MP Archives - Ceylon Independent

Growing anxiety over delayed fertiliser shipment

6Jan

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

LOCAL

Growing anxiety over delayed fertiliser shipment

A shipment of fertiliser, which was due to arrive in the country has been delayed by a couple of days, notes the Ministry of Agriculture. During a recent cabinet media briefing, it was revealed that a shipment of fertiliser was due to arrive on the 3rd of this month. However, it was later learned that the shipment will now arrive on Monday, January 8, due to delays in loading. A shipment of 20,200 metric tonnes is due to arrive from Oman. The Fertiliser Secretariat notes that the 40,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser which has been dispatched from Pakistan, based on a request by the President, will also reach the country within a week. Farmers in the country are facing many struggles dues to the shortage of fertiliser. Areas as Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Hambantota have bee...

Farmers speak out as fears grow over fertiliser shortage

17Dec

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

LOCAL

Farmers speak out as fears grow over fertiliser shortage

Does the enthusiasm that authorities have for projects which provide an opportunity to earn commissions and bleed money from the country also extend to the problems faced by the agrarian community? The answer to this question lies in the issue of the fertiliser shortage currently affecting the nation’s farmers. Twenty thousand (20,000) acres of paddy fields are cultivated with water from the Rajanganaya Reservoir. The relevant area includes 64 farmers organisations, and after three seasons of drought rendered their crops useless, the farmers began tilling the soil for the Maha season with many hopes and aspirations. However, when the time came to apply the first round of fertiliser, all 64 farmers organisations received a single truckload of fertiliser. Farmers question whethe...

Distressed farmers urge authorities to focus on ‘real issues’

8Dec

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

LOCAL

Distressed farmers urge authorities to focus on ‘real issues’

Farmers are struggling due to the lack of fertiliser in country. Farmers in several areas have stated that they cannot engage in cultivation due to fertiliser shortages. Farmers expressed thoughts stating that the rulers should “open their eyes on real issues and forget about forming governments, forming Pradeshiya Sabhas and taking over power, and urged rules to “focus on working for the farmer”. Distress calls are being made from farmers in the Ampara District, which is responsible for the supply of a majority of rice to the country. Farmers in the district state that there are seven MPs in the Ampara District representing the UPFA, UNP and Mahinda. Furthermore they say that this is the current situation in Ampara. According to our correspondent, a fertiliser scarcity is a...

New NZ MP to fight deportation of Sri Lankan family in Queenstown

15Nov

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

History

New NZ MP to fight deportation of Sri Lankan family in Queenstown

New NZ First MP Mark Patterson will present the case of a Sri Lankan family living in Queenstown to the Immigration Minister, if the family's attempts to stay in New Zealand fail, Stuff reports. After eight years of living and working in New Zealand, Dinesha Amarasinghe, her husband Sam and their three sons Subath, 11, Binath, 10, and Senath, 8, are facing deportation on November 21 due to Amarasinghe, the primary visa holder, developing multiple sclerosis three years ago. Immigration advocate Shane Robinson plans to appeal the Immigration NZ decision and file an appeal on humanitarian grounds. "If both of those options fail, then the family's only hope is intervention by the minister of immigration," he says. MP Patterson, who lives in the Clutah-Southland electorate that incl...

Sri Lanka should be made a trading hub – State Minister

12Nov

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

Business

Sri Lanka should be made a trading hub – State Minister

If the other countries are developing in the global economy, the economy should be changed to suit our country, State Minister of National Policies & Economic Affairs Niroshan Perera said in parliament today. Participating in the budget debate on the second day of the Second Reading Debate of the Budget, State Minister Perera said the country should be made a trade hub. Expressing his views further, the State Minister said the government is looking ahead with a future vision to build a prosperous nation. "This government is not confined in 1956. We have a government looking into the future to build a better country for the people," he said. He said the world is moving towards a sustainable development target by 2030 and the government has presented a far-reaching budget wit...

Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa hopes for national and religious unity through a new constitution

3Nov

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

Top Story

Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa hopes for national and religious unity through a new constitution

Former president and United People's Freedom alliance (UPFA) parliamentarian Mahinda Rajapaksa expressed hope that the new constitution would promote national unity and religious unity. Participating in the Constitutional Assembly debate on the Interim Report of the of the steering committee on new constitution, the Kurunegala district MP said he participates in the legislative process to formulate a new constitution with the sincere hope to create unity in the country. Rajapaksa said the end of the war was a reason to restore reconciliation and the party participated in the process of drafting a new constitution with honest intentions although they had reservations about the government's process. "We presented our proposals to unite the people through the new constitution," he sa...