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Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena, left, shakes hands with South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in during a meeting at the presidential Blue House in Seoul yesterday. Sirisena is in Seoul for a three-day state visit. 

Models display  creations by fashion designer Cheryl at the Designer Wedding Fashion Show event in Colombo yesterday.

Sri Lanka will modernise its age-old railway sector by purchasing over 100 new carriages, engines and developing the stations, Transport Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva said yesterday. Minister De Silva said this will also help the government to strengthen the country’s public transportation sector as majority of Sri Lankans depended on it on a daily basis, reports Xinhua news agency. The minister said these plans were part of the Colombo suburban railway project which is to be funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Under this plan, the transport and civil aviation ministry together with Sri Lanka Railways will construct new parallel railway lines and modernise railway stations. Apart from a nationwide network, new railway lines will also be put in place to connect Colombo to the Bandaranaike  International Airport.Thousands of tourists who visit Sri Lanka per year depend on the railway sector to explore many areas of the island.

Sri Lanka yesterday began preparing for long-delayed local elections seen as a key popularity test of embattled President Maithripala Sirisena, whose coalition government is embroiled in bitter infighting. Sirisena’s allies say the president has deliberately stalled local council polls to buy time as he tries to heal rifts within his own party, an  accusation he denies. The local vote, likely to be in early February, is seen as a crucial mid-term test for Sirisena, who has struggled to hold the raucous ruling alliance together since his  election in 2015. Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon from the non-profit Campaign for Free and Fair Elections said voters were no longer considering this a small local election. “People felt they were being deprived of their vote for a long time,” Tennakoon said. “This could be a test of the president’s popularity.” Sirisena has said the election was delayed by nearly two years because authorities had to redraw complex electoral boundaries. The clash over the local polls is the latest in a series of disputes within the ruling coalition, formed after Sirisena split his own Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and secured support from the rival United National Party. The allies have since clashed over economic policy and on stalled investigations into corruption under the regime of former president Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also from the SLFP. Parliament last week announced an investigation into the alleged tapping of lawmakers’ private phones by a Sirisena-appointed commission, deepening the acrimony within the coalition. The president’s own party is split between him and predecessor Rajapakse, who ruled Sri Lanka for a decade and presided over the end of the decades-long civil war. Rajapakse remains a threat to Sirisena’s leadership of the SLFP, wielding considerable influence in Sri Lankan politics.

