Aritha W

Banking Lawyer, Human Rights Activist, Adventurer. Tweets are personal.

[Aritha W @aritha]

@HRPasindu We remember the last time PAYE tax was abolished

[Aritha W @aritha]

@nomadic_sanjee @Dr_HariniA @BimalRathnayake Vile and disgusting.

[Daniel Alphonsus @danielalphonsus]

Lazard bankers are paid over 100x our Public Debt Management officers.

Getting advice from the likes of Lazard is good, it helps bring down our borrowing costs and generally more than pays for itself.

But what’s better is also hiring high quality staff to the Public Debt Management Office.

[Tim Cook @tim_cook]

Happy Pride!

[Aritha W @aritha]

@colomboinsights Sri Lanka is still recovering from the damage caused by his economic policies.

[Aritha W @aritha]

@aruni_t @NalakaG Genuine investors to Sri Lanka consistently complain about how difficult it is to get visas here. Most go from pillar to post and everyone is subject to lengthy Defence Ministry clearances - which happens every year. It is very obvious how these visas are obtained.

[Aritha W @aritha]

@HarshadeSilvaMP highlights a major flaw in Industrial and Tax policy.
Usually, when negotiating trade deals, foreign countries want to make sure that goods imported here are treated no less favourably than locally produced goods. Looks like they don’t have to worry about that.

[Harsha de Silva @HarshadeSilvaMP]

Removing CESS is right. But slapping VAT on locally sourced inputs defeats the purpose entirely.

A BOI exporter importing fabric = no VAT. Same exporter buying the same fabric locally = VAT. Same product. Different treatment. That's not industrial policy.

The real competitiveness issue is electricity costs, and this government couldn't even respond to the IMF's own recommendations logically. We need export-led growth. Not import substitution. 📹

#SriLankaEconomy #ExportSector #VAT #IMF #LKA

[Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project @OCCRP]

The revelation that a large number of Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka are accused of abusing children was made in response to a freedom of information request by OCCRP. It comes as the country grapples with child sex allegations against one of its most senior Buddhist clergymen.

https://t.co/fSG0ZZbiUj

[Aritha W @aritha]

The police officer in charge of the Bureau for the Prevention of Abuse of Children and Women prides herself in the number of families she’s “put together” and often refuses to take complaints down from abused women and children. The situation has got worse.

[Chaminda Dias @chami9539]

This is dire... but not a surprise. We have built a system that routinely fails victims of abuse.

Recently, a friend was physically assaulted by her husband. When she went to the police and made a complaint, the response was for the policewoman to call the husband and ask him to take her home because men are seen as the head of the household.

That entrenched misogyny meant she was asked to be patient, think of the children, and try to work things out... and this was after she had been battered.

The case is still going nowhere, and she remains trapped in that home, still living with a violent and unpredictable man.

So when people ask why there is outrage when children allege abuse, this is why... If grown women can't get protection from a system steeped in misogyny and power imbalances, what chance does a child have?

Then add another layer.. the reverence and protection afforded to religious institutions. Those children are not just fighting an individual abuser but an entire system.

That is why people are angry, why I am angry. That is why this has touched a nerve throughout the country.

Anyone who feels that this is an attack on the institution of Buddhism needs to rethink their worldview. It is the abuser who is denigrating the religion, not those asking for accountability on behalf of voiceless children.

#SriLanka
#AccountabilityProjectLK
#SystemChangeLK

[Kithmina Hewage @khewage1]

Rs 10bn = USD 30mn

Here's just a small sample of things you could buy with that money (based on a quick Google search):

👉🏾 10 high-end MRI machines
👉🏾 2 specialized pediatric cardiac wings similar to Little Hearts
👉🏾 10 regional hospitals
👉🏾 75,000 - 100,000 laptops for low-income students

Every rupee wasted on perpetually loss-making SriLankan Airlines comes at the cost of the health and education of Sri Lankan citizens!

[Aritha W @aritha]

@LihiniFernando Sri Lanka desperately needs a system to maintain monastic discipline and to disrobe monks who violate it. For decades politicians have used the lack of such a system for their advantage to increasingly politicise the Sasana. These measures should reverse that.

[Aritha W @aritha]

@RehanJayawick @aruni_t Rehan - how can an audit report be ready when it’s only been 6 months since the fund was established? First a financial year has to end, then accounts prepared and subject to a Government audit which takes many months (same as a Pvt company) and then the report is published.

[The Examiner @ExaminerLK]

The JMO’s report concluded that the child had been raped over a long period of time. The NCPA told the court that even as recently as April 27th the police had failed to name any suspects.

https://t.co/VtM4JAPP1E

[Centre for a Smart Future (CSF) @CSFasia]

The price of slow progress is rising. Sri Lanka’s trade, exports, and FDI agenda needs an urgent refresh and acceleration. Read our sharp Media Release published in today’s @FTSriLanka. Private and public sector stakeholders must work together proactively https://t.co/HojRuZptni

[Aritha W @aritha]

@ManikkageYasuni @gayaradesilva Any crime is a crime against the State and the prosecution is done by the State. Private lawyers can support the victim by guiding them through the legal process. When the victim is a child, any supplementary private legal support must be sought by the NCPA and the parents.

[Nalaka Gunawardene @NalakaG]

Will #SaffronCrimes against children in #lka receive due criminal investigation & judicial action? Or will #SaffronImpunity prevail? Watch this space...

[Aritha W @aritha]

Where are all the religious leaders who are always protesting about “protecting” children?

[Kelum Samarasena @kelums]

The monk must be immediately removed from position as the chief prelate responsible for key historic places in Anuradhapura including Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi. The alleged crime surfaced in 2022. Siyam Nikaya heads should've taken action long before.

[Aritha W @aritha]

@gita_mathew Looks yum

[Shashi Tharoor @ShashiTharoor]

Points well taken. Things are going well currently. But we need a major push to enhance our relationship even more! @santoshm

[Daniel Alphonsus @danielalphonsus]

Meanwhile in a parallel universe 32 kms away…