SRI LANKA NEWS IN BRIEF (MARCH 2018) – Compiled by Victor Melder

SRI LANKA NEWS IN BRIEF (MARCH 2018) – Compiled by Victor Melder

Victor Meldor

Direct Investment (FDI) into Sri Lanka has grown to over 1.63 billion US dollars in 2017, doubling the 802 million dollars achieved in the previous year. The Board of Investment (BOI) reported that 1.63 billion dollars achieved in 2017 is the highest ever surpassing the 1.61 billion dollars in 2014, with significant growth across key sectors. “The strong growth is a direct consequence of the Government’s reorientation of economic policy towards investment and export driven growth, rather than debt-funded public infrastructure spending,” the BOI said. Among the highest growth sectors were export-oriented Manufacturing (+27%), Services which includes Tourism and IT (+50%) and Infrastructure (+190%). The highest FDI came from China, followed by Hong Kong, India and Singapore. The BOI, under the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade, is the first point of contact for foreign investors into the country. “The BOI has initiated work on developing several new export promotion zones including Milleniya, Bingiriya, Weligama and Mawathagama. These will be the first comprehensive BOI zones to be developed since 2000.” In order to facilitate FDI, the new Inland Revenue Act provides accelerated investment allowances over and above normal depreciation until companies recover their total fixed investment. The foreign exchange regime too has been liberalized to improve the investment climate via the new Foreign Exchange Act. The Prime Minister earlier said the country’s target is to achieve 5 billion US dollars in FDI by 2020 while International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama said he is confident of achieving 2.5 billion US dollars of FDI this year.  (Daily Island 1.3.2018).

Troops moved into Digana, Kandy yesterday afternoon when the police failed to bring a tense situation there under control. Police curfew was imposed in the Kandy administrative District until 6.00 am today. Earlier the police and the STF used teargas and water cannon in a bid to disperse the protesters and arrested 24 persons. However, by 3.00 pm the situation deteriorated and the army had to be called in. The protesters attacked several commercial establishments in Digana, Kandy on Sunday night and Monday morning after the funeral of a lorry driver who succumbed to his injuries after being beaten by four youth, who belong to a different religious community. “The police have requested the army to step in and we will be sending forces immediately,” military spokesperson Brigadier Sumith Atapattu said. Police spokesman, SP Ruwan Gunasekera said that they would bring the situation under control with the assistance of the army and would take swift legal action against those involved in the violent clashes. Last week M. G. Kumarasinghe, a lorry driver was assaulted by four youth travelling in a three wheeler and he succumbed to his injuries. The incident took place on February 22 at a fuel filling station in Teldeniya. Protesters gathered after his funeral and attacked several shops in Moragahamula, near Teldeniya on Sunday night. Police and STF were deployed in Teldeniya, Udispattuwa, Meda Mahanuwara and Ambala. The DIG Headquarters in Kandy said that the four assailant had been arrested and the trishaw they had been travelling taken into custody. Last week ethnic violence erupted in Ampara town following a brawl in an eatery. On Sunday the Ministry of Law and Order said the government would take swift and severe action against those who got involved in incidents that hurt ethnic harmony and coexistence. (Daily Island 3.3.2018)

About 575,140 persons in the Puttalam, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Mannar and Kandy Districts have been affected by a severe drought according to the Disaster Management Centre (DMC). The drought victims include 216,676 people in Anamaduwa, Pallama, Nawagattegama, Puttalam, Mahakubukkadawala, Wanathawilluwa, Arachchikattuwa, Chilaw, Madampe, Karuwalagaswewa, Mundalama and Mahawewa in the Puttalam District. Another 305,321 people are in Abanpola, Kotawehera, Kobeigane, Maho, Kuliyapitiya East, Galgamuwa, Paduvasnuwara East, Nikaweratiya, Ahatuwewa, Giribawa, Bingiriya, Narammala, Rasnayakapura, Bamunakotuwa, Paduvasnuwara West, Alawwa, Weerabugedara and Popitigama in Kurunegala District. The Meteorology Department says the drought-hit areas have not received a significant rainfall recently, but rains could be expected in Puttalam on March 9 and 10 but they won’t be sufficient to end the drought. Commenting on the prevailing hot weather conditions, the Duty Meteorologist said that the current temperature was high due to high humidity and low wind flow. The prevailing high temperature would be experienced till the end of April, he said. (Daily Island 6.3.2018)