Sri Lanka’s election body yesterday announced to hold local polls on a staggered basis after the government’s proposal to hold them on a single day got stuck in legal technicalities, a media report said. President Maithripala Sirisena’s faction of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party has been accused of delaying the election out of fear of losing them by the faction led by former president Mahinda Rajapakse. The government had postponed the elections for over 330 local councils in the island nation since 2015 for electoral reforms. In order to postpone the polls by a year, the government proposed an amendment to the constitution to hold elections for all nine provincial councils on a  single day. The Supreme Court in September ruled that the proposed 20th amendment to the constitution to hold council elections on a single day requires two-thirds parliamentary majority and a nationwide referendum. Election Commission (EC) chief Mahinda Deshapriya said that the date to file nominations in 93 councils would be announced in two weeks. He said that the EC would rather hold elections on the staggered basis than postponing them as he cited numerous occasions when elections were held on such basis. Deshapriya’s decision followed the appeal court’s stay order until December 4 covering the local government minister’s implementation of gazette on delimitation report. The EC was expected to announce nomination dates for elections to 341 local councils last week. In the history of provincial council elections since 1988, elections for the nine provinces have been always held on a staggered basis. Two of the councils end their terms this month while one of them ends on October 1. If elections are held, they would be the first test of the unity government headed by President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The World Bank has urged Sri Lanka to encourage more women to work as this would not only help Sri Lanka realise its economic potential but would build on its several achievements. In a report titled “Getting to Work - Unlocking Women’s Potential in Sri Lanka’s Labour Force” the World Bank noted that despite steady economic growth, the number of women participating in Sri Lanka’s workforce had declined to 36% in 2016 from 41% in 2010. Sri Lankan women, especially younger ones, do not sufficiently acquire marketable skills, face higher unemployment rates, and receive lower wages than men, the report said. “Removing barriers to women’s paid work will encourage more Sri Lankan women to participate in the workforce,” the Wold Bank said. “Getting women to work is not just about supporting human rights, it’s about smart economics,” said Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough, the World Bank country director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives. “Lifting the barriers to women’s participation in the workforce will not only help Sri Lanka realise its economic potential and build on its several achievements, it will also increase the equitable sharing of the development benefits,” she added. The report further said once women were at work, increasing the availability of high-quality childcare services, improving access to part-time work and maternity leave, and addressing socio-physical constraints on women’s mobility through safe transportation and telecommuting were essential to help them remain in the workforce. Workplaces must embrace gender equity in labour legislation and non-discriminatory policies, including zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Sri Lanka’s parliament yesterday announced an investigation into how the private phone records of legislators were leaked in a scandal that has deepened acrimony between President Maithripala Sirisena and his coalition. Lawmakers allege their phones were illegally tapped by a commission selected by Sirisena to investigate a long-running insider trading scandal linked to the central bank. “We must find out how this information leaked out and remedial action should be taken,” said parliament speaker Karu Jayasuriya as ruling party legislators accused the presidential commission of hacking their phones. Sirisena has publicly accused politicians from his own coalition of frustrating his investigation, launched earlier this year, into a bond dealing scandal at the central bank. The then-central bank governor Arjuna Mahendran, who was sacked in April 2016, was accused of misconduct regarding alleged favours to his son-in-law Arjun Aloysius, who is accused of causing millions in losses to the island’s coffers. Ravi Karunanayake resigned as foreign minister in August after being linked to Aloysius, a controversial financial trader who is under investigation. The leaked phone records of 28 members of parliament, including calls made by WhatsApp and Viber, detail how several of them were also in  communication with Aloysius. The presidential commission investigating the insider trading scandal denied it ordered the phones tapped. In a statement, it said the records were obtained from mobile devices used by Mahendran and Aloysius and information from telecom service providers. There was no explanation as to how the records were leaked. The commission ended its sittings Monday into the scandal after hearing evidence from Prime Minister Ranil  Wickremesinghe. Sirisena was elected after defecting from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and securing support from Wickremesinghe’s United National Party. But the allies have clashed since over economic policy and over stalled investigations into corruption under the former ruling regime.

Sri Lankan commuters walk along a road amid fog in Piliyandala on the outskirts of Colombo yesterday.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday appeared before a special Presidential Commission which is probing a treasury bond scam at Sri Lanka’s central bank after the new government was elected in January 2015. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe is the first prime minister in Sri Lankan history to appear before a special commission of inquiry appointed by a president. The commission is probing the controversial sale of treasury bonds during the period of the former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran who is alleged to have caused losses amounting to millions of dollars to the island country’s coffers. Mahendran was appointed the central bank chief in 2015 by Wickremesinghe before the bonds scam but resigned a year later. The opposition has been calling on the government to probe if the prime minister was aware of the scam. Wickremesinghe was questioned for an hour by the commission yesterday, during which he said he had an opportunity to explain the government policy on public debt and clear his name. “The president, secretary of our party, and our ministers have come forward to fearlessly give evidence,” Wickremesinghe told journalists after his hearing. “The good governance will move forward. There is nothing to hide. There may have been mistakes, shortcomings, but the good governance will move  forward,” he added. Many senior ministers attended  the hearing yesterday. Wickremesinghe was invited before the commission following his public announcement last month that he was willing to testify should the commissioners require any clarification from him about government policy on bonds. The commission had initially submitted a list of questions to the prime minister which he answered through an affidavit but he was summoned to appear personally for further  clarifications. President Maithripala Sirisena appointed a three-member commission earlier this year to investigate if the country lost billions of rupees as alleged by the opposition as a result of the bond scam. Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, centre, waves as he leaves a court complex in the capital Colombo yesterday after testifying before a Presidential Commission of Inquiry investigating inside trading allegations against the former central bank governor. 

