By Ifham Nizam
A fire that erupted on the ground floor of the Supreme Court complex in Hulftsdorp was doused yesterday evening.
Attorney-at-Law Ravindranath Dabare told The Island a pile of plastic roofing sheets had caught fire.
Dabare added that further investigations were being conducted by the Government Analyst’s Department.
Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, Attorney General Dappula de Livera and Deputy Inspector General of Police, Ajith Rohana rushed to the scene along with the personnel of the tri-forces.
AG de Livera, PC at the scene of the fire (pics by Nishan S. Priyantha)
The fire had been caused by a short circuit, officials said. Nine fire engines from the Colombo Municipal fire brigade put out the fire.
By Rathindra Kuruwita
The Attorney General has recommended disciplinary action against Deputy Solicitor General, Azard Navavi, and State Counsel Malik Azeez, who were entrusted with the file on National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ) and its leader Zahran Hashim, for lapses in handling the case, the PCoI investigating the Easter Sunday attacks was informed yesterday.
A three-member committee had also concluded its inquiry, and charge sheets have been sent to the Public Service Commission (PSC,) Additional Solicitor General Sumathi Dharmawardena yesterday told the PCoI. The report had been sent on 27 November 2020 through the Secretary to the Ministry of Justice, but there had been no response so far, he said.
Highways Minister Johnston Fernando yesterday ordered that the heads of the consultative firms responsible for the construction of the Kadawatha-Mirigama stretch of the Central Expressway be summoned for an urgent meeting.
The Minister gave this order at a meeting at the ministry over a protracted delay in the construction of the Kadawatha-Mirigama section of the Central Expressway, ministry sources said.
Two top officials attached to the project were also transferred with immediate effect yesterday.
The Minister said that he had severely warned the officials twice but they had failed to sort out the inordinate delay.
When the Minister called for a meeting of the heads of companies which provided consultancy for the phase between Kadawatha and Mirigama, he was informed that they were abroad, and the minister ordered the representatives of those companies to summon them within the next 30 days.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Attorney General Dappula de Livera, PC, on Monday (14), alleged that the situation in overcrowded coronavirus-affected prisons wouldn’t have been so bad if specific instructions issued by him to IGP C.D. Wickremaratne had been properly implemented.
The AG said so at the opening of a 12-storyed building complex for the Attorney General’s Department at Hulftsdorp. Justice Minister Ali Sabry, PC and Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, PC were present on the occasion. Eleven remand prisoners were killed and over 100 wounded in recent Mahara Prison riot triggered by those protesting against the failure on the part of authorities to adopt sufficient precautionary measures. Referring to the law enforcement authorities’ response to the health emergency, President’s Counsel Livera said that he advised the police in that regard umpteenth number of times since April, 2020. According to him, the instructions were meant to reduce the severe congestion in prisons.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is exploring the possibility of rapidly adding power from renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and natural gas to the national grid.
Many countries are turning to renewable energy sources for power generation. As per the “Saubhagyaye Dekma” Policy Statement, by 2030 the government expects to meet 70% of the total electricity demand from renewable energy sources.
During a discussion on power generation held at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday (15) President Rajapaksa said that the generation of renewable energy should be carried out expeditiously in a systematic manner with short-term as well as long-term objectives.
The government aims to meet the increasing demand for energy from renewable energy sources when implementing development projects in the future. Under its first phase the wind power project installed in the island of Mannar has added 30 megawatts to the national grid.