News

Gota still under protection of 226 VIP security personnel

Published

7 months ago

October 28, 2022

editor

MP Thalatha Athukorala said that 226 security personnel from the VIP Security Division have been deployed to provide security to former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Speaking at a news conference held in Colombo yesterday (27), she said there are about 6,000 police officers in the VIP Security Division.

“Out of these 6,000, a large number of people have been deployed for the protection of former presidents. The former president who is responsible for many current plights in this country has been provided with a security detail of 226 personnel,” she said.

Apart from this 226 VIP security personnel, MP Athukorala said Mr.Rajapaksa has also been given military and Special Task Forces protection.

“On one hand, the Inspector General of Police says that 4,000 police personnel are suffering from illnesses. On the other hand, he says 16,000 more are retiring. We are not certain if these police personnel were already sick when they were recruited, if they became disabled during a police duty, or if the stress increased after joining the police. These 4,000 should not be removed from the police force. They should be given the opportunity to work in their selected fields,” she said.

News

CMC’s receivable income exceeds Rs.6,200mn in 2022!

Published

32 mins ago

June 9, 2023

editor

The receivable income of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) for the year 2022 was Rs.6,280.50 million, it was revealed during the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) meeting.

This was revealed when the COPA met in Parliament on June 06 under the chairmanship of State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna to examine the Auditor General’s reports and current performance of the Colombo Municipal Council for the years 2020/2021.

The CMC’s total receivable income of the year 2021 is Rs.5,835.6 million, Rs.5,386.4 million in 2022 and Rs.4,481.5 million in 2019. It was found that these arrears are in the form of assessment tax, rent and other taxes.

Accordingly, the officials who were present pointed out that they are making arrangements to acquire the properties where the taxes are in arrears.

They said that there are issues related to the identification of the owners of certain properties, and that there is also a shortage of CMC officials available to look into these matters.

The COPA member MPs pointed out that assessment numbers have been given for unauthorized constructions as well.

Accordingly, the committee recommended that a programme should be prepared with specific dates to recover the arrears and a full report should be submitted to the COPA by July 06, 2023.

It was also revealed that the private companies contracted to collect parking fees have continued to default on the monthly rent due to the CMC and the amount of arrears to be collected from 38 companies as at December 31, 2021, was Rs. 265 million.

BIZ

Parliament SOC recommends not to privatise SLT

Published

42 mins ago

June 9, 2023

editor

The Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) on National Security has said that it does not recommend the privatisation of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT).

This was stated in a report issued by the SOC on National Security headed by MP Sarath Weerasekera.

The report said that matters sensitive to national security can be exposed through the privatisation of SLT.

News

Fonseka resigns from SOC on National Security

Published

44 mins ago

June 9, 2023

editor

Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka has resigned from the Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) on National Security, Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapakshe announced in Parliament today (09).

He said MP Rauff Hakeem has been appointed to the vacant position instead.