Sri Lankan troops patrolled a coastal town yesterday where nearly 90 homes were damaged and cars set alight in violence between the island’s Sinhalese and Muslim communities. A brawl over a traffic accident on Gintota, about 110km (68 miles) south of the capital Colombo, on Thursday descended into clashes between mobs from the majority Sinhalese and  Muslim minorities. The army and navy were deployed to reinforce local police as the situation spiralled over the weekend with at least five people hospitalised and close to 90 buildings damaged in the rioting. The town remained tense and under lockdown throughout Saturday evening, but at dawn a curfew imposed on previous days was lifted. “We have called for a complete report about damages and all the victims will be compensated by the state,” Home Minister Vajira Abeywardena told reporters. Security forces and police would remain in place until law and order had been restored, he added. Muslims account for about 10% of Sri Lanka’s 21mn people, the second-largest minority group after Tamils. Sinhalese - a largely-Buddhist ethnic group - make up more than 70% of the population. Police said 19 people have been arrested in connection with the weekend riots and the authorities were looking for more suspects. In June 2014, there were religious riots between the majority Buddhists and minority Muslim leaving four dead and many injured. That violence was instigated by a Buddhist extremist group whose leaders are on trial accused of spurring religious  conflict.

Sri Lanka deployed troops and ordered a night-time curfew in a southern town to end violent clashes between two ethnic communities, the government said yesterday. Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayaka said the situation in Gintota in Galle province was under control, two days after a brawl degenerated into street violence between two groups - one Sinhalese, the country’s mainly Buddhist majority, the other from the  Muslim minority. “Additional police battalions, the police Special Task Force, the anti-riot squad and the military were called in last night to bring the situation under control,” the minister said in a statement. Six people injured in the clashes were admitted to hospital in Galle city, 115km (72 miles) south of the capital Colombo, according to local police who arrested 19 people. It was not clear what triggered the clashes, with accounts varying between a road accident and a land dispute. The government relaxed the curfew yesterday morning with a warning that police would  arrest any instigators. Ratnayaka blamed local politicians for attempting to exploit the unrest. “Some political groups are now on a desperate mission to turn this minor brawl into a Sinhala-Muslim clash. I urge the public not to be misled by their false propaganda,” the minister said. Muslims account for about 10% of Sri Lanka’s 21m people and are the second largest  minority group after Tamils. Sinhalese make up over 70% of the population. President Maithripala Sirisena’s government, after came under fire from rights groups and diplomats for not doing enough to crack down on hardline Buddhist groups, acted against anti-Muslim attackers in June this year. That action came after more than 20 attacks on Muslims, including arson at Muslim-owned businesses and petrol-bomb attacks on mosques, were recorded in two months. Authorities said they were keen to avoid a repeat of violence seen in June 2014 when four people were killed and several injured in clashes between the two communities in the same region. That unrest was blamed on a radical Buddhist extremist group whose leaders are currently facing several court cases for instigating inter-faith  violence.

Sri Lankan police arrested 19 people after a clash between "extremists" from the majority Buddhist and minority Muslim communities in which four people were injured, a spokesman said on Saturday. Tension has been growing between the two communities this year, with some hardline Buddhist groups accusing Muslims of forcing people to convert to Islam and vandalising Buddhist archaeological sites. Some Buddhists nationalists have also protested against the presence in Sri Lanka of asylum seekers from mostly Buddhist Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority. Police said the late Friday violence in the southern coastal town of Ginthota was triggered by rumours and fake messages on social media. One of those arrested was a woman who falsely spread news that Muslims were about to attack a Buddhist temple, police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said. "We've decided to arrest those who have been spreading false messages and rumours on social media." Buddhists make up about 70 percent of Sri Lanka’s population of 21 million, compared with about 9 percent for Muslims. President Maithripala Sirisena’s government, after came under fire from rights groups and diplomats for not doing enough to crack down on hardline Buddhist groups, acted against anti-Muslim attackers in June this year. That action came after more than 20 attacks on Muslims, including arson at Muslim-owned businesses and petrol-bomb attacks on mosques, were recorded in two months. In 2014, three Muslims were killed in riots stirred up by hardline Buddhist groups.  

