News

Train fares to be revised

Published

2 weeks ago

May 24, 2023

editor

Transport Minister Bandula Gunawardana said that a fare revision should be made to keep train fares lower than bus fares by one third.

Speaking in Parliament today (24), the minister said that a decision based on principle should be taken in this regard.

He also said that the time has come to amend the laws to make the Railways Department an authority.

“We hope to fully digitize ticket issuance and seat reservation within three months. After that, there should be a revision in fares. We should take a policy decision to keep the train fares one-third lower than the bus fares and revise the fares accordingly. It is difficult to make some decisions since the Railways is a department. The institution should deviate from the departmental system in order to maintain efficiency. An Act was drafted in 2001 and 2002 to create a railways authority. I will release this draft to the trade unions and relevant authorities to amend it as necessary. We need support in this initiative on behalf of the future of the country,” he said.

(Aruna)

News

CMC’s receivable income exceeds Rs.6,200mn in 2022!

Published

27 mins ago

June 9, 2023

editor

The receivable income of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) for the year 2022 was Rs.6,280.50 million, it was revealed during the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) meeting.

This was revealed when the COPA met in Parliament on June 06 under the chairmanship of State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna to examine the Auditor General’s reports and current performance of the Colombo Municipal Council for the years 2020/2021.

The CMC’s total receivable income of the year 2021 is Rs.5,835.6 million, Rs.5,386.4 million in 2022 and Rs.4,481.5 million in 2019. It was found that these arrears are in the form of assessment tax, rent and other taxes.

Accordingly, the officials who were present pointed out that they are making arrangements to acquire the properties where the taxes are in arrears.

They said that there are issues related to the identification of the owners of certain properties, and that there is also a shortage of CMC officials available to look into these matters.

The COPA member MPs pointed out that assessment numbers have been given for unauthorized constructions as well.

Accordingly, the committee recommended that a programme should be prepared with specific dates to recover the arrears and a full report should be submitted to the COPA by July 06, 2023.

It was also revealed that the private companies contracted to collect parking fees have continued to default on the monthly rent due to the CMC and the amount of arrears to be collected from 38 companies as at December 31, 2021, was Rs. 265 million.

BIZ

Parliament SOC recommends not to privatise SLT

Published

38 mins ago

June 9, 2023

editor

The Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) on National Security has said that it does not recommend the privatisation of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT).

This was stated in a report issued by the SOC on National Security headed by MP Sarath Weerasekera.

The report said that matters sensitive to national security can be exposed through the privatisation of SLT.

News

Fonseka resigns from SOC on National Security

Published

39 mins ago

June 9, 2023

editor

Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka has resigned from the Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) on National Security, Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapakshe announced in Parliament today (09).

He said MP Rauff Hakeem has been appointed to the vacant position instead.