The People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) said legal action will be taken if the government attempts to postpone the election.
The Executive Director of PAFFREL, Rohana Hettiarachchi said that there is week’s time left until the Election Commission is vested with the authority to proclaim the Presidential election.
He affirmed that PAFFREL is confident that if the country’s leaders act in accordance with the Constitution, there will be no obstacle in announcing the election in the first week of August.
He further said that the Election Commission must hold the election before October 17 and that this authority has been clearly granted to the Election Commission by the Constitution.
newsfirst.lk (Except for the headline, this story, originally published by newsfirst.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)
The National Transport Commission (NTC) has said that an investigation into the recent incident where a student fell from the footboard of a ‘Sisu Sariya’ school bus, has revealed that the accident had resulted from the careless and negligent behaviour of both the driver and the conductor.
Issuing a statement, the NTC noted that, based on the preliminary findings, the Road Passenger Transport Authority of the North Western Province has taken steps to temporarily suspend the services of the driver and conductor involved.
Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation – K.D. Lal Kantha has announced that the government has decided to import 300,000 MT of maize.
Speaking to the media after attending a District Development Committee meeting at the Kandy District Secretariat yesterday (July 03), the Minister explained that this decision was taken to prevent traders from artificially inflating maize prices.
He stated that certain large and medium-scale businesses dealing with animal feed have been hoarding maize, buying it from farmers at fair prices and reselling it at much higher rates.
According to the Minister, these traders were trying to push maize prices up to Rs.190-200 per kilogram, which would have driven up the cost of eggs to Rs.200 each and increased meat prices significantly.
The Minister emphasized that while businesses are entitled to make a profit, the government will not allow unfair price manipulation. He also noted that, in the past, even ministers profited from animal products, but those days have ended and racketeers will not be allowed to control the market.
To prevent excessive price drops that could hurt farmers, the Food Security Committee has proposed imposing a tax on imported maize, he said.