Sri Lanka has cancelled all police leave and stepped up patrols in Jaffna after a wave of violence in the island’s former war zone, a minister said yesterday. Jaffna is the heartland of Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority and was the epicentre of the long separatist war that ended in 2009. Tensions persist between troops deployed in the area and the local Tamil population, and last year the government accused the military of backing a gang terrorising civilians in the area. Yesterday, Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayaka said authorities were grappling with a fresh wave of gang-related violence, but denied it was related to last year’s unrest. He said eight people had been seriously wounded in two days in Jaffna, which lies 400km (250 miles) north of Colombo, in what appeared to be an  extortion racket. “We have already arrested six people from this new gang and we are looking for several others,” he said. The current government came to power in January 2015 promising reconciliation after the decades-long war and has tried to restrict military involvement in day-to-day activities in Jaffna. However, civil society groups say elements loyal to the former administration are still in key positions and are fomenting unrest. Government forces maintain a large presence in the former war zone and keep a close watch on the Tamil population, eight years after the end of the war. Army chief summoned by court: A Sri Lankan court has summoned the commander of the country’s army over the disappearance of 24 Tamils since their arrest in 1996 by security forces during the internal conflict with the Tamil rebels, a  local report said. The Jaffna High Court has asked army chief Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake along with two other state officials to appear in court today. Judge Ilancheliyan ordered them to appear in court when a case filed by parents and relatives of the 24 missing persons was taken up on November 15.  The relatives have claimed that the 24 had gone missing since July 1996 when the security forces had arrested them in Navatkuly, Jaffna.  Sri Lankan troops and the LTTE have faced international condemnation for alleged human rights violations during the long-drawn conflict.

Sri Lanka’s top court yesterday awarded compensation to a British woman arrested for sporting a Buddha tattoo, saying the tourist was subjected to “horrifying and scandalous treatment” by local authorities. Naomi Michelle Coleman was detained in prison in 2014 after touching down in Colombo, where police in the Buddhist-majority country took offence to the tattoo on her arm. Coleman, a devout Buddhist, was deported three days later by a local magistrate in a scandal that embarrassed Sri Lanka’s tourism board. She later sued the island’s police, prison and immigration authorities for $66,000 over the ordeal, claiming she was sexually harassed and extorted in prison. In a 16-page judgement the Supreme Court yesterday upheld her case, declaring Coleman’s arrest illegal and charges of offence as baseless. The three-judge bench said Coleman, who was not present at the court, was subjected to “horrifying and scandalous treatment” and ordered the state pay her Rs700,000 ($4,666). The two police officers found to have acted inappropriately were also instructed to pay Coleman Rs100,000 ($650). The mental health nurse said in 2014 that she feared being raped during her incarceration at Negombo prison, after a male guard made lewd gestures at her. A female guard also demanded Coleman pay a bribe or face a “thorough” body search, she said. Coleman - who insisted throughout that the tattoo was a mark of respect for her faith - was later transferred to a detention centre before being deported. Sri Lanka’s Tourism Promotion Bureau paid for her return ticket to the UK, and expressed regret over the widely-publicised incident. Coleman is not the first tourist to fall foul of sensitivities over tattoos deemed offensive in Sri Lanka. Another British tourist was also barred from entering the island in 2013 after allegedly showing disrespect over a Buddha tattoo on his arm.  In August 2012, three French tourists were sentenced to six months in jail for kissing a Buddha statue on the devout island. The sentence was later suspended. Sri Lanka denied US rapper Akon permission to visit in 2010 after his music video showing scantily-clad women dancing in front of a Buddha statue was deemed offensive. British tourist Naomi Coleman posing for a photograph to display a tattoo of the Buddha on her upper arm, after she was arrested at Sri Lanka’s main international airport and later ordered with deportation, in Colombo.

