Udaya Gammanpila, Minister of Energy says that the stocks of fuel in the country are increasing all the time and it is pointless to panic looking at the stocks at a single moment.

He says that a petrol tanker comes to Sri Lanka once every 5 days, a diesel ship once every 7 days, and a tanker aircraft once every 3 weeks.

Therefore, those stocks are declining in daily consumption and will increase again when a ship arrives and the ship does not have the capacity to bring in the required stocks for several months at a time, the Minister said.

He also said that neither he nor Minister Gamini Lokuge had any conflict or crisis in the eyes of the people and that “the only problem he and I have is the dollar issue”.

Udaya Gammanpila, Co-Spokesman for the Minister of Energy, says that there will be no thrift of fuel economy by importing electric vehicles without promoting renewable energy in the country.

He points out that the promotion of electric vehicles in the country is a very appropriate decision to create fuel economy in the future.

But before that, he said, we, a country with a large number of renewable energy sources, need to make effective use of those renewable energy sources. He says that is basically what should happen.

He also stated at the media briefing today that there is no point in importing electric vehicles without doing so.

Speaker of the National Assembly of South Korea, Park Byeong-seug, will arrive in Sri Lanka this week, his office said.

He is scheduled to leave the country today and meet with Speaker Mahinda Abeywardena, President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa during his four-day visit, the office said.

He is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka to discuss expanding cooperation on mineral resources.

The two sides hope to discuss possible agreements on the conservation of Sri Lanka’s rare mineral salts, the avoidance of double taxation, and the enhancement of South Korean business participation in aviation and development projects in Sri Lanka.

Park also plans to solicit support from the Sri Lankan government in South Korea’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan, a southeastern port city.

He is scheduled to return to South Korea on Saturday.

A spokesman for the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) said that the $ 500 million worth of fuel supply from India to Sri Lanka would be sufficient to meet Sri Lanka’s fuel needs for about a month and a half.

He said Sri Lanka needed about $ 440 million worth of fuel in a month to run and generate electricity.

He said $ 400 million was needed for fuel in vehicles and $ 40 million for power generation.

India has promised to give Sri Lanka a fuel loan, not a financial loan and accordingly, India will supply fuel to Sri Lanka and the loan and interest will have to be repaid in installments after one and a half months, the corporation spokesman said.

India has offered a new Line of Credit (LOC) of USD 500 million to Sri Lanka for the purchase of petroleum products, a statement from the Indian High Commission said.

The statement said External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar extended this critical support in his letter addressed to the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, Prof. G.L. Peiris.

It would be recalled that in a landmark development, External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and Hon’ble Minister of Finance, Mr. Basil Rajapaksa held a detailed virtual meeting on January 15, 2022 and discussed various aspects of robust economic partnership between India and Sri Lanka. Early operationalization of the LOC will help realize one of the four pillars of economic cooperation identified during the visit of Hon’ble Minister of Finance, Mr. Basil Rajapaksa to India in December 2021.

Recently India had extended foreign exchange support of over USD 900 million to Sri Lanka. These measures are in line with India’s commitment to stand with Sri Lanka, contribute to Sri Lanka’s economic growth and impart greater momentum to bilateral economic and commercial partnership.

The Governor of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal says that the sovereign bond installment of US $ 500 million due today has been paid.

Various parties had expressed various views that there was no money to pay this amount.

But the government continued to insist that they had the money to pay the foreign loan installments.

Confirming this, the Governor of the Central Bank said that the sovereign bond amounting to about $ 500 million has been paid today and the relevant parties will receive the money on time.

All the relevant documents had been prepared and completed by yesterday.

The CEB engineers today (18) went on a sick leave strike to protest against the arbitrary actions of the Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board.

Engineers working in power plants and workplaces across the country will join the trade union action, said CEB Engineers Association President Saumya Kumara Wadu.

Meanwhile, more than 100 engineers from various parts of the country have arrived in Colombo this morning to protest in front of the Ceylon Electricity Board, he said.

He also stated that various trade unions will continue to strike until the removal of the CEB Chairman and the newly appointed Acting General Manager.

Police say that the son-in-law had killed his father-in-law and fled during a wedding ceremony held in the Weerahela area in Tissamaharama last night (16).

Investigations have revealed that the husband of the eldest daughter had assaulted the daughter’s father and strangled him due to a dispute between the family members.

Father in law who was in a critical condition died on admission to the Debarawewa Hospital.

The deceased has been identified as a 54-year-old resident of Lunugamvehera, Padavigama.

The body is being kept at the Debarawewa Hospital morgue. The suspect in the murder has been identified.

The suspect has now fled the area.

Tissamaharama Police are conducting further investigations.