Out of the box (English)

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa says that if a prosperous country is to be built, correct policies must be created and for this, a policy formulation methodology that takes the ideas, proposals, thoughts and philosophies of the people flowing from the bottom up should be adopted and the role for a better country should be formalized through a number of aspects such as policy formulation, implementation and follow-up.

He further says that to achieve that goal, active participation, dedication, responsible data-based facts and proposals are required and that it can ensure public acceptance and credibility and that it should not be a program that is politicized based on false information and data.

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said this while informing the Parliamentarians and trade union members of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya on how to proceed during the upcoming budget debate week.

He said that the policy process should be strengthened by actively contributing and participating in the debates of the Parliament, which meets for 4 days every month, and that we should become pioneers in participatory policy formulation.

The Opposition Leader said that all arguments should be presented based on data and information, that what the government is saying should be analyzed logically, and that a huge voice should be raised on behalf of the people. He said that the voices of people working in the public sector as well as those working in the private sector should also be represented.

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa further said that the opposition should make the necessary contribution to bring prosperity to the country by presenting better proposals and ideas through the participatory process.

The Colombo High Court has jailed Gampola Vidhanalage Samantha Kumara, alias Welesuda, his wife, and another woman to eight years in prison with rigorous imprisonment.

This was after they were found guilty of charges brought under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act regarding property worth crores of rupees acquired through heroin trafficking.

Colombo High Court Judge Aditya Patabendi gave this verdict after a lengthy hearing in the case.

In addition, the court ordered a fine and the confiscation of the illegally obtained property, money, and gold items.

The Sri Lanka Telecommunications Regulatory Commission has asked the public to quickly inform the Commission if any mobile phone service provider has increased the prices of its packages.

The Director of the Commission, Indrajith Handapangoda, further stated that all mobile phone services companies have told the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Regulatory Commission in writing that no price increase has been made so far.

Therefore, if any consumer is facing an increase in the prices of a mobile phone package that he has currently activated, he is requested to submit information about it to the Commission with evidence, and that the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Regulatory Commission has the power to take action against such service providers for violating the conditions of the licenses granted to their service providers.

Sri Lanka Customs has implemented a unique scheme to expedite container clearance in response to persistent delays at the Colombo Port.

According to a statement by Customs Media Spokesman Seevali Arukgoda, the initiative was started per the president’s directive.

242 containers that were inspected and released from the RCT, Greyline 1, and Greyline 2 yards yesterday were among the 459 containers that were cleared.

Authorities claim that slower clearance rates are the result of a lack of clearing agents and truck drivers, notwithstanding Customs’ ability to process about 500 containers each day.

Despite the fact that door permits had previously been granted, 496 containers were still at the port pending clearance. These containers have not yet been inspected this morning at the assigned yards.

The problem is made worse by the fact that 603 more containers that Customs had cleared are still waiting to be picked up at the port.

As a result, importers’ and their agents’ failure to collect is causing serious storage problems and port terminal congestion.

Even though today is a national holiday, Sri Lanka Customs and other pertinent governmental agencies are still in action to address these problems.

The continuous endeavors are concentrated on reducing the strain on storage capacity and accelerating the container clearance procedure.

According to officials, the project is essential to clearing the backlog, reducing traffic, and enhancing port operations’ effectiveness.