Tag: Lanka

As per the Ministry of Transport, over 350 people have been stranded on Luding-Shimian Expressway, comprising 336 construction workers and 20 managers…reports Asian Lite News

The strong 6.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the Sichuan province in China on Monday has so far claimed 65 lives while leaving 248 people injured and 12 missing, local media reported on Tuesday.

According to China Earthquake Networks Center, a total of 10 aftershocks of 3.0-magnitude or above have been recorded, including one earthquake of 4.0 to 4.9 magnitude, nine earthquakes of 3.0 to 3.9 magnitude, and the largest aftershocks of 4.2 magnitudes so far.

Among 65 deaths, 37 are in Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, where Luding county is located and 28 in Ya’an city, as of 7:00 am on Tuesday and more than 50,000 people have relocated, the Global Times reported.

As per the Ministry of Transport, over 350 people have been stranded on Luding-Shimian Expressway, comprising 336 construction workers and 20 managers.

Expressway tollbooths opened up over 700 special channels for earthquake relief. All service areas along the Chengdu-Luding Expressway have been fully stocked with epidemic prevention supplies, oil products, food materials and other emergency supplies.

More than 1,900 officers, armed police and soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army PLA Western Theater Command rushed to the earthquake-hit area and arrived at the epicentre area at 8 am on Tuesday, engaging in the transport of the injured, road dredging, victim search and other rescue work, Global Times reported.

As a result of the earthquake, the power supply in the province was cut off, however, State Grid Sichuan Electric Power Company said that nearly 22,000 households in the earthquake-stricken area have been restored after overnight emergency repair.

Chinese President Xi Jinping requested for all-out relief efforts to prioritise saving lives and minimizing casualties after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Luding county, Global Times reported.

China’s Red Cross Society has initiated a Level-III emergency response, with the first batch of relief materials consisting of 320 tents, 2,200 relief packages, 1,200 quilts and 300 folding beds dispatched to the affected area.

The Red Cross has also sent a working group there to help with the relief and rescue work.

Sichuan province has activated the second-highest level of emergency response for the earthquake and more rescue forces are rushing to the epicentre area.

The earthquake jolted Luding County at 12:52 p.m. Monday (Beijing Time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).

The epicentre was monitored at 29.59 degrees north latitude and 102.08 degrees east longitude, at a depth of 16 km, the CENC said.

The epicentre is 39 km away from the county seat of Luding and there are several villages within the 5-km range around the epicentre. The tremor was felt in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, which is 226 km away from the epicentre.

The quake was felt around 200 kilometres (125 miles) away in the provincial capital, Chengdu, where a COVID-19 outbreak has restricted most of its 21 million residents to their compounds under China’s strict “zero-COVID” policy. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Debt restructuring: China may disagree with Western creditors on Lanka

According to the records of India’s Home Ministry, as of 2021, 58,843 Sri Lankans have been residing in 108 refugee camps in Tamil Nadu. …reports Susitha Fernando

President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Office on Monday appointed a committee to facilitate the repatriation of Sri Lankan refugees who fled to India specially during the 26-year-long ethnic conflict.

President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake appointed the committee to efficiently carry out the repatriation of minority Tamils from the war-ravaged northern Sri Lanka. The committee had been appointed on the request of the Organisation for Eelam Refugees Rehabilitation (OFERR), to bring back the Sri Lankans who have gone to India as refugees due to the war.

“It was stated that about 58,000 Sri Lankans are currently residing in Tamil Nadu, India as refugees and only 3,800 of them are ready to return to Sri Lanka at present,” the President’s Office stated.

According to the records of India’s Home Ministry, as of 2021, 58,843 Sri Lankans have been residing in 108 refugee camps in Tamil Nadu. However there were around 34,000 Lankan refugees, registered with the state authorities, living outside the camps.

The Sri Lanka Deputy High Commissioner’s Office in Chennai is coordinating the move while representatives of Sri Lanka’s Department of Immigration and Emigration, the Justice Ministry, the Foreign Affairs Ministry and officials of the Registrar General’s Department are in the committee.

Since the civil war broke in early 1980s, Tamils, the largest ethnic minority in the island nation, accounting for about 12 per cent of the population have been fleeing to South India in search of protection and security.

Unable to bear the ongoing financial crisis in the island nation, a large number of Tamils from northern Sri Lanka also left for Tamil Nadu recently. With historical, cultural and religious links over the years, Tamil in Sri Lanka and India maintain close ties.

