Asith Hettiarachchi

I believe in what is right, being humane and I look forward to make a sustainable change in the system, someday...

[Manjula Basnayake @BasnayakeM]

"I learned today that individual liberty stands above the 'best interest of the child', and that Article 13(5) of the Constitution supersedes Article 12."— A powerful social media note by Attorney-at-Law Sajeevani Abeykoon, Director of the Law Enforcement Unit at the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA).#SriLanka #ChildProtection #NCPASriLanka #LKA #ChildRights #JusticeLK

[Kulanthi Silva @kulanthisilva]

Had everything gone according to plan, today we’d have had less or no power cuts & stable prices that wouldn’t jump every time oil prices go crazy. Sri Lanka was positioning itself as a green energy hub, not just consuming but exporting. Imagine how much revenue it could bring.

[Murtaza Jafferjee @murtazajaff]

MCC had nothing to do with SOFA. The link was concocted by our zealots. Saying no to MCC was the biggest policy blunder - we probably gave up 1 percent annual gdp growth over a decade. The focus of the MCC was evidence based - usd 480 mn, usd 300 mn was to improve connectivity including bus rapid transit. USD 60 mn was to improve land management including titling -

[Asith Hettiarachchi @AsithH]

No luck in Sri Lanka, for sure.

[Dr.Amila Fernando🪬 @DrBukkabwoi]

Sri Lanka sitting at number 2 for housing affordability stress. Right behind the Philippines. This data tells a story most people here already know from experience. The median income to median house price ratio in Colombo has been brutal for years now. What's interesting is we're worse off than India and Thailand, countries with similar income levels. The difference is their housing markets have more supply options. Here we've got everyone chasing the same limited properties in Colombo and the suburbs. Construction costs are up, land prices keep climbing, and salaries haven't kept pace. When I look at this chart, I see why so many young professionals are staying with parents longer or looking at co-living setups. The traditional path of buying a house in your 30s is becoming a luxury few can afford...

[H R Pasindu @HRPasindu]

@officiallahiru @NisansaDdS its a natural progression, 'bus pisso" to ministry of transport

[Kanchana Wijesekera @kanchana_wij]

If anyone wants to give any credit to anyone for developing the National Fuel Pass QR based system, it should be to Jayantha De Silva & his team at ICTA, Supun Weerasinghe & his team at Dialog Axiata, Shevan Goonathilake & his team at Millenium IT.

Their teams developed the platform within 2 weeks of our first meeting and rolled it out within a month at no cost to the government. It was implemented with the assistance & dedication of many more stakeholders.

[Asith Hettiarachchi @AsithH]

@nuuuwan Check https://t.co/TjqIqj2UaQ

[Asith Hettiarachchi @AsithH]

Grade 7 dreams.
Still valid.
@YasithEv

[Caltech @Caltech]

Meet Caltech's tenth president, Ray Jayawardhana!

[Asith Hettiarachchi @AsithH]

👏💪🇱🇰

[Sonal Jayawickrama @sonaljay8]

A story of amazing strength and resilience from the entire team at Taru Villas Maia in Habarana. The property was underwater on the 27th, and now they are back up and running in less than 5 days!

This is Sri Lanka. Nothing will keep us down. We will always rise!

[Market News🇱🇰 @MarketNewsLK]

Ceylon Tea achieves world record for the most expensive tea

#SriLanka entered the Guinness World Records after the New Vithanakande Tea Factory sold Ceylon Black Tea (FFExSp) in Japan for Rs.252,500/kg, achieving the recognition for the world's most expensive tea
-NW
🇱🇰☕👏🏼

[H R Pasindu @HRPasindu]

While many are focused on micromanaging the president's expenditure, we are hemorrhaging billions on project delays, contract terminations, and cost escalations.. Central Expressway Phase 1 cost doubled to Rs. 350 bn!