President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday declared a state of emergency countrywide for two weeks in the wake of communal violence in Kandy. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe informed Parliament earlier in the day that the Cabinet of Ministers had decided to declare a state of emergency if necessary in view of ethnic violence in Teldeniya and adjacent areas. The PM said all necessary laws would be enforced to tackle the situation and bring all perpetrators of violence to justice. (Daily Island 7.3.2018)

The government yesterday declared a curfew in the Kandy District and urged the public to remain in their homes until further notice as the unrest in the area continued for a fourth day. The police clamped a curfew initially. Tension prevailed in Katugastota, Ambadeniya, Akurana and Barigama as mobs attacked shops and places of worship. Several business places were set ablaze on Tuesday (6) night while some others were set on fire yesterday morning (07). Two men who tried to carry out an attack at Welakade near Ambatenna in Katugastota died in an explosion. Over 40 business places and houses in the Kandy police division during the three days beginning Monday (05) were destroyed. They were at Digana, Katugastota and Ambatenna. (Daily Island 8.3.2018)

Police said yesterday the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) had arrested Amith Jeevan Weerasinghe, alleged to be one of the masterminds of the communal unrest in Kandy and nine others, in predawn raids in Digana and Poojapitiya. The TID also arrested Weerasinghe’s second in command Sureda Suraweera. They are accused of spreading misinformation that led to communal violence, organising violent mobs that attack persons and property and using social media to incite violence. “What you should note is that only two of them are residents of the Kandy District. All others are outsiders,” said Police Spokesperson Superintendent Ruwan Gunasekera. He said the TID was questioning the ten suspects and ascertaining information about the violent acts they had carried out. Altogether police and the TID have arrested 81 persons for being involved in the communal strife. Police have also received 45 complaints of damage caused to houses and commercial properties, out of which 16 were in Pallekele and 18 from Teldeniya. Seven reports of religious places were either damaged or destroyed.  (Daily Island 9.3.2018)

More than one third of female deaths in Sri Lanka is due to issues related to intimate partner violence (IPV), a report ‘Unnatural Deaths Of Women And Girls In Sri Lanka (Prevention And Justice)’ by UNFPA states. “In 36% of homicides alleged perpetrator was the legal husband/lover/ex-lover while in 21% a blood relative. 8% of the deceased women had reported IPV to law enforcement agencies at least once while (3%) had reported more than 3 times,” it states. The UNFPA has found that Police and preliminary forensic investigations of unnatural female deaths were concluded within 24 hours in more than 80% of the cases. “A majority of interviewees were comparatively more satisfied with police and forensic investigation than the judicial outcome. However, there have been areas of concerns relating to communication and impartiality,” the report added. As one out of three homicidal and suicidal deaths is a result of disharmony in relationships, the UNFPA states that redress mechanisms, counseling and befriending services/ support, protection and legal aid and how to reach such services should be available at times of need. They also stresses that Sri lanka must enhance financial independence and strengthen capacity of women to make decisions for themselves and their families. UNFPA also recommended the facilitation of gender sensitive counseling, promote befriending services and welfare officers (e.g. child protection officers), facilitate gender sensitive law-enforcement system in dealing with violence against women, enhance psycho-social support in bereavement. (Daily Island 9.3.2018)

The latest wave of anti-Muslim riots that triggered curfews and a nation-wide state of emergency has damaged Sri Lanka’s international image and was a major blow to the economy, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said. Sri Lanka’s hopes of emerging a tourism hotspot in South Asia were also dented by the riots which left three people dead, about 20 injured and at least 200 Muslim-owned businesses and homes in ruins. Eleven mosques were damaged or destroyed. “The work of a handful of saboteurs has caused a heavy blow to the country both economically and socially,” the Prime Minister said in a statement on Thursday, two days after President Maithripala Sirisena declared a state of emergency. The riots could not have come at a more embarrassing time for Prime Minister Wickremesinghe who had addressed an investor forum just three days earlier in Singapore to woo more foreign investments into the island. Addressing the “Invest Sri Lanka” event in Singapore, Wickremesinghe spoke of fiscal consolidation, economic reforms and above all political and social stability for business to thrive. But, as he returned to the island, the central district of Kandy was up in flames. Police have been blamed for being slow to nip the riots in the bud. However, Wickremesinghe himself had taken over the subject of the police in a cabinet reshuffle of February 25 until a full minister could be agreed upon. Soon after the government imposed the emergency across the country and ordered troops to enforce a curfew in the Kandy district, foreign governments issued travel warnings to their citizens planning to visit Sri Lanka. The authorities also urged holidaymakers to avoid the hill resort, which is also home to Sri Lanka’s holiest Buddhist shrine, the Temple of the Tooth Relic. Thousands of foreigners were already in Kandy when the troubles erupted and the images of Muslim businesses being torched and police firing teargas had dented Sri Lanka’s hard-fought efforts to rebrand after decades of ethnic war. Curfews in Kandy — which attracts millions of tourists and pilgrims every year — had “greatly inconvenienced” visitors to the central hill district, Wickremesinghe added. Tourism has emerged as a key earner for the island in the aftermath of the war, which cost more than 100,000 civilian lives before its bloody close in May 2009 after 37 years of fighting. Visitor arrivals have increased steadily since then, with Sri Lanka attracting more than 2.1 million tourists and $3.2 billion in foreign exchange last year alone. Hotel operators in Kandy said they suffered a spate of cancellations with occupancy dropping from about 80 percent to 30 percent during the week. (Daily Island 11.3.2018)

