2023-09-20
News Categories : Committee News
Hon. Wajira Abeywardana stated that when the Central Bank declared financial bankruptcy, an entire country failed.
The Member of Parliament stated the above when the Select Committee of Parliament to Investigate Causes for Financial Bankruptcy declared by the Government and to Report to Parliament and Submit its Proposals and Recommendations in this regard met recently (Sep. 15) Chaired by Hon. Sagara Kariyawasam in Parliament.
Hon. Wajira Abeywardana and the former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal were called before the Committee.
The statements made by the Member of Parliament Hon. Wajira Abeywardana on September 1st, 2022 and February 10th, 2023 regarding financial bankruptcy were inquired at the Committee meeting held.
Addressing the Committee Hon. Wajira Abeywardana pointed out that according to the Constitution, the power of financial control vets with the Parliament and because of follwoing a wrong process, the Central Bank declared the country's financial bankruptcy on 12.04.2022. The Parliamentarian pointed out that as a result of this, the whole country fell into trouble.
Hon. Wajira Abeywardana pointed out that in the first quarter of 2022, $3.9 billion was to be paid and by April 8th, 2022, $3.2 billion had been paid. He pointed out that by April 12th, about 70 million dollars had to be paid to China and in that context, the Central Bank declared financial bankruptcy on April 12th effortlessly. The Parliamentarian pointed out that this is a wrong process and this should not have happened and there was potential to get support from the private sector and pay this amount. As a result, he pointed out that a large number of officials of the Central Bank are responsible for the situation in the country and certain individuals were not standing by Sri Lanka at that point in time. Therefore, the Member of Parliament further mentioned that people who stand with Sri Lanka should be given a high chair.
He also quoted a statement made by the current President, Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe, on April 8th, 2022, when he was a Member of Parliament. He also commented on the submission of about 70 amendments to the recently presented Central Bank Act by the Supreme Court.
Addressing the Committee, the former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal pointed out that the declaration of financial bankruptcy was the result of a long-term effort by several groups. The new Central Bank Governor declared financial bankruptcy on the first day of his appointment, i.e. April 12th, he said. He also pointed out that this is a declaration of debt default made without any national or institutional level discussion.
The former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal pointing out 3 main points in particular and accordingly, indicated that the announcement of financial bankruptcy on April 12th, 2022, how the bankruptcy took place and the fall in the value of the rupee will be discussed here. He explained at length how the declaration of financial bankruptcy was made on April 12th, 2022, and stated that he would elaborate on the other two points on a future date due to time constraints.
The Committee Chair, Hon. Sagara Kariyawasam, stated that there is an opinion that the governor of the Central Bank ran away at a difficult time for the country and he needs to give an explanation in this regard. Former Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said that on 03.04.2022, all the Cabinet Ministers met and took a decision to resign from the Cabinet and because he was also present at this occasion, he too felt obligated to take the same decision. But he pointed out that it does not amount to running away.
The Committee Chair, Member of Parliament Hon. Sagara Kariyawasam stated that it is important to get a good understanding regarding this matter so that something like this does not happen in the future.
Minister Hon. (Mrs.) Pavithradevi Wanniarachchi, Members of Parliament Hon. S. B. Dissanayake, Hon. Jayantha Ketagoda, Hon. (Dr.) Major Pradeep Undugoda, Hon. Sanjeeva Edirimanna, Hon. Nalaka Bandara Kottegoda were present at the Committee meeting held.
2024-09-20
The Committee on High Posts which met recently (Sep. 18) in Parliament has given its approval for the nomination of the Ambassador of Sri Lanka designated to the State of Kuwait.Accordingly, the Committee on High Posts considered the nomination of Mr. L.P. Ratnayake as the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the State of Kuwait and has approved same.Hon. Vidura Wickramanayaka, Hon. (Dr.) (Mrs.) Sudarshini Fernandopulle, Hon. Udaya Gammanpila were present at this meeting of the Committee on High Posts Chaired by Hon. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, Speaker.
