According to the latest reports from the Department of Prisons, the capacity of prisons in Sri Lanka has exceeded by approximately 300%. The reports reveal that the capacity of remand prisons has surged by 400%. Sri Lanka has 18 remand prisons, with severe overcrowding reported in Magazine Prison, Colombo Remand Prison, and Welikada Prison. Additionally,…
The newly declared detention center at the Mullaithivu Air Force camp has reportedly been used to detain 103 Rohingya refugees rescued recently. Public Security Minister Ananda Wijeyapala stated that an investigation is underway to verify if these individuals are genuine refugees, as there are allegations of connections with human traffickers. The Sri Lanka Human Rights…
Colombo Additional Magistrate Pasan Amarasekara issued a stern warning to prison officials, emphasizing, “Prisoners are humans too,” after witnessing 40 detainees shackled together with a single chain and brought into the courtroom. The Magistrate criticized the inhumane treatment and instructed prison officers to refrain from treating prisoners like animals. The incident occurred during the judicial…
The Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government has announced that the amended Provincial Councils Elections Bill will be presented to Parliament next week. Minister Professor Chandana Abeyrathna stated that the bill has already been gazetted. He mentioned that after the bill is presented to Parliament, it will be passed by this month,…
The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) reached a historic 2.41 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in throughput, marking its highest-ever performance. The Port of Colombo, including terminals like South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT) and Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT), recorded a total of 7.78 million TEUs. Ongoing infrastructure developments, including the partial operation of the…
Sri Lanka Police have launched the e-Traffic mobile application, a cutting-edge tool aimed at reducing traffic violations and improving road safety in line with the ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ initiative. The app was officially launched yesterday (January 01) by Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Attorney-at-Law Priyantha Weerasuriya, at a ceremony held at the Police Headquarters….
President Anura Kumara has increased the Aswesuma (Relief) benefits as a Christmas gift, according to a social media post by his Media Director General, MP Najith Indika. Aswesuma refers to a transitional assistance provided to alleviate poverty using the taxes collected from the public, and not a gift distributed by politicians. Welfare benefits should not…
As Sri Lankans, we step into 2025 with the dawn of a new era, a time when the dreams of prosperity that our nation and its people have long cherished begin to materialize. The parliamentary elections of 2024 enabled us to establish a government with a strong majority, earning the trust of people across the…
Downtown Colombo and especially its upmarket commercial areas sparkled, and will continue to do so, in the night this Christmas season until the grand finale on New Year’s Eve. There is little indication that this city of night lights had experienced dire economic collapse just three years ago. The long lines of vehicles that once…
The government has disbursed a Rs. 6,000 allowance for children of Aswesuma welfare beneficiaries to aid their education. The funds were released through the Treasury to Aswesuma bank accounts last Friday. This initiative aims to mitigate the adverse effects of the economic crisis on children’s education, as revealed by the Department of Census and Statistics…