The no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been already signed by a majority of Joint Opposition (JO) MPs. At a JO meeting of political party leaders headed by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday March 14, it was decided to hand over the no-confidence motion to the Speaker next week. By Thursday afternoon 32 JO MPs had signed the motion and it also expected to obtain the signatures of the MPs of the SLFP and the UNP, a JO spokesman said.A senior MP representing the JO said that among the reasons for the no-faith motion were the bond scams and the recent violence in Kandy. Once the signatures were obtained, it would be handed over to the Speaker either on March 21 or 22, he said. Letters had been sent to the Muslim Congress and other minority parties regarding the no-confidence motion and talks would be scheduled to be held with them next week, he said. (Daily Island 17.3.2018)

The Army has been deployed to rebuild and renovate properties damaged in the recent communal riots in Digana, Akurana, Galaha, Katugastota, Menikhinna, Ambetenna, Poojapitiya and a few other areas in the Kandy district. The clean-up by members of the Security Force Headquarters, Central (SFHQ-Cen), was formally launched on the Kandy-Mahiyangana road on Friday morning. More than 250 Army personnel, including officers, began collecting and piling up debris from the damaged properties on the directions of Major General Nissanka Ranawana, General Officer Commanding, 11 Division. After all assessments, Major General Rukmal Dias,Commander, SF-Cen earmarked damaged properties on the 5-km extent between Digana town and Kengalla for priority attention. President Maithripala Sirisena directed Defence Secretary, Kapila Waidyaratne, Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ravindra C. Wijegunaratne and Army Commander, Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake to immediately undertake repairs in the affected areas with the support of tri-service personnel, during a meeting with religious and civil leaders in attendance in Kandy in the aftermath of the violence. SFHQ-Cen troops, in close coordination with several monks in the respective areas and officials of the Kundasale Divisional Secretariat are carrying out the cleaning project before repairs begin. (Sunday Island 18.3.2018)

The President announced Sunday he is lifting a nationwide state of emergency imposed 12 days ago to quell anti-Muslim riots in which three people died and hundreds of shops were destroyed. Maithripala Sirisena said improvements in the security situation prompted him to end the emergency, under which security forces and the police had sweeping powers to detain suspects. “Upon assessing the public safety situation, I instructed to revoke the state of emergency from midnight yesterday,” Sirisena said on Twitter as he returned to the island after a tour of Japan. Much of the anti-Muslim violence was concentrated in the central district of Kandy, 115 kilometres (72 miles) northeast of the capital Colombo. Police said the situation in the picturesque hill resort has returned to normal. Security forces have been deployed to help rebuild damaged homes and businesses, officials said. Over 300 people have been arrested in connection with the riots, and they have been remanded in custody till the end of this month. The state emergency also allowed Sirisena to call in the military after police initially failed to control the riots that spread to several suburbs of Kandy. There were a few isolated incidents elsewhere on the island too. The unrest started after a Sinhalese man beaten up by four Muslim men in a road rage incident died at a hospital in Kandy earlier this month. The following day, Sinhalese mobs set fire to Muslim-owned homes and businesses. Sri Lanka’s parliament issued an apology to its Muslim minority, which constitutes 10 percent of the country’s population of 21 million. Sinhalese account for about three quarters of the population. Last November, riots between the Muslims and the Sinhalese — who are largely Buddhist — in the south of the island left one man dead and homes and vehicles damaged. (Daily Island 19.3.2018)