ALSO READ: Sri Lanka wants Chinese fertiliser firm blacklisted

The audit has also claimed compensation from the Chinese company for attempting to unload a stock of unsterilized fertilizer that contained destructive bacteria….reports Asian Lite News

After the fertilizer deal between Sri Lanka and China caused the island nation’s exchequer a loss of USD 6.9 million as the stock of fertilizer was rejected in December 2021 over reports that it contained harmful bacteria, Sri Lanka’s audit report called for action against officials and a Chinese firm.

The report has recommended prosecuting officials, as well as a Chinese firm, Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co Ltd which was responsible for an unsupplied fertilizer stock, reported the Sunday Times.

The audit has also claimed compensation from the Chinese company for attempting to unload a stock of unsterilized fertilizer that contained destructive bacteria.

The special audit report compiled by the National Audit Office on the procurement of 96,000MT of organic fertilizer from the Chinese company, Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co. Ltd, also recommended blacklisting the company, as it has not performed in accordance with the laws and agreements of Sri Lanka, reported the Sunday Times.

“… proceed with the legal action against the supplier and obtain compensation for attempting to enter a stock of unsterilized fertilizer… containing the destructive bacteria — Erwinia and Bacillus which cause diseases called mild rot and blight for economically valuable crops in Sri Lanka that cannot be imported into Sri Lanka in accordance with the terms of the agreement and the Plant Protection Act No 35 of 1999, and there is no recommended agrochemical for control,” the report said.

The report also made many observations on the shortcomings in the procurement process and technical evaluation because no Technical Evaluation Committee members participated in the evaluation process and only the chairman of the committee had signed the documents related to the pre-qualification evaluation from each bidder.

After that, the relevant supplier company had been informed by Shipping Advice on September 23, 2021, that the 20,550MT of fertilizer was sent from the Qingdao Port in China to the Colombo Port, reported the Sunday Times.

Last September, a controversial situation arose when Hippo Spirit the ship that carried the fertilizer cargo was anchored off the Colombo port but could not unload the stock as it had not been sterilised in accordance with the Plant Quarantine Act and was found to be consisting of harmful bacteria in the samples.

By refusing to accept and pay for the shipment, the importers, the two state-owned companies Ceylon Fertilizer Company Limited and Colombo Commercial Fertilizer Company Limited, filed cases at the Colombo Commercial Court to secure payment injunction orders against the People’s Bank, reported the Sunday Times.

After the issue was raised through diplomatic channels, a Cabinet Memorandum was submitted to resolve the issue through mediation on the advice of the Attorney General.

Accordingly, approval was granted to pay an advance of USD 6.9 million for 75 per cent of the cost of the fertilizer stock. Later, the two cases had been settled and withdrawn with the condition that the fertilizer should be resupplied with the desired composition and quality in accordance with the court settlement.

“Nonetheless the expected standard of stock of fertilizer has not been obtained until now. Although the period of the letter of credit and the performance bond should be extended and kept valid as per the settlement terms, those documents expired on March 12 and on March 24 respectively. As a result, the ability to encash the money paid on settlement has been lost if the supplier will not provide standardised fertilizers. Resulting all of the above, the entire amount paid for fertilizers has become a loss to the government,” the report said. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Gotabaya returns to Sri Lanka

Rajapaksa secretly fled to the Maldives first with the intervention of former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed and then to Singapore…reports Asian Lite News

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s former President who fled the country after anti-government protesters stormed his official residence on July 13, will return to the crisis-hit island nation on Saturday.

Following months of street protests over the country’s worst-ever economic crisis that led to the acute shortage of basic essentials like food, fuel, medicine and cooking gas, Rajapaska, who came to power with a thumping Sinhala Buddhist majority votes in November 2019, announced his resignation two-and-a-half years before the end of his term.

Rajapaksa secretly fled to the Maldives first with the intervention of former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed and then to Singapore.

Following the intervention of the Sri Lankan government, Rajapaksa who holds a diplomatic passport, flew to Thailand where he was allowed a 90-day stay.

Rajapaksa’s initial attempt to flee to the US where his son lives with his family, had failed after Washington refused to provide a visa.

A former duel citizen, Rajapaksa had to give up the US citizenship in order to run in the 2019 presidential election.

