Police suspicions have arisen on how well known private tutor – Sampath Aththatage had accumulated his assets, reports say.
This is due to his involvement in the recent series of events related to the demolition of the Soul Beach hotel in Dehiwala. It is also said that a Thai investment had come up to rebuild the hotel.
Mr. Aththatage was revealed to be the Managing Director of the establishment and was arrested along with 03 others on charges of hindering duties of police officers.
However, on Jan. 02, Mt. Lavinia Magistrate – Nilupuli Lankapura had ordered to release them on sureties of Rs. 200,000 each.
It is also revealed that Mr. Aththatage owns a supermarket chain named Omini Super.
Meanwhile, in a media briefing held yesterday (Jan. 03), Mr. Aththatage revealed that the Soul Beach hotel did have the Department of Coastal Conservation’s approval which was granted with the knowledge of the subject minister – Arundika Fernando.
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.