2024-09-09
The report of the Select Committee of Parliament to look into whether the child malnutrition issue in Sri Lanka is aggravating and to identify short term, medium term, and long-term measures to be taken in that regard, as well as to oversee the speedy implementation of the identified measures was presented to Parliament by Member of Parliament, Hon. Rohini Kumari Wijerathna on behalf of the Select Committee Chair Hon. Vadivel Suresh recently (04). The Report presents that child undernutrition can be presented in four forms such as stunting (low length/height for age), wasting (low weight for length/ height or low BMI for age), underweight (low weight for age) and, micro nutrient deficiencies/ insufficiencies - a lack/ inadequacy of important vitamins and minerals. The Report further states that babies born with a birth weight of 2500 grams or less are considered to be low birth weight and according to the National Nutrition and Micronutrient Survey conducted in 2022, the prevalence of low birth weight in a nationally representative sample was 15.9%. The June 2023 Nutrition Month report identified an increase in underweight and stunting among infants and children up to two years of age compared to 2022. The most alarmingly high underweight rate of 24.6% was recorded in Nuwara Eliya district, where one in every four children was identified as moderately or severely underweight, the report said. In June 2023, the proportion of children affected by poverty in Sri Lanka is 10%, according to this report. 1.2% of all children under the age of 5 are affected by severe acute malnutrition and numerically nearly 16,000 children suffer from such acute malnutrition. The Nutrition Month 2023 report revealed a 10.3% increase in stunting among children under the age of five, an increase of 9.2% from the previous year. The report has revealed that the causes of chronic malnutrition, which are short or short in height compared to children of the same age, occur over time. Meanwhile, according to the survey conducted in 2022, a nationally representative sample of children aged 5-18 years found that shortness, overweight and obesity increase with age. The report has shown that lack of food security at the household level has also contributed to malnutrition. Due to the economic crisis in the year 2022, 98% of the entire population has been affected by the increase in food prices, and as a result, 74% of the households could not afford to buy food or daily essentials in the last six months of that year, according to the report. The number of food insecure households increased to 24% in the third quarter of 2023 compared to 17% in March 2023. A third of all families have reduced the frequency of cooking or limited their consumption and a quarter live on food from neighbors. The report provides conclusions and recommendations for improving child nutrition. It emphasized the importance of immediate attention to children before they become chronically malnourished. The report also emphasized the need for adequately skilled field health staff to provide quality Maternal and Child Nutrition (MCN) services for Maternal and Child Health (MCH) programs. The report also emphasized that vitamin A supplementation should be considered again before this becomes a problem again, as vitamin A supplementation has been discontinued for school children. The need for urgent action to improve the food security status of families with children under the age of five has also been highlighted. The report also recommends using existing health management information systems to identify focal areas of malnutrition in children and to map risk to address malnutrition in order to identify the most vulnerable families and causal factors. A number of short, medium and long-term recommendations have been presented in this report, including uninterrupted supply of nutritional supplements to pregnant mothers and malnourished children, control of prices of those ingredients to ensure affordable availability of ingredients for a healthy and low-cost diet, the implementation and monitoring of pre-school feeding program, school feeding program and school canteen guidelines to provide quality food.
2024-09-06
The Sectoral Oversight Committee on Food Security & Agriculture went on an observation visit in Gampaha (Minuwangoda) area on August 28 for the survey of paddy harvest obtained through the use of environmentally friendly fertilizer. The main objective of the Committee was to successfully introduce environmentally friendly fertilizer to the Sri Lankan agriculture and it was decided in this Committee that the fertilizer products should be tested in the main paddy growing area. Under the guidance of the Committee Chair Hon. D. Weerasingha, the eco-friendly fertilizer usage program was implemented in 7 provinces and Mahaweli Zones B, C and H in the 2024 yala season, post observing the successful results of paddy demonstrations in Welikanda and Dehiattakandiya areas using environmentally friendly fertilizers in the 2023/2024 Maha season. This observation tour took place in accordance to the said. Officials of the Sectoral Oversight Committees of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Agriculture and Plantation Industries, Department of Agriculture, the Department of Agrarian Development, Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute, Agricultural Research Policy Council, National Fertilizer Secretariat, Department of Census and Statistics and Western Provincial Department of Agriculture were present during this program. Under the above program, the program related to the Western Province was conducted under the supervision of the Western Province Agriculture Department and the harvest survey was conducted by the Census and Statistics Department. The overall coordination of the program was done by the National Institute of Fundamental Studies.
2024-08-22
The research report on the gender pay gap was presented to Hon. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, the Speaker of Parliament and Hon. Sajith Premadasa, Leader of the Opposition recently (Aug. 08) by Hon. (Dr.) (Mrs.) Sudarshini Fernandopulle, Chair of the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus. This report was prepared by a group of researchers including the Women and Media Collective under the leadership of the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus. Chair of the Committee on Public Finance, Hon. (Dr.) Harsha de Silva, Member of Parliament, Co-Deputy Chair of the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus, Hon. (Mrs.) Rohini Kumari Wijerathna, Hon. Eran Wickramaratne Member of Parliament were also present at this event. Addressing the gathering, Hon. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, the Speaker stated that it is important to formulate legislation and new policies to change these wage inequalities. Furthermore, the Hon. Sajith Premadasa, Leader of the Opposition stated that provisions should be included in the constitution so that these rights can be upheld. The Caucus Chair pointed out that in order to eliminate this gender wage disparity, there should also be a change in the attitudes among the people in the society. Mrs. Kushani Rohanadeera, Secretary General of the Parliament and the Secretary of the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus, thanked everyone who contributed towards the success of this work. Commenting on this research report, the research team led by Dr Sepali Kottegoda, Executive Director of the Women and Media Collective stated that the gender pay gap in the Sri Lankan labor market is primarily and closely linked to unpaid care services. The researchers highlighted that women are under-represented in high-wage industries, concentrated in low-paid service roles, and a significant proportion of women are engaged in part-time work and unpaid domestic care services. Ministry of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment, Women and Media Collective, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), National Democratic Institute (NDI) other invitees were present at this event.
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