[Numbers.lk @numberslka]

Sri Lanka’s 🇱🇰 Presidents’ Entitlements (Repeal) Act 2025 is one of the most shortsighted policies ever proposed. Here's why it's a terrible idea:

⭕️ Who’s affected?
Living former Presidents & widow:
• Mahinda Rajapaksa – 79
• Gotabaya Rajapaksa – 76
• Ranil Wickremesinghe – 76
• Maithripala Sirisena – 74
• Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga – 80
• Hema Premadasa (widow) – 89

⭕️ 🇱🇰 Life expectancy: 77.8 years
All are already well past 70 - several past 80.
From an actuarial standpoint, this so-called "burden" will naturally resolve itself within a few years. There is no long-term cost to justify the repeal.

⭕️ Yet, the bill completely strips away all benefits pension, staff, security previously provided under the 1986 Act.
Most democracies, regardless of political change, continue to offer modest support to former heads of state.
This move makes Sri Lanka look petty and vindictive on the global stage.

⭕️ Worse, it sets a dangerous precedent.
Rather than encouraging dignified retirement, it creates perverse incentives to:

• Stay in power longer
• Maximize personal gain while in office
• Secure corrupt deals before leaving

When no post-office dignity is guaranteed, the temptation to extract while in power increases.

⭕️ The repeal is also retroactive, impacting those who served under the previous legal framework.
This raises serious constitutional concerns.
Global legal norms discourage retroactively removing entitlements that were guaranteed at the time of service.

⭕️ If passed, Sri Lanka becomes an international outlier:
🇺🇸 US – pension, staff, lifelong security
🇮🇳 India – pension, residence, personal aides
Most democracies maintain respect and support for ex-leaders, regardless of politics.

⭕️ And what does the country gain in return?
• Tiny fiscal savings
• Major constitutional risk
• Damaged international reputation
• No real long-term benefit — age will take care of this "issue" naturally

⭕️ Bottom line:
This is not smart policy.
Not meaningful reform.
Just a populist stunt driven by short-term political gain.

Laws must be written with tomorrow in mind, not as punishment for yesterday.

[Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡ @shanaka86]

🔥 THIS ISN’T JUST A BYD SCANDAL — IT’S A 100kW LIE DETECTOR TEST FOR THE ENTIRE SYSTEM ⚠️⚡

JKCG’s response hits all the PR notes:
✅ 100kW declaration
✅ Direct import from BYD China
✅ 3rd party certification
✅ Full compliance claim

But here’s the reality Sri Lanka Customs is now dissecting:

🧠 If the same 150kW physical motor is used — with output software-limited to 100kW —
Sri Lanka’s tax law doesn’t care.
As per the current law Sri Lanka Customs taxes by potential hardware capacity, not throttle constraints.

And now we have:

📦 1,000+ detained BYDs
📊 Rs. 4.5 million+ tax discrepancies per unit
💰 Potential Rs. 4–5B+ in back duties
⚖️ Parliament involved, opposition probing, legal gridlock looming

�� The real problem?
Sri Lanka has no homologation authority, no kW verification lab, no clear definition of “effective motor rating” in EV tech law.

Until that’s fixed, every EV import is a gamble.
JKH says 100kW. Customs may say 150kW.
Who decides? No one — because the policy void is the king.

🛑 This isn’t just an import dispute.
It’s a governance stress test for how Sri Lanka handles the EV future.

#JKH #BYD #Customs #EVPolicy #SriLanka #DutyScandal #MotorGate #TaxLaw #SriLankaNews #100kWLieDetector

[Numbers.lk @numberslka]

CBSL: 2.5%–3% Card Payment Surcharges Illegal

⭕ 🇱🇰 CBSL says merchants cannot impose 2.5%–3% extra charges on debit or credit card payments, as merchant agreements with banks ban passing processing fees to customers.

⭕ Despite this, in reality most merchants, including several government institutions and local authorities such as pradeshiya sabhas, routinely add these surcharges. These are often described as a “convenience fee.”

⭕ CBSL advised customers to obtain a receipt and report extra charges to their issuing bank for reimbursement and investigation.

⭕ This suggestion is impractical because merchants can simply advertise higher prices and then offer a “5% discount” for cash payments.(this is the current practice) This practice indirectly penalizes customers who use cards more.

⭕ Even though CBSL talks big about digital payment adoption, its policies are often backward.

