The Army Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva has been tasked to spearhead the National Operation Center for Prevention of COVID- 19 Outbreak, which has been set up on the directive of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at No. 1090, Sri Jayewardenepura, Rajagiriya.

This Centre will coordinate preventive and management measures to ensure that healthcare and other services are well geared to serve the general public.

All officials depending on the exigency of services will be utilized for the services coordination under National Operation Center and they should be available on call service.

As a measure to contain the outbreak of COVID – 19 President Gotabaya Rajapaksa instructed officials to suspend all inbound passenger flights to the country for 2 weeks with effect from mid-night tomorrow (18).

President also directed heads of Departments and other entities to ensure uninterrupted economic and trading activities as well as other essential services.

President issued these directives at a meeting with officials of the Task Force on Prevention of COVID – 19 virus held at the Presidential Secretariat today (17).

While we have to take stern measures to control the situation, we cannot let the country to suffer, President said adding that he is willing to take right decisions and requested the cooperation of all parties to implement them.

President elaborated on the steps taken by the Government so far and said the task force was set up on January 26^th, being the first country to establish such a mechanism. Sri Lankans including students in Wuhan and other cities in China were brought back. Several quarantine centers were opened at different parts of the country. Last Monday was declared a public holiday with the objective of curbing the spread of the virus. Three more holidays have been given to sectors other than essential services.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said around 300 are currently scattered in various places in India who were on pilgrimage. President ordered relevant officials to send a flight to bring them back to the country.

The President pointed out that with the World Health Organization’s announcement of the COVID-19, the government had taken every step possible to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus in the country.

President Rajapaksa has instructed the police to find out about the people who are hiding in the country without getting quarantined and make people aware of them.

‘The existing situation should not be used to achieve narrow political gains. There is no need to reconvene the Parliament. If there is need to postpone the general election, the Election Commission has the power to do so’, the President said.

During the meeting, the importance of limiting parties, various fiestas and public gatherings as much as possible, was stressed.

Also stressed was the need of taking swift action against those who spread rumours and fabricated stories regarding the spread of the virus, with the intention of frightening the general public.

The President pointed out that granting leaves in a manner that it would disrupt the economic and civilian life is not a solution to the problem.

Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi and members of the Coronavirus Prevention Task Force and Heads of health and essential services institutions participated in this meeting.

The Government yesterday warned those who spread false information on COVID-19 that they would face harsh penalties under the Quarantine Ordinance. Media Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena pointed out that some individuals spread rumours through social media and put the country into various difficulties in order to gain personal benefits.

“Some Opposition politicians have forced Buddhist monks to protest against the proposed Quarantine Centres. Such ideas are being fabricated by Opposition politicians in order to create instability in the country,” he said.  “Sri Lanka has a very strong Quarantine Ordinance Act introduced when the country was under British colonial rule. Rumour mongers should be aware of this before resorting to their various gimmicks.

Police also warned that legal action would be initiated against anyone found spreading false rumours regarding the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic over social media with the aim of causing panic among the people.

The Police Media Unit issuing a statement refuted claims that many COVID-19 infected persons had been reported from various parts of the country.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa requested the heads of research organizations to find ways and means to uplift a small country like Sri Lanka with a comparatively small population and an economy.

Since the current global economy is based on knowledge, ours should be developed centered around our workforce that can be easily trained, President observed.

President Rajapaksa made these observations during a meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat today (13) with Chairmen and Director Board members of state- sector research entities. This is the fourth of the series of meetings organized to enlighten heads of government institutes on ‘Saubagyaye Dekma’ Policy Statement. Heads of Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute, National Science Foundation, Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies and Institute of Post-Harvest Technology were among the participants.

“There is a visible breakdown in our political culture. The people of this country elected a person who was not a politician as their President with the hope of rectifying this. This is the challenge before me. The State sector has an enormous responsibility in fulfilling aspirations of the people. If the public institutes function in an efficient manner we will not have any issue in carrying out our duties”, President Rajapaksa said.

The President emphasized that conducting comprehensive researches is crucial for economic development and said that his main objective is to ensure higher standard of living for the lower segment of the society. He also said that the programme to recruit 100,000 unskilled persons from the underprivileged families was designed to achieve this objective.

‘We are an agricultural country. But our farmers have always been poor. Second and third generations choose the agricultural field if it is the only option for survival. Modern technology should be introduced to this field to attract new generation. India has successfully achieved results by doing so. Researchers should introduce new technologies to agriculture in order to free the underprivileged people from poverty’, President Rajapaksa emphasized.

