Parliament to debate Wilpattu deforestation issue

23 Mar, 2019

Parliament is to debate the Wilpattu deforestation issue after a proposal was made in Parliament today.

Concerns were raised that the issue may result in fresh communal tensions in Sri Lanka and needs to be resolved soon.

Leader of the House Lakshman Kiriella told Parliament today that the land which was cleared to resettle some families had been allocated by former Economic Affairs Minister Basil Rajapaksa in 2012.

Kiriella said the Government is prepared to debate the issue in Parliament and will look to fix an early date for the debate.

Meanwhile, President Maithripala Sirisena said that since 2015 no land in Wilpattu has been handed over to anyone.

The President said this at an event held today. (Colombo Gazette)

Recommended For You

IMF to extend Sri Lanka program till June 2020

The International Monetary Fund says it hopes to extend the funding program with Sri Lanka till June 2020. IMF Director at the Communications Department, Gerry Rice, said that the IMF Executive Board will meet next week to consider the request from Sri Lanka to complete the review of the 5th review under the IMF program. “On the substance of IMF help, we have a program there with Sri Lanka that is ongoing and indeed next week, our executive board will consider the request from the authorities

10 May, 2019

HRCSL proposes guidelines when implementing emergency law

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has proposed a set of guidelines to follow when implementing the emergency regulations. In a letter to President Maithripala Sirisena, the Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Dr. Deepika Udagama says the Commission does not dispute that emergency regulations are needed at a time like this in order to provide protection to the public and to restore normalcy. Similarly, the Commission believes that if the regulations are implemented by

09 May, 2019

Brother of church suicide bomber in custody

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) informed court today that the brother of the suicide bomber who attacked St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade is in custody. The CID said that two others also linked to the bombing have been arrested. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said that the brother of the bomber is a resident of Kalmunai. Gunasekera said the brother of the bomber was arrested in Mattakuliya. (Colombo Gazette)

09 May, 2019

Colombo Gazette is a leading news and entertainment website, covering stories related to Sri Lanka. The content consists of text based news, photos and videos and is linked to social media websites including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, to provide a wider coverage for its stories.