An Echelon Media Company
Sunday October 1st, 2023

Sri Lanka’s Litro Gas acquires 100,000MT of LP gas using World Bank funds

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s state-run Litro Gas Lanka Ltd has procured 100,000 metric tons of liquid petroleum (LP) gas – enough for four months – worth 90 million US dollars, 70 million of which was funded by the World Bank.

The prime minister’s office said Thursday June 30 afternoon that the remaining 20 million dollars was from Litro.

Sri Lanka, going through its worst forex crisis since Independence, has seen long queues for LP gas which is primarily used for cooking at both domestic and industrial levels. Angry consumers were seen lining up outside gas vendors for days.

“This consignment will be enough to supply the country for four months. Seventy percent of the consignment will be provided to domestic consumers. An estimated 5 million 12.5kg cylinders, 1 million 5kg cylinders and 1 million 2.5kg cylinders will be obtained from this. The remaining 30% will be provided for commercial use,” the prime minster’s office said.

An initial consignment of 33,000 tons of LP gas procured by Litro at a cost of 20 million dollars will reach Sri Lanka by the first week of July and distribution will commence immediately, the statement said. (Colombo/Jun30/2022)

Comments (1)

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. sacre blieu says:

    With all available cylinders now sold out from the agents, including empty ones, will the gas reach actual users or the hoarders and will there be a sensible method of distribution? Even the fuel and gas, should, first, be stocked island-wide at all agents outlets, and until complete not a single one should be sold. Then sales should commence from all on a given date and only to vehicles at a limited, little higher amount of fuel. Stocks should be continued to be made available. The state sector should also have its limits and no slippages should be tolerated.

View all comments (1)

Comments (1)

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. sacre blieu says:

    With all available cylinders now sold out from the agents, including empty ones, will the gas reach actual users or the hoarders and will there be a sensible method of distribution? Even the fuel and gas, should, first, be stocked island-wide at all agents outlets, and until complete not a single one should be sold. Then sales should commence from all on a given date and only to vehicles at a limited, little higher amount of fuel. Stocks should be continued to be made available. The state sector should also have its limits and no slippages should be tolerated.

Sri Lanka National Christian Council opposes Online Safety Bill

ECONOMYNEXT – The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) in a statement on the Online Safety Bill, said that the existing legal regime is adequate to deal with instances of harmful speech, making it unjustifiable to enact such “stringent laws”.

The Council called upon the government to withdraw the bill immediately.

The body expressed “deep concern” over the proposed bill, detailing its potential to curtail freedom of speech and how, according to the Council, the piece of legislature is inconsistent with the principles of democracy.

“The bill proposes the establishment of an entity named the Online Safety Commission without provisions to guarantee its independence and impartiality,” the statement said.

Chapter 3 imposes restrictions on online communication of certain statements, many of which are vague and overbroad, leaving room for executive control and the curtailing of legitimate criticism and dissent that are basic features of democracy, the statement said.

“The laws granting wide discretion to the executive and its investigative agencies with expansive reach have been misused in the past.”

The Council said that the bill was not drafted with the process of public consultation and discussion, which might have ensured the bill would be less draconian in nature.

“The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka calls upon the government to withdraw this anti-human rights and anti-democratic bill immediately.” (Colombo/Sep30/2023)

Continue Reading

Sri Lanka to implement new vehicle revenue licence issuing system

ECONOMYNEXT – A new system of issuing vehicle licences called eRL 2.0 is to be implemented in 5 provinces, excluding the Western Province, from 3 October onwards.

The new system is to be implemented beginning in the North West, South, North Central, Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces, respectively. The existing vehicle licence issuing system eRL 1.0 will continue to be used in the Western Province.

The issuing of revenue licences islandwide at Department of Motor Traffic head offices and regional branches will be temporarily halted on October 2.

The facility of obtaining vehicle permits online will also be temporarily halted on 6 October till midnight.

The Sri Lanka Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) and the Provincial Motor Traffic Departments are working to modernize the current vehicle revenue license issuance system.

The implementation of the new eRL 2.0 system is expected to be an important step in the digitalisation of Sri Lanka. (Colombo/Sep30/2023)

Continue Reading

Sri Lankan Airlines flights cancelled as aircraft grounded

ECONOMYNEXT – State-run SriLankan Airlines has apologized to passengers who were stranded as multiple aircraft were grounded at the same time.

The airline said it has strict procedures which requires aircraft to be grounded when technical issues are discovered.

“Unfortunately, in this case we suffered a number of groundings at the same time,” the airline said.

“We apologize for the disruption and inconvenience caused and assure all our loyal customers that we are working diligently to minimize such occurrences moving forward.”

The airline said it was booking passengers on other airlines while some have been accommodated at hotels. (Colombo/Sept30/2023)

Continue Reading