INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The Constitutional Council (CC) which was scheduled to be convene today (23) has been rescheduled for tomorrow at 1.30 p.m.Under the
19th Amendment to the Constitution, then CC is the responsible body to appoint members to the Independent Commissions such as Police
Commission, Bribery Commission and Election Commission.The Speaker holds the Chairmanship of the Council while the Prime Minister and
Opposition Leader are ex-officio members of the 10-member CC.
More CSD personnel to help fortify elephant electric fences -
Minister
Environment and Wildlife Resources Minister S.M
Chandrasena in reply to Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa question regarding the Government commitment to solve the country environmental
issues, said that the Government has launched a project to recruit more Civil Security Department(CSD) personnel in order to help fortify
the electric fences in order to minimize the elephant-human conflict.
Action has been taken to address other issues raised by the
Opposition Leader,& the minister added.
The Minister also said that three people had been taken into custody and produced before the
Wellawaya Magistrate in connection with the shooting and killing of a leopard in the Udawalawe jungle
Court proceedings were in progress and Police are conducting further investigations.
In addition, another leopard had been found dead after
getting caught in a snare at Yatiyantota in Kegalle on January 3
The matter had been reported to the court and investigations are in progress,& the minister said.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa
yesterday said in Parliament that there seemed to be an organized group engaged in killing leopards to collect their body parts and demanded
to know what action the government would take to ensure the safety of the endemic animals facing extinction.
Making a special statement,
the Opposition Leader said that there are only around 1,000 in number of the leopard species known as Panthera Pardus Kotiya.
The sub
species animal is native to this country
During the first two days of this year two leopards had been killed
Their teeth had been removed and front paws had been taken away
Signs are that an organized group is killing them to collect certain body parts of those animals
What action will the government take to protect those animals?& the Opposition Leader questioned.
He also brought five other major
environmental issues to the notice of the government
He said that in 2019 the human-elephant conflict left 120 persons and around 400 elephants dead.
What plans does the government have to
In the same way, what plans has it got to manage the crisis situation faced by the farmers from the damages caused by wild boar, monkeys and
peacocks to their cultivations?
Premadasa said that there had been a number of killings of elephants during recent times and demanded to
know the progress of any investigation conducted by the government in that regard.
There is a need for urgent action to preserve Wet Zone
forest reserves which are the home to a number of species which are native and endemic.
Therefore, Sri Lanka has been identified as a land
with the highest biodiversity per unit area of land amongst Asian countries
What actions or plans does the government have to protect and preserve those Wet Zones?& he questioned.
Opposition Leader Premadasa
demanded to know the course of action being taken by the government to ensure the protection of the country marine environment.
He also
said that there are 343 animators working for the Wildlife Department on a voluntary basis and demanded to know when the government would be
able to promote them to permanent status.
Innovative policies to boost production - State Minister Indika Anuruddha
Those loyal to the
UNP who were appointed to state institutions by the previous regime are still in these posts
They brought Ranjan Ramanayake on stage and cheated over 5 million people at the Presidential election by uttering falsehoods, said State
Minister Indika Anuruddha in Parliament yesterday.
He said the current government is committed to uplift the local contractors
&We need to create a data bank at the Construction Authority.
The names of the contractors need to be fed into this database
The previous government had stated that construction contracts would be given to local contractors, but instead they had given these
contracts to ministers and MPs of their government
MP Ashu Marasinghe mentioned about a deal
The phone recordings reveal certain parties claiming to support the government in the event Sajith Premadasa is fielded as the Presidential
However, the biggest issue of the Opposition is that the Rajapakses& have come into power
The previous government obtained funds by pawning the Building Materials Corporation under the Housing Ministry,& State Minister Anuruddha
said.
However, he said that the housing construction sector will have a better future
&By enacting these new laws and regulations, we intend to create a conducive environment to spur production.
The MP noted that the previous
regime took years to complete the Colombo-Kandy highway
&There is no start or end
As a result the local industrialists are stranded.
MP Anuruddha said that none of the contracts for the construction of high-rise
apartments would be given to foreign companies
&We intend to give these contracts to local companies
Due to the misdeeds of the previous regime, hundreds of thousands of people are trapped in housing debts.
Further, he said that thousands
of youths are stranded due to the unstable employment placements provided by the previous government
&The employment of these young men and women have become unstable as they had promised them that they would be made permanent after Sajith
Premadasa was elected as the President.
Measures on possibility of curtailing milk powder imports -Health Minister
Health and Indigenous
Medicine Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi said that action would be taken to look into the possibility of curtailing the importation of milk
powder.
She was responding to a query raised by Matara Distict Parliamentarian Buddhika Pathirana yesterday in Parliament.
She stated
this, when MP Nalinda Jayatissa raised an interim question, pertaining to a question raised by MP Buddhika Pathirana seeking oral
answers.
The Minister said that a programme should be implemented to increase the consumption of fresh milk among the people and
discussions are being held with the relevant stakeholders.
The need to increase the consumption of fresh milk in order to ensure a
healthier life for the people was also discussed.