⭕ In early 2025, CBSL raised the MDR for LankaQR transactions from 0.5% to 1%, effectively doubling merchant costs.

⭕ CBSL insists merchants still cannot add the extra 0.5% or any surcharge to customer bills, but this is discouraging merchants from adopting digital payments because it costs them more.

⭕ Policies like this contradicts the government’s cashless policy. In 🇮🇳 India, early QR adoption was free, with costs covered by the government.

⭕ If the government genuinely wants to accelerate digital adoption, it could adopt a 0% MDR rate and bear the transaction cost initially. Within one to two years, the resulting increase in withholding tax and income tax collection from wider digital use could offset these costs.

#SriLanka #DigitalEconomy

[ManthriLK @ManthriLK]

🔴 𝐀𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐚 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 tracks 22 key election promises made by President @anuradisanayake.

👀 View the video to see how it was developed and refined into what it is today.

👉 To visit the manifesto tracker and to learn how to contribute to Anura meter, visit: https://t.co/Wcq0dzE0PK

#srilanka #ElectionPromises

[Numbers.lk @numberslka]

1.74M families now receive Aswesuma, - about 1/3 of 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka. Govt plans to further expand it. But where is the urgency to cut it from those who no longer need it?

Nothing kills a society faster than turning work into a burden & welfare in to a carrier.

#EndlessWelfare

[Ahamed Nishadh @ahamednishadh]

Why open a 100 outlets for just one product?

Who will pay for the staff, overheads, operations, marketing and all those costs associated with the new outlets?

Why cant they distribute it through established networks such as Sathosa?

Setting up a branded rack at a Sathosa outlet or any other supermarket is much cheaper than putting up a full retail outlet to sell one brand product..

[Talal Rafi @talalrafi7]

This is one of the "external shocks" that can be disastrous for the fragile Sri Lankan economy. I'll state some of the impacts below.

Oil prices have already risen by 12% globally. Sri Lanka spends around $4.5 billion annually for fuel imports. A 12% rise means an additional $500 million annually. I would expect oil prices to rise even further as this is a major all out attack by Israel on Iran and a major escalation. Rise in fuel price by 12% itself wipes out the entire exports earned through coconut exports for Sri Lanka.

As tensions escalate, it will affect Sri Lankans working in the middle east, leading to a decrease in remittances. Higher oil prices along with tensions can result in lower tourists coming into Sri Lanka. This will all lead to pressure on the Sri Lankan currency. Higher freight charges also adds to this.

Also, rising oil prices will result in higher inflation globally. Central Banks around the world will raise interest rates. Rate hikes especially in the US and EU can hit Sri Lanka's exports. The World Bank has already downgraded growth for about 70% of world economies including Sri Lanka's. As Sri Lanka's exports are largely apparel and tea, which are things consumers can and will cut down in economically hard times, this will affect Sri Lanka's exports. But Sri Lanka's imports cannot reduce as it imports are dominated by fuel, apparel inputs (for it's apparel sector) and machinery etc which are essential for the Sri Lankan economy.

Prices of goods in Sri Lanka will rise soon. Subsidising fuel prices will not help reduce the import of fuel as the Sri Lankan consumer will not know the rise of global oil prices and will continue to consume as usual leading to pressure on the current account. But subsidising fuel prices by the govt will lead to an even larger fiscal deficit and the govt has no fiscal space for this. Larger fiscal deficit will not help us get upgraded by the global rating agencies which is essential before 2028 to avoid a second default.

As Sri Lanka heads towards debt repayments in 2028, this will complicate matters for Sri Lanka. This new crisis due to the Israeli attack on Iran along with the uncertainty due to Trump Tariffs will make it much tougher for Sri Lanka to build reserves of up to $13 billion by 2027.

[Rohan Samarajiva @samarajiva]

Why does democracy have to be so expensive? Why can't they hold elections on weekends or on public holidays?

[Jigz @spaceceylon]

Optics is everything. You really think President Trump 🇺🇸 & his team wants to sign a trade deal with someone like this?

If you play with fire, it will burn you. Watch.