“The President should not have left the country but he could have given up the presidency while living in Sri Lanka,” Jagath Kumara, an MP from Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party, told the media on Friday while welcoming the return of the former leader.

“He is a citizen of this country and nobody can take the law into his or her hand,” the MP said when he was asked about the safety of the former President.

Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe had earlier stated that it was not safe for Rajapaksa to return to the country.

ALSO READ: Breather for Lanka as IMF agrees on $2.9bn deal

Facing the worst-ever economic crisis since Sri Lanka gained independence from Britain in 1948, the island nation is going through skyrocketing inflation…reports SUSITHA FERNANDO

After a week-long discussion with Sri Lankan authorities, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed to provide a $2.9 billion extended facility for a four-year period, with conditions on debt restructuring and action on corruption.

The IMF mission led by Peter Breuer and Masahiro Nozaki who were in the island nation from August 24 to September 1. They extensively discussed IMF’s support for Sri Lanka and the authorities’ comprehensive economic reform programme.

“The new EFF arrangement will support Sri Lanka’s program to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, while safeguarding financial stability, reducing corruption vulnerabilities and unlocking Sri Lanka’s growth potential,” the IMF announced in a statement.

Facing the worst-ever economic crisis since Sri Lanka gained independence from Britain in 1948, the island nation is going through skyrocketing inflation, dollar crunch and devaluation of the local currency mainly due to wrong financial decision making and extensive loans obtained for many white elephant projects.

With a colossal $51 billion foreign debt, the country was expected to pay $7 billion in debt serving but defaulted in April this year.

“Sri Lanka has been facing an acute crisis. Vulnerabilities have grown owing to inadequate external buffers and an unsustainable public debt dynamic. The April debt moratorium led to Sri Lanka defaulting on its external obligations, and a critically low level of foreign reserves has hampered the import of essential goods, including fuel, further impeding economic activity,” the IMF officials said in a joint statement on Thursday.

The IMF said that the economy is expected to contract by 8.7 per cent in 2022 and inflation recently exceeded 60 per cent, of which the impact has been disproportionately borne by the poor and vulnerable.

“Against this backdrop, the authorities’ program, supported by the Fund, would aim to stabilize the economy, protect the livelihoods of the Sri Lankan people, and prepare the ground for economic recovery and promoting sustainable and inclusive growth,” the statement added.

Some of the main areas of the IMF-Sri Lanka agreement include raising taxes with an aim to reach a primary surplus of 2.3 per cent of GDP by 2024; introducing cost-recovery based pricing for fuel and electricity; rebuilding foreign reserves through restoring a market-determined and flexible exchange rate; reducing corruption vulnerabilities through improving fiscal transparency and public financial management; and introduce a stronger anti-corruption legal framework.

During its stay in the crisis-hit country, the IMF team met President and Finance Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Central Bank Governor P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Secretary to the Treasury K.M. Mahinda Siriwardana, opposition leader and opposition MPs, representatives from the private sector, civil society organizations and development partners.

Sri Lanka was awaiting an IMF bailout to recover from the financial crisis which has led to the acute shortages of basic essentials like food, fuel and medicine.

India, the closest neighbour, was the first to come in Sri Lanka’s aid with nearly $3.8 billion of financial support since January this year.

ALSO READ: Lanka steps up efforts to woo tourists

The Minister said that the country had earlier offered a three-month “digital nomad” visa for tourists to attract foreigners engaged in remote work…reports Asian Lite News

In an effort to boost the tourism industry amid the economic crisis, the Sri Lankan government on Tuesday said the island nation has extended its multiple-entry tourist visa to five years

Tourism Minister Harin Fernando said that Sri Lanka now offers one-year multiple entry visas, reports Xinhua news agency.

The country also issues single entry visas with a six-month stay period.

Fernandor said that the cabinet of ministers approved his proposal on Monday.

“Cabinet agreed to extend five-year multiple entry tourist visas for 35 countries to help boost repeat tourism in Sri Lanka. A tourist can stay in Sri Lanka for six months in one stretch with this scheme,” he said.

The Minister said that the country had earlier offered a three-month “digital nomad” visa for tourists to attract foreigners engaged in remote work.

The Minister said that tourism picked up in July and August after the anti-government protests gradually fizzled.

He added that they expect 1 million tourists to arrive in Sri Lanka in 2022.

“We expect $2 billion from tourism this year,” he said.

ALSO READ: Lanka President to present interim budget