Colombo city garbage to Karadiyana

The army backed by villagers continued their search for bodies around the Meethotamulla garbage dump as the death toll exceeded 30 with a similar number feared missing, officials said.

As heavy machinery was being used to clear up the area villagers expressed concern that the search parties would not be able to account for all the bodies of those who were buried after the collapse of the garbage dump on Friday.

Authorities have so far relocated some 450 families in schools and other temporary shelters as some 145 houses have been damaged in the incident.

With the government decision to halt dumping of garbage in Meethotamulla, the Colombo Municipal Council obtained a court order to dump the garbage at the Karadiyana, Piliyandala.

Meanwhile, the government was assessing the compensation payments for the affected families yesterday after contradictory claims were made about the compensation to be paid.

The Finance Ministry in a statement initially said they were to pay Rs 100,000 compensation in the event of a death,  but later Minister of Environment and Disaster Management Anura Priyadharshana Yapa said they were still finalizing the amount to be paid.

He explained that the Rs 100,000 was an insurance payment for which the victims families will be entitled in any case.

The Finance Ministry later corrected itself.

Kottikawatte residents launch protest over garbage dumping

Kottikawatte residents have launched a protest against the dumping of garbage in the area, local media reported.

According to reports, Colombo-Avissawella Road is currently obstructed as a result of the protest. The move to dump garbage from Colombo in Kotikawatte and other sites comes in the wake of the Meethotamulla tragedy.

The death toll from the accident has killed and as many as 30 and still more missing after a section of the Meethotamulla garbage dump collapsed on residents on Friday (April 14).

Bandaranayake Says Sri Lanka war widows face sexual exploitation

Tamil women who survived Sri Lanka's civil war now face widespread sexual exploitation by officials in their own community as well as from the army, the head of an ethnic reconciliation body said Wednesday.

Former president Chandrika Kumaratunga, the chairwoman of the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation, said women who were widowed during the 37-year conflict were among the victims of abuse by officials who frequently demand sexual favours just to carry out routine paperwork.

“There is a lot of sexual abuse still going on by officials, even Tamil officials and even at lower levels, the grama sevakas (village officials),” she told Sri Lanka's Foreign Correspondents' Association.

“Even to sign a document, they abuse the women and of course some people in the (armed) forces” continue to commit sexual abuse, she said.

Kumaratunga, who lost an eye in a Tamil Tiger suicide bombing when she was president at the height of the conflict, said the best way to make women less vulnerable was to improve their livelihoods.

“We feel that when women have livelihoods, they will be empowered... they feel safer and they don't have to be exploited,” she said.

Kumaratunga said many women had been traumatised as a result of the sexual abuse and needed psychological support but the authorities lacked qualified experts to treat them.

“We cannot bring counsellors from abroad because they won't know the language,” she said.

Many women, particularly widows, have struggled in the war's aftermath to obtain identity papers and birth certificates which are essential to obtain government handouts and other aid.

Prosecutions of military personnel or officials for sex crimes are rare in Sri Lanka, although four soldiers were jailed for 25 years for the gang-rape of a young Tamil mother in 2010, a year after the war ended.

At least 100,000 Sri Lankans lost their lives during the conflict that saw horrific abuses by both sides.

Finally old budget proposal on 15% interest for senior citizens enforced

The budget proposal to pay 15 per cent special interest on fixed deposits of up to Rs 1.5 million held by senior citizens in commercial and specialized banks is being finally enforced, it was announced on Wednesday. Earlier the limit was up to Rs 1 million. The Business Times was in the forefront of the campaign urging the government to enforce this proposal first proposed in Budget 2015.

The new rule takes effect from March 1. On the instruction of the Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, Treasury Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga has informed the Central Bank to notify all banks amending the previous circular in this regard.

The special interest scheme applies to those who are 60 years and above. Under this scheme the government pays the difference between the 15 per cent and the market standard interest rate offered by commercial banks. The Treasury had allocated Rs.13 billion for this purpose in 2016 for these scheme which offered 15 per cent to deposits of up to Rs 1 million.

“As a result of this offer to senior citizens, the number of fixed deposits by senior citizens rose to 450,000 in 2016 from 91,000 in 2015,” the ministry said in a statement.

Sri Lankan PM says failed asylum seekers safe to return home

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Wednesday that failed asylum seekers held in Australian-run detention centres in the South Pacific will not face prosecution or harm if they return home.

Wickremesinghe's comment comes as Australia increases pressure on failed asylum seekers on Papua New Guinea's Manus island and the tiny island nation of Nauru to return home voluntarily, including offering large sums of money, amid fears a deal for the United States to take refugees has collapsed, REUTERS reported.

Only five men from Nepal on Manus have so far opted to leave despite the threat of deportations.

Australia does not publish details on the nationalities of the 1,152 people held on Manus and Nauru though refugee advocates said there are approximately 150 Sri Lankans detained.

Many of these would have received their refugee status, advocates said, but for those who have been rejected, they face the choice of accepting the offer of cash from Australia or the threat of deportation.

"They are welcome to return to Sri Lanka and we won't prosecute them," Wickremesinghe told reporters in Australia's capital Canberra.

Despite the assurances from Wickremesinghe, refugee advocates said many Sri Lankans would be reluctant to return home amid reports of mistreatment of members of the ethnic Tamil minority, a claim Wickremesinghe rejected.

"It is quite safe for them to come back... we want all the Tamils to come back," said Wickremesinghe.

We take high actions - Said SP

Two police constables have been hospitalized after they were assaulted at Baththalangunduwa Island in Kalpitiya last night. Police said the two constables had gone to inquire into a complaint received from a women at the Island stating that her son was acting aggressively. Police said the constables were assaulted by the same individual who was acting aggressively at the scene. The injured constables were brought to the land by the Navy and admitted to the Kalpitiya Hospital. The individual who had assaulted the constables were later arrested.

Ravi Says Wijeyadasa doesn’t know what he is talking about

Replying to a statement made by the Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe with regard to the access to temporary resident visas, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake maintained that Minister Rajapakshe was misinformed and did not know what he was talking about. Criticizing Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake’s statement that temporary resident visas would be issued to foreigners who invest a minimum of US$300,000, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe had earlier made a comment that such a move only opens the door for beggars to enter the country. He also alleged that Finance Minister Karunanayake had no business issuing such a statement without consulting the Cabinet.

Basil admitted to Colombo National Hospital

Former Minister Basil Rajapaksa, who was arrested and remanded yesterday on charges of misappropriation of state funds, has been admitted to the Colombo National Hospital. As per the recommendation of the prison medical officer, he was admitted to the Colombo National Hospital for a medical checkup, prison spokesman Thushara Upuldeniya said.  Rajapaksa was arrested by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) and remanded till August 01 after being produced before court.  He is charged with misappropriation of funds belonging to the Divi Neguma Department while he was the Minister of Economic Development.

The fares of Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) buses will also be increased by 6 per cent with effect from August 01, Deputy Minister of Transport Ashoka Abeysinghe said.

The minimum fare of the state-owned bus operator in Sri Lanka will be Rs 9 from that date, he said.

Addressing an event in Kundasale, he stated that the fares would be increased due to the rising costs at the SLTB.

The deputy minister further said that the government has absolutely no plans to privatise the Sri Lanka Transport Board.

Last Thursday, the Cabinet approved the proposed 6% bus fare increase with effect from August 01.

The decision was made after a report with respect to the proposed bus fare revision based on the annual bus fare amendment was submitted to the Cabinet.