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This is the way they will sit in school

Schools are to reopen tomorrow with classes for students of Grade 5, 11 and 13. At a leading Colombo girls school, health officials and teachers are seen inspecting arrangements for physical distancing and other health guidelines Pic by Indika Handuwala

Polls plans hampered as health chief delays gazette

The Election Commission is in a dilemma over the delay on the part of the Health Services Director General issuing a gazette notification required to make preparations for next month’s parliamentary elections. This comes hot on the heels of Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) complaining the lack of legal backing for their work. A senior EC [...]

Powerless PHIs to limit polls duties

Public Health Inspectors will limit their Covid-19 prevention duties only to the polling day and the day prior to it, but will not cover any campaign rallies or meetings in the next few weeks as they are yet to be given powers under the Quarantine and Diseases Prevention Ordinance. Public Health Inspectors Union Secretary M. [...]

Schools partially reopen tomorrow, but confusion over guidelines

Students from selected classes return to school tomorrow after more than three months amidst tight health precautions in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Education Ministry Secretary M.H.M. Chitrananda told the Sunday Times the school authorities had been given clear instructions on health restrictions to be followed when classes began. He said that to avoid confusion [...]

ECT deal put on hold; conflict of interest

The proposed agreement on finding a local investor for the East Container Terminal project has been put on hold after revelations of a conflict of interest involving a senior official of the present Government. The local company owned by a relative of the senior official has been proposed as a partner for the proposed company [...]

Edwards money laundering case: Ex-FCID chief’s son explains how he bought Monarch apartment

Asela Waidyalankara, son of former Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) head Senior DIG Ravi Waidyalankara, has said he bought an apartment worth Rs 52mn at Monarch Residencies in Kollupitiya with money he earned from selling gems, documents filed last week at the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s court show. He also told investigators that the initial capital [...]

On a pittance from ministry, schools wrestle with deficient virus diktat

While schools prepare to re-open tomorrow, principals and teachers who reported to work a week earlier, expressed confusion on the directions from the Ministry of Education (MOE) about all teachers returning at once, despite only a few classes resuming. The government decided to resume classes for grades 5, 11, and 13, in all government schools [...]

AG slams PNB officers; Acting IGP walks away as AG starts speaking

Proper supervision by senior officers at the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) could have averted officers working with drug traffickers, Attorney General Dappula de Livera has observed. His criticism of the PNB officers came during a two-hour hard-hitting speech on Friday at the office of the Western Province Deputy Inspector General. He was addressing a group [...]

SJB chose blue as its colour, court document reveals

Madduma Bandara says what matters is present green and yellow SLFP says it does not know its party colour had been hijacked The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) led by Sajith Premadasa had selected the colour ‘Blue’ in seeking to register its party constitution with the Elections Commission, a court document has revealed. The SJB also [...]

Central Expressway: Cabinet to take up tender proposal for 3rd and fourth phases

The cabinet next week will take up a proposal to award tenders for the construction of the third and fourth phases of the Central expressway to a Chinese and British company respectively, a senior official of the Ministry of Highways said. The construction of the projects is to cost more than Rs 200 billion. The [...]

Andrew Fernando wins Gratiaen Prize for his travelogue

The Gratiaen Prize for Sri Lankan creative writing in English for 2019 was awarded yesterday evening to Andrew Fidel Fernando, for his travelogue Upon a Sleepless Isle. Held for the 27th consecutive year, the Gratiaen Prize was founded in 1992 by Michael Ondaatje with the money he received for his Booker winning The English Patient. [...]

Farewell beloved Sybil

The funeral of beloved children’s books author Sybil Wettasinghe took place at the Borella cemetery on Friday. She was 93 years old. Pic by M.D. Nissanka

Prison raids yield more than 1,000 phones

More than 1,000 mobile phones, 1,310 batteries and 688 SIM cards were seized from inmates during search operations at several prisons yesterday, a senior prisons official said. The biggest haul was from the Negombo prison where the officers and jailers found 277 phones, 132 SIM cards and 286 batteries. At the Welikada remand prison, 203 [...]

Yala resort deal: Court extends enjoining order against SLTDA till July 31

The Colombo District Court has extended till July 13 an enjoining order issued against the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) preventing it from cancelling a lease agreement with a company that has accused the current SLTDA chairperson over a conflict of interest. Colombo District Judge Amali Ranaweera extended the enjoining order when the case [...]

Data analysis points to more breakdowns than planned outages at Lakvijaya

The Lakvijaya coal power plant has been shut down multiple times since its commissioning with its three units being affected to varying degrees. While some of this is owing to planned maintenance, official data indicate that many were breakdowns. Between 2015 and 2020, there were 102 complete outages spanning 1220 days. The highest number was [...]

B’day treat for co*ckatoo

With the Dehiwala National Zoological Gardens celebrating its 84th b’day on Friday, a staffer is seen feeding some cake to a White co*ckatoo. Pic by Priyantha Wickramaarachchi

SLAITO proposal for EU grant torpedoed by SLTDA

A proposal by the Sri Lanka Association for Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) to obtain European Union funding to revive the tourism industry in the post COVID-19 situation has been set aside, though the proposal was found to be interesting, the Association’s President Mahen Kariyawasam said. Mr Kariyawsam told the Sunday Times the association submitted the [...]

