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USAID commences 5-yr. ocean plastics reduction project in SL & Maldives

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The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announces the official launch of a planned 5-year project in Sri Lanka and Maldives to reduce environmental plastics by decreasing industrial use of plastic and improving integrated solid waste management practices in Sri Lanka and Maldives.

The project’s consortium, led by Research Triangle International (RTI) works alongside local partners to target system inefficiencies and areas of reliance on virgin plastics. The project’s overall goal is to increase participation in solid waste management and reduction programs, preventing thousands of tons of plastic from leaking into the environment.

“USAID is proud to partner with the governments of Sri Lanka and Maldives, the private sector, civil society, and communities to reduce, reuse and recycle plastic products, which threaten the health and environment of the Sri Lankan and Maldivian people” stated Gabe Grau, the USAID/Sri Lanka and Maldives Mission Director.  “Combatting plastic pollution will reduce threats to marine ecosystems and livelihoods, food security, and ultimately, human health.”

Ocean plastic pollution threatens the world’s delicate marine ecosystems, the fishing and tourism sectors, food security, and human health. The equivalent of an entire garbage truck of plastic makes its way into the world’s oceans every minute—roughly eleven million tons annually. Stopping plastic pollution at the source is the most effective way to address this challenge. The majority of plastic ocean debris comes from rapidly growing cities along coastal areas in the developing world where governments struggle with growing populations and increasing amounts of waste.

Sri Lanka and Maldives face unique challenges in waste management. In Sri Lanka, the country’s solid waste management systems struggle to keep pace with growing urban populations. Maldives, an archipelago of 1,200 coral islands, has extremely limited amounts of land to store waste, and is overwhelmed by managing both domestic waste and marine debris carried in by ocean currents from other countries.

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‘Company issuing visa at BIA not Indian or Indian based’

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The Indian High Commission in Colombo has issued a statement over reports of Indian companies taking over visa issuance at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake.

The statement notes “companies referred to in these reports are not India based or Indian and are headquartered elsewhere. Any reference to India in this context is unwarranted.”

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Chaos at BIA raises questions (Video)

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Questions have been raised after chaos at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake last night (May 01) has sparked widespread outrage.

This is with regard to a controversial takeover of the on-arrival visa issuance process at BIA by an Indian company – VFS Global since yesterday evening.

It is learnt that the company has levied an extra $25 alongside the standard $75 fee.

Long lines of frustrated travellers were also seen at the airport for several hours, which is a stark difference to the procedure smoothly managed in a matter of mere minutes by the Immigration and Emigration Department in the past.

Footage of a Sri Lankan citizen expressing outrage over Indian nationals deciding visa matters for fellow Sri Lankans, has also been making rounds on social media.

Although 10 Sri Lankan and Indian officers had commenced work from 5.00pm yesterday, the lines remained well over 9.00pm. Amid tensions, higher officials of the BIA and security forces had also arrived at the premises.

At 11.30pm the company officials temporarily suspended issuing visas and left the BIA with the money collected, reports say.

Upon the directive of the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration – Harsha Ilukpitiya, Immigration officers have commenced their usual duties with no issues since then, enabling the previous process to continue smoothly.

Concerns have been raised over the lack of transparency in this arrangement.

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CoPF decides on Parate Law

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The Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) has approved, subject to conditions, the Recovery of Loans by Banks (Special Provisions) (Amendment) Bill which was amended to facilitate legal provisions for the suspension of Parate Law until December 15 2024. 

Accordingly, the banks’ practice of acquiring properties of whose loans are yet to be paid off will be suspended until December 15 and the Recovery of Loans by Banks (Special Provisions) Act No. 4 of 1990 will be amended to facilitate the necessary legal provisions.
The approval was given when the Committee on Public Finance met in Parliament recently (30) under the chairmanship of Member of Parliament Dr. Harsha De Silva.

Officials representing the Ministry of Finance said that they hope to provide temporary relief to the creditors. Accordingly, the committee questioned the officials what action will be taken in this regard after December 15. Thus, the officials present failed to give a clear answer in this regard and the committee recommended to provide a road map for the actions to be taken after December 15 to those subject to Parate Law.

Also, the committee recommended that all the parties who have done business with the banks subject to Parate Law should be given a fair opportunity to negotiate with the banks.

The committee also questioned the officials about the distribution of loans under the Parate Law. The chair of the committee inquired about the manner in which the micro, small scale and medium scale enterprises in particular have received loans under this law and the criteria under which they are classified. The officials did not have the correct data about this and the chair of the committee instructed the officials to provide that data to the committee.

The committee also inquired the percentage of the sectors that were most affected. Furthermore, the committee asked the officials to provide data on the implementation of the Parate Law in other periods compared to the specific period in which there was an economic recession due to the impact of the corona virus in 2020, 2021 and 2022. The officials present mentioned that the data on this matter this will be presented to the committee in the future.

Meanwhile, the committee has also given its approval for the orders under the Foreign Exchange Act No. 12 of 2017 and the regulations under the Sri Lanka Securities and Exchange Commission Act No. 19 of 2021. Also, the committee approved the regulations under the Import and Export (Control) Act No. 1 of 1969.

State Minister Dr. Suren Raghavan, Members of Parliament Premnath C. Dolawatta and Madhura Withanage participated in this committee.

Also, officials representing several government institutions including the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policy, the Auditor General’s Department, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, and Sri Lanka Customs were present in this committee.

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