Explaining the role and responsibilities of the research institutes, the President said it is imperative for researchers to identify accurately what our people need. Researches need to be done to introduce new techniques to agricultural sector as well as to the fisheries sector. Even though we have many problems about use of chemical fertilizers, we still haven’t been able to shift to use organic fertilizer. When considering the fisheries sector, researches can be used to identify areas where fish are abundant. President pointed out that the results of researches should be socialized as a product.

Secretary to the President Dr. P.B. Jayasundara, Ministry Secretaries and other senior officials were also present in this meeting.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has paid his attention to enhance the efficiency of railway services and to make it a people- friendly service while identifying the existing shortcomings.

The President instructed the officials to devise necessary strategies and to take required decisions to improve the service by eliminating delays and upgrading compartments facilities.

President Rajapaksa made directives at a meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat, today (11) to discuss the steps to be taken to improve the railway services.

On a daily basis, over 385,000 passengers travel by train. The President said that by providing improved services to these commuters and attracting more people will help easing traffic congestion on roads.

Our trains are often over crowded. During this meeting the steps that should be taken to rectify this situation were discussed in detail.

The President also required trade unions to make their representations to enhance the efficiency of the railway system.

Daily train schedules should be designed based on public needs. The President also highlighted the importance of identifying potentials of the current workforce of the Railway Department with the objective of improving their skills in order to provide more efficient service.

The train delays are mostly caused due to the out-dated signal systems. The President also instructed relevant officials to take necessary remedial measures in this regard with the assistance of the local engineers. Attention was drawn to the possibility of using railway lines for freight transport after peak hours. The President said that it would be of great importance to the national economy as well.

Discussions were also focused on modernization of the railway service in an attractive manner targeting foreign tourists.

Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, Secretary to the President Dr. P.B. Jayasundara, Mr. S. Atigala, Secretary to the Finance Ministry, Mr. H.M.Gamini Seneviratne, Secretary to the Ministry of Transport, Railways General Manager, M.J.D. Fernando and Senior Officials were present in this meeting.

Information, Media, Higher Education, Technology and Innovation Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena yesterday said that the government will soon begin the construction of fully fledged university in Kotagala, Hatton for the benefit of students in the plantation sector who qualify for university entrance.

Minister Dr. Gunawardena made these remarks when he visited Kotagala along with Minister Arumugam Thondaman to inspect the land which has been earmarked for the construction of the new university.

“Steps would be taken to fulfill the pledge made by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to the plantation sector people,” he said.

The Minister said the proposed university will introduce novel study courses in the field of bio technology, engineering technology and Information Technology on the directive of the President.

“A generation armed with cutting edge technology will emerge from the plantation sector with the commissioning of this new university,” he said.

The Minister also said the Thondaman Vocational Training Centre will also be upgraded to a University College status soon.

“This university will introduce novel study courses through which those who pass out can receive gainful employment projects without participating in protests seeking for jobs,” he said.

He said that the President succeeded in fulfilling his pledge of granting employment to the graduates before the election.

Dr. Gunawardena also opined that the rifts developing in the United National Party will help the Government secure a 2/3 majority at the upcoming election.

The Old Parliament Building where the Presidential Secretariat is currently located will be open for public view every weekend from 10 am to 4 pm, from March 14^th Saturday. Public is also allowed to take photographs within the Old Parliament premises.

For reservations, people may reach the Director General(Admin) via fax 011-2441685 or Telephone number 011-2354354.

The Old Parliament Building represents a crucial era in the Sri Lankan political history. The Building was constructed 82 years ago and its construction was inspired by the Greek Ionian order which is considered to be one of the oldest architectures of the ancient Western classical time period. The outer appearance of the Old Parliament Building resembles the Athenian “Parthenon” in Acropolis dedicated for their patron goddess Athena.

The Building was initially established as the “Legislative Council” by the Governor Sir Herbert Stanley in 1930. Following amendments to the Constitution and ensuing amendments to the name of the Legislature, the Old Parliament Building was called a number of names throughout history. Between 1931 and 1947 it was called the “State Council”, while it was changed to the “House of Representatives” from 1947 to 1972. During 1972-1978 period it was called the “National State Assembly” and finally, it was called the “Sri Lanka Parliament” from 1978 to 1982. As the parliament was moved to the current Parliament Complex in Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte, this historical building was designated as the Presidential Secretariat in 1983.