MCC compact tailored to bypass checks by local mechanisms

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact with United States has been “tailored to bypass the State institutional mechanism that manages foreign resources within the country,” the experts committee has declared. Its report went before the Cabinet of Ministers this week and a formal decision on its future is now pending. A government announcement said the [...]

Five sentenced to 67 years of jail for Marine Drive land fraud

Five persons were sentenced to a total of 67 years Rigorous Imprisonment after they were found guilty of selling a plot of land worth tens of millions of rupees on Marine Drive in Kollupitiya using a fake deed. The order was delivered by Colombo High Court Judge Gihan Kulatunga on Wednesday. In his verdict, the [...]

Probe on ‘armoury’ triggers discovery of more firearms, arrests

Investigators probing the case of one of the biggest illegal ‘armouries’ ever found in the country are still trying to solve the mystery of where the firearms came from. An initial raid by the police Special Task Force (STF) in Pitipana, Homagama, resulted in the discovery of 11 T56 weapons and one T81 weapon hidden [...]

When drug busters become part of the rot

With revelations that several of the PNB officers now in custody for allegedly running their own drug trafficking ring have been with the bureau for more than a decade, some even winning Presidential Awards and receiving cash rewards for their anti-narcotics operations, Sandun Jayawardana and Damith Wickramasekara report on the scandal that has rocked the [...]

Candidates desperate to overcome cramped campaign space

New and independent candidates are struggling – but all parties share the problem –to make their mark with the electorate due to stricter election laws and the pandemic’s stifling effect on public gatherings, with the August 5 polls just four weeks away. New candidates are also dismayed by high advertising rates charged by electronic media. [...]

Winners and losers in staggered work hours plan

The new working hours announced by the Government are receiving bouquets and brickbats as transport experts praise efforts to ease traffic congestion while employees raise concerns over the availability of public transport, safety – particularly of female employees – and loss of quality family time. Transport Minister Mahinda Amaraweera this week announced that new working [...]

Plugging leaks of COVID-19 the need when SL opens entry points, says Health DG

A vital need when opening the entry-points into Sri Lanka is to ensure that any leaks of COVID-19 will be effectively plugged, a high-level health official said this week. “The navy personnel cluster has been brought under control, it is the returnee cluster which is still ongoing. As such, when we open the entry-points including [...]

Uber Eats eating into their businesses, say restaurateurs

Growing malpractices by online food ordering and delivery platforms in Sri Lanka have led restaurateurs using these apps to demand urgent regulation. They fear that companies behind these apps could be mishandling sensitive market data and promoting monopolistic business practices. Multiple restaurant owners alleged misuse of business information by Uber Eats, a charge the company [...]

Desperate migrants return to jobless country unable to help

Thousands of Sri Lankan migrant workers, mostly female breadwinners, who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic and returned home, are confronting the reality of being unemployed, where joblessness has increased. Some are surviving on their meagre savings and becoming street vendors. According to the Foreign Employment Bureau, about 20,000 have lost jobs in [...]

Sri Lanka on alert for any new flu strain

Sri Lanka is on the alert for any virulent flu strain, assured a health expert as a red flag went up on a strain identified in pigs in China with scientists warning that it may have the potential to cause a pandemic. “There is no cause for alarm yet because it is too early to [...]

Hundreds of males falling prey to AIDS, disease under-reported

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) may be a term that is seldom talked about today but the silent killer is spreading among males who are biologically inclined to be sexually active with other males. According to the latest figures from the Ministry of Health, STD/AIDS control programme designed to contain AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases [...]

Helping our feathered and four legged friends

Many animals and birds that sustain injuries due to hunting activities by poachers, who lay traps snares are being treated at the wildlife veterinary unit at Nikaweratiya. Veterneary surgeon Dr Isuru Hewakottage said more than 50 animals and birds are brought to the unit every month with various injuries. He said deer were among the [...]

Pick of the Pix

Pix by Amila Gamage, Priyantha Wikramaarachchi, Sameera Weerasekara and Jayarathna Wikramaarchchi

Innovative coconut shell creations

Coconut shells are a great material for handicrafts, and objects made from coconut shells are a more sustainable alternative to those made out of ceramic. The handicraft sector has always created employment and income opportunities for many Sri Lankans. But unfortunately over the years, traditional art and handicrafts have lost their demand in the market. [...]

Pallama illegal clinical waste refused

A court has ordered the removal of a pile of clinical waste from a private site in Pallama in Puttalam back to the source. Suspects have been warned by the Anamaduwa Magistrates’ Court. Residents who had protested against the illegal practice earlier, told the Sunday Times they fear toxic pollution from clinical waste being burnt [...]

Katana factory fined for the third time for mosquito breeding

A Katana packaging factory has been found guilty for the third time on mosquito breeding charges and fined Rs. 40,000 by a magistrate. The case filed by the Katana Medical Officer of Health (MOH) was taken up this week before the Negombo Magistrate. The magistrate was told that Public Health Inspectors R.M. Sampath Nalinda and [...]