News

CPC workers union condemns minister’s statement

Published

1 year ago

March 20, 2023

editor

The Ceylon Petroleum Common Workers’ Union says that it was proposed long ago to change the weekly fuel quota ending day from Sunday to Tuesday but it was actually delayed by the subject Minister.

In a press release, the union assures they responsibly state that they had continued to work overtime on Sundays on the insistence of the minister.

“Our officials as well as employees had requested to stop the Sunday work… The former managing director has also tried to stop this on several occasions, but we reiterate that this was prevented by the intervention of the minister. This is due to the irrational fear that there will be fuel queues on Mondays if deliveries were stopped on Sundays,” they say.

However, the minister himself recently said that the decision to end the quota on Tuesdays had led to cutting down a considerable amount of costs in the form of overtime pay.

By stating this, the minister is hinting that the workers had worked on Sundays in a bid to secure extra overtime and we vehemently condemn this attempt to instigate public hate against the petroleum workers, it further notes.

News

China to back digital education transformation project

Published

33 mins ago

May 7, 2024

nipuni

The Chinese Government has pledged support for Sri Lanka’s digital education transformation project.

This project is expected to enhance general education by providing classrooms, data centres, and necessary equipment like tables, studio rooms, and conference rooms.

These resources will facilitate blended learning methods, and resource sharing, and enable teachers with special skills to engage students effectively.

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Education.

News

MoP fertilizer subsidies to farmer accounts from today

Published

47 mins ago

May 7, 2024

nipuni

The Department of Agriculture emphasizes that the application of Muriate of Potash (MoP) to paddy cultivation has been quantitatively reduced in the last few seasons.

According to the Department of Agriculture, it is mandatory to use MoP fertilizer to strengthen paddy pods as well as to improve the quality of paddy seeds.

But the use of MoP has decreased in the last ‘Maha’ season. Only 11,000 MT of MoP was used despite around 800,000 hectares being cultivated during the season.

Although the MoP requirement for the ‘Maha’ season is 30,000 MT, it appears that only one third was purchased by farmers.Therefore, in a bid to promote the use of MoP, it has been decided to credit the fertilizer subsidy money to the farmers’ accounts in this ‘Yala’ season.

The Department of Agricultural Development states that depositing subsidies will commence from today (May 07) with financial allocations scheduled to be given to the farmers who have finished planting paddy fields.

Authorities have assured that sufficient stocks of MoP are available in the country.