Portfolios held by Anoma Gamage, Lucky Jayawardana amended

Vesak to be celebrated from home

Vesak celebrations this year will be confined to the home as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. This was mentioned at a meeting between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and leading Buddhist monks at the Presidential Secretariat today. The Vesak festival falls during the first week of May and is usually celebrated with various public gatherings and events. However, the President’s office said that steps are being taken to conduct various events on electronic media and not in public. A committe

24 Apr, 2020

Hambantota Port set to remove over 5000 uncleared vehicles

The Hambantota International Port (HIP) is ready to move over five thousand vehicles out of the port in the next few days, following a directive by the Government that the port should remain clear for essential services. HIP had previously informed all stakeholders, in their letter, that demurrage costs incurred from the 16 March 2020 to the 30 April 2020 will be waived. ?Up to date only around a thousand vehicles out of approximately 6500 have been cleared. For us to expedite clearance, we ne

25 Apr, 2020

Government prepared to send entire villages for quarantine

The Government is prepared to send an entire village to be quarantined if required, the Defence Ministry said today. Defence Secretary Major General (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne said that apart from the Tri-Forces and Police, intelligence agencies are being extensively used to trace those who have close links to coronavirus patients. Gunaratne was briefing the Deputy Head of Mission of the Japanese Embassy, Toshishiro Kitamur, at the Defence Ministry today. The Japanese Government commended the rol

24 Apr, 2020