The Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) will be elected on June 02, under the supervision of the Commissioner of Local Government.

The vote comes as no single party secured a clear majority at the recently concluded LG polls.

The candidate who secures over 50% in the vote – whether from the government or opposition, will be appointed as the new Mayor.At the LG polls, the National People’s Power (NPP) won the most number of seats – 48 out of 119, but fell short of the 60 needed to claim a majority and form a council on its own. 

The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) came second with 29 seats, while the United National Party (UNP) secured 13. The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) won five and four seats respectively.

The Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Priyantha Weerasooriya has instructed all Officers-in-Charge (OIC) and senior police officers to conduct special inspections on long-distance passenger buses.

The Police Media Division stated that the directive comes in response to the increasing number of road accidents involving long-distance buses.

These inspections will mainly be conducted at night, focusing on drunk driving, drug use, and reckless driving.

The Acting IGP has issued firm instructions for special police teams to be deployed at strategic locations across various police divisions to monitor and inspect buses and other vehicles operating during night hours.

Additionally, he has directed officers attached to Police Motorcycle Patrol Units to identify and take legal action against buses driven recklessly.

The Sri Lankan government has decided to maintain a safety stock of medicines to mitigate the ongoing shortages in the country.

Deputy Health Minister Dr. Hansaka Wijayamuni stated that this move is in response to recurring issues such as tender cancellations and the rejection of medicine consignments following quality inspections.

These problems have been key contributors to medicine shortages in recent months.

According to Dr. Wijayamuni, the planned emergency stockpile will be sufficient to meet the country’s needs for a period of six months.

To ensure a stable supply, the government intends to directly import medicines through agreements with the governments of countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and the United States.

Dr. Wijayamuni further explained that by maintaining such a buffer stock, the additional expenses currently incurred by purchasing medicines from the open market can also be reduced significantly.

He added that a Cabinet paper will be submitted shortly to formalise and implement this initiative.

(News 1st)

(Except for the headline, this story, originally published by News 1st has not been edited by SLM staff)