Wrong facts in budget speech checked

FactCheck (@factchecklka) pointed out that Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's budget speech included wrong facts about tax collection. 

The Prime Minister said, "Tax in place of the various goods and service taxes and levies, imposed under multiple laws and institutions on alcohol, cigarettes, Telecommunication, betting and gaming and vehicles, which accounts for 50 percent of the income from taxes and levies. It is expected through this reform to direct Institutions under special legislation such as the Excise Ordinance to have a more focused regulatory engagement in facilitating the government to secure its revenues otherwise lost through sale of illicit alcohol and cigarettes."

FactCheck pointed out "50% of total tax revenue would amount to Rs 867 billion in 2019; based on figures available to us, taxes collected on these goods and services amounted to less than Rs 500 billion, which is less than 30% of total tax revenue."

The Prime Minister proposed to introduce a special Goods and Services Tax for, alcohol, tobacco, gaming, telecommunications replacing several different taxes.

Sri Lanka's fisher community leader, MP Wedaarachchi encourages people to eat fish

Sri Lanka's major opposition MP Dilip Wedaarachchi ate raw fish today before media and urged people to eat fish to save fishermen. He said fish is safe despite COVID-19 and people must eat it at this difficult moment of the industry. Wedaarachchi said that he hailed from a family of fisher community leaders and knew how safe this nutritious food was.

"There are about 35-40 types of small fishing industries and 300,000 fishermen in the country. About 1.2 million people depend from this industry," Wedaarachchi pointed out highlighting they had lost their livelihood because the product could not be sold. 

"In Sri Lanka, there are 3500 multi-day vessels. About 1,650 of them catch tuna for exports. Around the country, there are about 900 Madel (big fish net) venues and 3,000 people depend on that industry alone. Sri Lanka has 1,200 million kilo capacity of cool rooms but they have not been properly maintained. The previous government allocated money but the then Minister of Fisheries Mahinda Amaraweera must answer to the question of what happened to the allocations," Wedaarachchi charged.

He urged the government to lease cool rooms from the private sector, to buy fish from the fisher community, to conduct scientific tests and make aware the public, to provide loans to the multi-day vessel owners who require over Rs. 500,000 worth supplies for the next trip and to provide Rs. 5,000 COVID-19 relief to small fishermen.  

He also urged the government not to allow the health officials in Negambo to disturb the drying of fish in the beach. 

A photo published by an MOH office in Sri Lanka

This photo was published by a Facebook Page named as MOH Office Pelmadulla of Sri Lanka's Rathnapura district. The description in the photo says that the covered corpse belongs to a man who arrived in a house in Sandasilugama, Ketethenna on November 16. 

He came on a bus from Peliyagoda, an area under the risk of COVID-19. The report said he had fallen in the compound of the house a few hours later and died. 

The text says that the body was sent to Rathnapural Teaching Hospital for PCR testing after a 'massive effort' with the support of the officials of Kahawatta police station. 

A wheelbarrow and few planks, probably a makeshift stretcher, are seen in the picture. 

Police officer's daughter crashes into Nanda Motors; son killed a police officer in 2019

An SUV vehicle that crashed into Nanda motors building in Colombo yesterday damaging the building and several vehicles in the showroom had been driven by a daughter of a senior police officer, reports say. 

The same police officer's son reportedly drove a Defender over the traffic OIC of Borella police station, Ananda Sagara Sarathchandra in February 2019 and fled. The severely injured police officer died later in March. 

The police officer's son was with politician Mahindananda Aluthgamage's son. The accident took place in wee hours while the group of young men were returning from a night club. The driver was remanded later. 

The relevant police officer Pradeep Ratnayake was Superintendent of Police of President's Security Division when his son was arrested suspected for killing a police officer. Reportedly, he is nos promoted as Senior Superintendent of Police and presently in charge of Nugegoda division.

(Photo from social media)

At least five students got all 200 marks for grade 5 scholarship

Sri Lanka's grade 5 scholarship examination results are out. The practical pass mark of this examination is around 85% in most districts of the country. 

In Sinhala medium, the cut off mark is 169 in Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Kandy, Matale, Galle and Matara districts.

At least five students have reportedly achieved all 200 marks in the examination.  

The highly competitive grade 5 scholarship examination provides an opportunity for the students who have not been privileged to enter into high-class public schools to be selected to those schools on merit basis.  

Second highest number of COVID-19 reported from Sri Lanka

The number of COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Sri Lanka yesterday is the second-highest number of cases reported in Sri Lanka within a single day. 

The number of cases of COVID-19 recorded on 15 November 2020 was 704 (Health Promotion Bureau COVID-19 dashboard). 

However, 866 cases were reported on October 24 (WHO statistics)

Five deaths were reported on 15 November. All of them were from Colombo city.

Let the Sri Lankan expatriate workers return and quarantine at home - Ethera Api

Janaka Adhikari, Attorney-at-Law, Financial Secretary of Ethera Api organization said that the government was not attending the burning problems of the Sri Lankan expatriate workers. "Many Sri Lankan workers in the Middle East cannot return home because the government has no proper plan for repatriation," he charged.  

Ethera Api organization pointed out that contracts of some of these expatriate workers have ended. They have no social security and even food and lodging in some situations. They will be fined for overstaying because of the fault of the government of Sri Lanka. 

"Some housemaids have to work in homes under dire conditions without legal contracts. They are subjected to exploitation as a result of the situation. Some have no place to live and they sleep in public parks and roadsides," Adhikari said. "In Dubai, there are over 7,000 Sri Lankan workers waiting to return to Sri Lanka. There are thousands of similar Sri Lankans in countries like Saudi Arbia, Qatar and Kuwait." 

The representative of the Ethera Api organization said that some Sri Lankans had worked illegally, but they sent much needed foreign exchange to the home country. The workers who have no work visa face the utmost difficulties. Ethera Api organization demanded the government to attend to the problems of these Sri Lankans also.

"Let them come and quarantine at home. Don't delay their return citing the lack of space for quarantine," Janaka Adhikari demanded. He pointed out that there was business behind repatriation of Sri Lankans. "Srilankan increased airfare unfairly and the workers cannot bear it. They have to pay for quarantine in hotels which belong to government cronies." 

Meanwhile, the government claims they have repatriated more than 40,000 Sri Lankans and the operation which was held due to the second outbreak of COVID-19 will resume next week.  

Photo: Foreign workers in Dubai via UCA News)