officers and students from the Sri Lanka Defense Service Command are currently visiting Rwanda for a two week 'study tour'. The team was welcomed by the Rwanda Defense Forces' air force chief of staff, Brigadier General Charles Karamba. "Both countries have undergone periods of calamities," Sri Lanka's Colonel Ekanayake was quoted by Colombo Page as saying. "We heard that Rwanda is progressing well in the process of reconciliation and rebuilding and thought of getting some experience from her. It's a great thing for us as we are also engaging in rebuilding our nation and...
Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the United States praised relations between the two governments, stating that they had reached “unprecedented heights”, as he leaves his post to take up a new assignment as the Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “The list of Sri Lanka’s landmark achievements are too many to mention,” said Prasad Kariyawasam at a farewell event held in Washington DC. Since Sri Lanka’s presidential election in January 2015, Mr Kariyawasam said the government had “engendered a path breaking revival of our bilateral relations, and our partnership has now reached unprecedented...
Sri Lanka's minister of provincial councils and local government, Faiszer Musthapha said that provincial council elections would all be held on one day, which would be next year at the earliest. Three provincial councils elections, including that in the Eastern province were due to be held this October. "Terms of some of the Councils will end this year, while for some PCs the terms will end in 2019," Mr Musthapha was quoted by Ceylon Today as saying. "The Government is planning to hold all the elections on one day when the tenures of all the PCs have expired," he added. The postponement of...
The World Bank Group will partner with Sri Lanka’s Bank of Ceylon to set up a US $100 million financing structure to allow for an increase in lending for renewable energy projects in Sri Lanka, reports Colombo Page. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a constituent member of the World Bank Group, will provide a 7 year finance deal to the Bank of Ceylon to support the expansion of conventional and non-conventional renewable energy projects. “IFC continues to innovate through our partnership with Commercial Bank by working together on our shared goals of clean, sustainable and...
Sri Lanka’s Minister of Justice and Buddha Sasana Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe vowed to regain ownership of the recently leased Hambantota Port. In an interview with the Sinhala version of Daily Mirror.lk , Mr Rajapashe said the leasing of the port to China was wrong and stressed his commitment to ensure that Sri Lanka’s people regain ownership of the port. The minister alleged that the sale of the Hambantota port would also reduce docking at Colombo’s port and allow China to extract further wealth from Sri Lanka. Speaking the paper he added that even I he lost his ministerial post he would continue...
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ravi Karunayake resigned from his portfolio on Thursday, after being dogged by allegations of corruption. Mr Karunayake stepped down from his post, however, maintained his innocence and denied all allegations against him. "I am not guilty of any of the allegations, but I am resigning my portfolio to ensure that opponents are not able to destabilise our unity government," he said . "I will not allow such a coup to topple our government. I resign with pride ... setting an example." “I am resigning not with any guilt but with pride.” He went on to state that he would...
Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena is to issue 10,000 deeds to settlers this week under the Mahaweli development project, a controversial scheme that Tamils have criticised as Sinhala colonisation. According to the official President’s Media Division , deeds are to be issued to settlers in Walawa zone and Mahaweli ‘’H’’ Zone in ceremonies on Friday and Saturday. The project, which began under the UNP government of 1977, was one of many state-sponsored colonisation projects that took place in the Tamil North-East and has seen fierce criticism from locals. Mr Sirisena has previously...
Sri Lanka’s president and prime minister took part in a Buddhist ceremony last week, presenting religious items to a senior Buddhist monk who has been appointed head of the Amarapura Nikaya order.