News

2 Indian contractors yet to complete oil tank construction

Published

12 months ago

May 19, 2023

editor

Two Indian companies that have awarded contracts in 2020 to construct 06 oil tanks at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation’s Kolonnawa oil installation premises, are yet to complete the project, reports say.

The two companies that have been awarded the contract are Indo East Pvt Ltd. and J.K. Mukherjee.

Although they were supposed to build 06 oil tanks, only one has been built so far.

However these two companies had given a subcontract to another company named Gopal, which had violated the original Tender contract, ‘Sri Lanka Mirror’ learns.

The problematic situation resulting in work being hampered had started after the Gopal company and the Mukherjee company had sought legal redress against each other, reports say.

It is said that this Mukherjee company, which has no expertise in building such tanks, was awarded the contract over the whims of a top official of the engineering department at the oil installation and a secretary of a former minister in 2020.

Also, it is reported that the Mukherjee company has been paid well over the estimated amount even ahead of the relevant quarter, despite the non completion of the construction. The quarterly payment made in this manner had even exceeded Rs. 500 million, reports add.

News

China to back digital education transformation project

Published

1 hour 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

1 hour 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.