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“No investments coming in under new capital-based package”

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The Ministerial Consultative Committee on investment Promotion advised the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) to clearly communicate to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and the Treasury that there are no investments coming in under the new enhance capital-based package and therefore a new package should be introduced.

This issue was addressed at the first meeting of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Investment Promotion held recently (15), chaired by State Minister of Investment Promotion – Dilum Amunugama.

Addressing the aforesaid issue, Member of Parliament – Dhammika Perera emphasized the importance of clearly communicating the aforesaid to the CBSL and the Treasury as they need to have a clear understanding on the matter when carrying out negotiations with the IMF.

Accordingly, the Committee instructed the BOI to present data on how many projects have been received under the enhance capital-based package and how much employment and investment have been brought in under the new package at its next meeting.

Responding to the said concern, BOI officials present stated that there is no concession that they can offer as the BOI in par with the other countries, because all the tax holidays were removed and therefore a decline can be observed in the investors coming in.

Furthermore, the possibility of amending the law to enable foreigners to purchase land was also discussed.

State Ministers Diana Gamage, Prasanna Ranaweera, A. Aravindh Kuma as well as MPs Milan Jayathilake, Janaka Wakkumbura and Gunathilaka Rajapaksha were present at the Committee meeting held.

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Man arrested for cooking venison in Yala Bungalow!

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Three kilos of venison and wild boar meat have been seized while a group of visitors were preparing them at the Old Pier Bungalow (Yala Bungalow) reserved for VIPs in the Yala National Park.

This bungalow can only be reserved for the VIPs through the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Conservation, and questions have been raised as to how this group has reserved the bungalow.

The bungalow had been given to this group of people who arrived from Beliatta for two days on June 06 and 07. They have brought one and a half kilos of venison and one and a half kilos of wild boar meat to the bungalow and instructed the watchman to cook the meat for them.

However, when the watchman objected, the visitors had said that they would complain to Wildlife and Forest Conservation Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi if he did not cook the meat.

The watchman has insisted that he would not cook venison.

Later on, the wildlife officials raided the bungalow when one visitor was preparing venison.

One man was arrested by the wildlife officials for possessing venison and he was fined Rs.60,000 after being produced in the Tissamaharama Magistrate’s Court.

The Yala Wildlife Officials are conducting investigations into the incident since the supply, possession and transportation of venison within National Parks is strictly prohibited.

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Consideration of Betting & Gaming Taxes Bill postponed

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The first meeting of the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) for the fourth session of ninth Parliament was held recently (07) under the chairmanship of MP Dr. Harsha de Silva.

The Betting and Gaming Levy (Amendment) Bill was discussed at the meeting and the consideration of the bill was postponed for a week until a timeline for establishing a regulatory authority for casinos is worked out.

The chairman of the committee pointed out that the establishment of a regulatory authority regarding the casino business was previously discussed.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Finance has prepared a timeframe for this regulatory authority to get Cabinet approval by January 31, 2023.

However, since it has not been done, the committee mentioned that a new timeframe is needed and a period of one week will be given to prepare it for the Ministry of Finance.

Accordingly, it was decided to meet the COPF in a week to consider the Bill.

Also, the COPF approved the regulation under Appropriation Act No. 30 of 2021.

MPs Rauff Hakeem, Patali Champika Ranawaka, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Duminda Dissanayake, Chandima Weerakkodi, Nimal Lanza, Sumith Udukumbura, Dr. Major Pradeep Undugoda, Kokila Gunawardena, Isuru Dodangoda, Sahan Pradeep Withana, Madhura Withanage and Prof. Ranjith Bandara participated in the meeting.

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Flood control plans halted without funds

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It was revealed that no institution has conducted a dedicated census to determine how many families are settled in the floodplains along the rivers in Sri Lanka.

Although the Irrigation Department has conducted a preliminary survey of the families living in the river valleys using Google Maps, it has not yet been completed. According to this survey, about 50,000 families live along the main rivers of the country.

An official of the department said that if there are floods along the Nilwala, Kalu, Ging, Kelani Rivers and Maha and Attanagalu Oya at the same time, the roads will be flooded trapping approximately 100,000 families.

Although the Irrigation Department has several projects to control floods, it has been problematic to implement them due to lack of funds.

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