Category: Industry
‘s tourist arrivals drop sharply by 22% in November
December 20, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s visitor arrivals in November slumped to 22.4 percent, the Tourist Board said Wednesday, prompting fears that the dwindling numbers will spillover to 2007. Sri Lanka welcomed 549,308 visitors in 2005 and the board is hoping to equal the score this year. The island greeted 37,591 holidaymakers in November […]
Green Business
December 19, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lankan businesses are cashing in on a booming market for carbon finance, selling carbon credits at increasing prices to developed countries struggling to meet climate change commitments. Developed countries who are signatories to the Kyoto protocol have agreed to cut carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming, to […]
Oil Buddies
December 18, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is scouting for international experts to help the island hedge part of its hefty oil bill next year, Petroleum Minister A H M Fowzie said Monday. A net oil importer, Sri Lanka’s retail fuel market is dominated by state oil giant Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), while Indian fuel […]
Sri Lanka spins to victory over New Zealand
WELLINGTON, Dec 18 (AFP) – A superb spell of spin bowling by Muttiah Muralitharan secured a comprehensive 217-run win for Sri Lanka over New Zealand in the second cricket Test here Monday to level the series 1-1.Muralitharan finished with six for 87 to claim an impressive ninth five-wicket haul for the year, as Sri Lanka […]
Lost Aid
COLOMBO, Dec 18, 2006 (AFP) – Corruption and ethnic violence is blocking a flood of foreign aid for Sri Lanka’s tsunami survivors two years after the massive disaster, according to official records and whistle-blowers. President Mahinda Rajapakse admitted a year ago the country had failed to do enough to help the victims of the towering […]
Hollow Warning
BANGKOK, Dec 18, 2006 (AFP) – Nearly two years after the tsunami, a regional warning system is beset by squabbling and inaction, officials and experts say, as individual countries instead scramble to implement their own schemes. Thailand this month released a US-funded deep-sea warning buoy into the Indian Ocean, while Indonesia plans to install about […]
Setting Sail
Dec 18, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse Monday kicked off a million dollar project to expand the Colombo port, which will triple existing capacity and enable it to service larger vessels in the future. The 1.2 billion dollar project, the largest port development undertaken so far, will add four terminals, each with […]
Who said what at the 2006 Asian Games
DOHA, Dec 16, 2006 (AFP) – Who said what at the 2006 Asian Games which came to a close on Friday: “Nobody thought I would be here. My mother had made an oath to the bodhi tree that I would take part in the Games.” – Sri Lanka sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe after winning 200m bronze […]
Equal Chances
Dec 15, 2006 (LBO) – The Employers Federation of Sri Lanka are calling on more firms to employ disabled people, not just for equal opportunity, but because it also makes business sense. The Employers Federation of Ceylon (EFC) together with the Motivation Charitable Trust of UK run an annual job fair for disabled people and […]
Faulty Cable
December 15 (LBO) – Sri Lankan pay television service Comet Cable is facing a withdrawal of its broadcast rights, unless royalties owed to a joint shareholder since 1997, are paid up. Comet Cable has an 18,000 strong customer base and is one of the oldest pay television companies in Sri Lanka with 18 paid channels […]
Energy Link
December 14, 2006 (LBO) – India and Sri Lanka are due to ink a million dollar agreement as early as next year to set up a mega transmission power line between both nations, an official said Thursday. Linked between India’s city of Madurai and Sri Lanka’s Anuradhapura, the project aims to supply up to 1000 […]
Murali twist has New Zealand in a spin
WELLINGTON, Dec 14, 2006 (AFP) – The controversy surrounding Muttiah Muralitharan’s bizarre run out which hastened Sri Lanka’s downfall in the first cricket Test against New Zealand, flared again here Thursday on the eve of the second Test. Two days after Sri Lanka said they had put the issue behind them — while maintaining the […]