A no-confidence motion containing 14 allegations against Prime Minister Ranil Wickrem-esinghe was handed over to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya by a group of Joint Opposition (JO) MPs led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa around 2.35 pm yesterday. The motion has been signed by 55 MPs including State Minister of Lands T. B. Ekanayake, Public Manag-ement and Administration Deputy Minister Susantha Punchinilame, Ports and Shipping Deputy Minister Nishantha Muthuhettigama and UPFA MP Cader Masthan. Former President Rajapaksa however has not signed the motion.  UPFA MPs Roshan Ranasinghe and Siripala Gamlath, too , have not signed it. The signatories are MPs Dinesh Gunawardena, Chamal Rajapaksa, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Wimal Weerawandsa, Udaya Gammanpila, Dullas Alahapperuma, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Salinda Dissanayake, Ranjith de Zoysa, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Shehan Semasinghe, Janaka Wakkumbura, Kanaka Herath, Tharaka Balasuriya, Indika Anuruddha, Wimalaweera Dissanayake, Bandula Gunawardena, Niroshan Premaratne, D.V. Chanaka, Namal Rajapaksa, Prasanna Ranatunga, Rohitha Abeygunawardena, Sisira Jayakody, Piyal Nishantha de Silva, Premalal Jayasekera, Vidura Wickremanayake, CB Ratnayake, Ramesh Pathirana, Jayantha Samaraweera, Gamini Lokuge, Pavithra Wannniarachchi, Johnston Fernando, SC Muthukumarana, Lohan Ratwatte, Thenuka Widanagama, Dlium Amunugama, Keheliya Rambukwella, Kanchana Wijesekera, Dulip Wijesekera, Vijtiha Berugoda, Sanath Nishantha, Arundika Fernando, Kumara Welgama, Piyankara Jayaratne, Janaka Bandara Thennakoon, SM Chandrasena, Padma Udayashantha, Mohan P de Silva, Chandrasiri Gajadheera, Nimal Lanza and Prasanna Ranaweera. Parliament sources said that a group of MPs including Nimal Lanza, Prasanna Ranatunga, Ramesh Pathirana and Kumara Welgama initially opposed the motion but signed it. In the motion against the Prime Minister there are 14 charges including placing the Finance Ministry under the purview of the Prime Minister with the intention of committing the bond scam, appointing Singaporean Arjuna Mahendran to the post of Governor of the Central Bank, directly involving in the Treasury bond scams, appointing the Pitipana committee comprising his friends to exonerate those responsible for the scam, misleading Parliament by giving false statements on the bond commission on March 17, 2015, violating financial regulations, failure to arrest the rising cost of living and the failure to bring the recent communal riots as the minister of law and order. Parliament sources said that it was the 47th no-confidence motion and the third no-confidence motion against a prime minister in the Lankan parliament history. The first no-confidence motion was handed over on Sept 09, 1949 against two ministers, according to parliament sources. Sources said that usually there would be no secret vote on a no-confidence motion, but the MPs could submit a substantive motion to the Speaker seeking his permission for a secret vote. The Speaker has the discretion to comply with or reject such a request. (Daily Island 22.3.2018)

Headline Inflation, as measured by the change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI, 2013=100), which is compiled by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS), decreased to 3.2 per cent in February 2018 from 5.4 per cent in January 2018, on year-on-year basis. The high base prevailed in February 2017 as well as the monthly decline in food prices in February 2018 supported by the favourable supply conditions contributed to this sharp decline in year-on-year inflation in February 2018. The change in the NCPI measured on an annual average basis decreased from 7.6 per cent in January 2018 to 7.2 per cent in February 2018. When the monthly change is considered, the NCPI declined from 125.8 index points in January 2018 to 123.7 index points in February 2018 largely due to the decline in prices of the items in the Food category, particularly that of vegetables, green chillies, red onions, rice and big onions. Meanwhile, price increases were observed in all the sub-categories in the Non-food category except for communication sub-category. The NCPI Core inflation, which reflects the underlying inflation in the economy, continued to follow the declining trend exhibited since September 2017. As such, the NCPI core inflation decreased to 2.0 per cent in February 2018 from 2.1 per cent in January 2018 on year-onyear basis. Annual average NCPI core inflation declined to 4.1 per cent in February 2018 from 4.5 per cent in January 2018. (Daily Island 23.3.2018)

 

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