The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has called on President Ranil Wickremesinghe to hand over the United National Party (UNP) headquarters, Sirikotha, to their party. 

This demand was made public yesterday by SJB’s election manager, Sujeewa Senasinghe, during a media briefing.

“We have a right to claim Sirikotha as we are former UNPers,” he said.

Expressing concerns about UNP’s current plight, Senasinghe also said “We hope that UNP leader will work according to his conscience and handover the Sirikotha to us. He should do so, for the sake of the remaining UNPers. Some of his sins would be forgiven if he hands over Sirikotha to us,” he said.

“We were compelled to form SJB as we were not able to remove Wickremesinghe from the UNP leadership,” he added.

In the meantime, Senasinghe referred to the remark made by UNP General Secretary Palitha Range Bandara who called for a referendum to extend the terms of the President and Parliament where he said it is unbelievable as to how he could had become pro-Wickremesinghe. “Range Bandara was one of the staunch anti-Wickremesinghe figure in the UNP those days.

He was at the forefront with us to change the UNP leadership during that time. I am the one who stopped him from crossing over to the 52-day government formed in 2018. He was offered a ministerial portfolio by SLPP during that time,” Senasinghe said.

Maldives Foreign Affairs Minister Moosa Zameer is set to embark on an official visit to Sri Lanka from June 3 to 6.

During his stay, Minister Zameer will engage in high-level discussions with key Sri Lankan leaders, including President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

The visit will also feature official bilateral talks with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, PC, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

These discussions are expected to cover a range of topics aimed at strengthening the diplomatic and economic ties between the two island nations.

Zameer will be accompanied by senior Foreign Ministry officials.

Colombo Chief Magistrate Thilina Gamage yesterday (31) ordered the Intelligence Investigation Unit of the Commission to Investigate the Allegations of Bribery or Corruption Colombo to immediately arrest all officials of the Motor Traffic Department (formerly RMV) and those others who were involved in the illegal import of vehicles depriving the Government of over Rs.10 billion in tax money.

The Court ordered the arrest of all the officials who illegally entered data into the information system of the Motor Traffic Department (RMV), as well as the officers who registered them and those who illegally imported these vehicles.

The Court also ordered this division of the Commission to seize six jeeps worth Rs.100 million imported into Sri Lanka depriving the government of Sri Lanka of over Rs.300 million in tax money.

The Colombo Chief Magistrate ordered these be handed over to the Director General of Customs.

When this case was taken up before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s court, the Bribery Commission, which appeared in court on behalf of the plaintiff, stated that it had been revealed that several high officials of the Motor Traffic Department were also involved in the issuance of illegal number plates.

The Chief Magistrate issued this order under the Section 120 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in relation to three Mitsubishi Jeeps and three Toyota Jeeps that were not cleared by the Sri Lanka Customs.

The Magistrate made this order after taking a request made by the Bribery Commission into consideration. The Commission sought an order to hand over the relevant vehicles currently in the custody of civilians to the Sri Lankan Customs for investigation in relation to Sections 136 and 137 of the Customs Ordinance.

The Investigation Unit of the Commission reported the incident to the court stating that the government has lost this amount by not adopting proper clearance procedure by the Sri Lankan customs during the import process of these luxury vehicles.

The Bribery Commission informed the court that these six vehicles are currently owned by several residents of Galle, Avissawella, Kuruvita, Trincomalee and Kaduwela.

The Commission also informed the court that one of the vehicles which was brought to Sri Lanka without being properly cleared by the Sri Lankan Customs under the guise of importing other goods by feeding the false information to the computer data system of the Motor Traffic Department.

Investigations have so far confirmed that about 200 luxury vehicles have been imported into Sri Lanka without proper clearance from the Sri Lankan Customs by submitting false information to the computer data system of the Motor Traffic Department and the same unit has presented the facts to the court on December 8, 2023.

The Bribery Commission filed indictments in Colombo High Court against seven persons, including five officials of the Motor Transport Department, accusing them of depriving the government of tax money by removing the data of a three-wheeler and replacing it with a car of the ‘Mini Cooper’ type on December 22.

(dailynews.lk)

(Except for the headline, this story, originally published by dailynews.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)