The Sri Lanka government has extended general amnesty period for army absent without leave (AWOL) by another week (until November 22) in response to numerous requests made to the army. The general amnesty began on October 23, and was expected to end on November 15. During this period a total of 8,052 army deserters including 10 officers, eight officer cadets and 8,034 other rankers have reached respective regimental centres to seek legal discharge. The decision to extend an amnesty period was proposed by the commander of the army after considering their previous service to the country. Provision of employment or harbouring any army absentee or deserter amounts to breach of exiting law in the country and is an offence punishable under the penal code. Upon expiry of the final day of the extended amnesty (November 22), law enforcing authorities have been advised to launch island-wide operation to nab the reminder of those AWOL. The Sri Lanka army has appealed to the general public to educate and encourage the absentees if known to make use of this opportunity and receive the discharge. All those remaining absentees are advised to make use of this special amnesty, now in effect and receive their legal discharge before November 22. The general amnesty on the directions of the president and the ministry of defence was declared on October 23, and respective regimental centres under the supervision of the Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake began receiving those  absentees.

Sri Lanka yesterday detained a senior aide to former strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse on allegations of fraud, the second official close to the former leader swept up in a blitz on corruption. Gamini Senarath turned himself in to authorities yesterday and will face court over allegations of fraud involving the construction of the Hyatt Hotel in Colombo. Police told a court last month that Senarath was wanted in connection with the disappearance of $27mn in state funds earmarked for the hotel building. “He surrendered to the Colombo Fort magistrate’s court and was remanded till Wednesday when another hearing will take place,” a court official said. In September another close aide of Rajapakse was jailed for three years for redirecting $4mn of government money toward Rajapakse’s unsuccessful 2015 re-election bid. The former top civil servant, Lalith Weeratunga, has since appealed the conviction. Current President Maithripala Sirisena has vowed to investigate allegations that Rajapakse’s family and friends siphoned billions from Sri Lanka’s coffers during his nearly 10-year rule. Two of Rajapakse’s three sons, including legislator Namal, have been charged with money-laundering. Those cases are still pending. Other family members face allegations of corruption. The former president himself is not under investigation. Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera recently announced the freezing of $33mn in bank deposits belonging to members of the former regime, pending money-laundering  investigations.

Sri Lankan Navy soldiers stand in front of the War Memorial, during an event marking Remembrance Day, also known as Poppy Day, to commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war, in Colombo yesterday.

The Sri Lankan finance ministry has announced a programme to encourage former combatants to find jobs and fund private companies who recruit them. The programme due to come into effect next year was included in the country’s annual budget, which was the subject of parliamentary debate starting yesterday. Under the programme the government will provide facilities for former rebels to obtain training and certificates in fields of technical education, enabling them to obtain jobs in line with their skills. The facility will be made available to persons whose education was disrupted due to the 26-year conflict in the former war-torn north and eastern provinces in the country. The move comes after studies found out that most of about 12,600 rehabilitated former combatants had no formal education despite possessing skills. The state will fund private sector companies who register at least five former combatants for jobs by paying 50% of their salaries to a maximum of Rs10,000 ($65) per month for a year. The programmes are aimed at reintegrating former combatants into the mainstream as most of them still remain without employment eight years after the end of the conflict. The government has also announced plans to replace all state-owned vehicles with electric or hybrid models by 2025, a move that will be extended to private vehicles by 2040. Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said the government will phase out its fleet of diesel and petrol vehicles including buses over the next eight years, switching to  electric or hybrid models. Private owners have until 2040 to replace their cars, tuk-tuks and motorcycles, when the country plans to no longer allow any fossil fuel-burning vehicles on its roads, he said. Sri Lanka is the latest country to announce plans to phase out fossil fuel vehicles.  Britain and France have said they want to end the sale of diesel and petrol cars by 2040. India wants to make new vehicle sales all-electric by 2030. Sri Lanka had around 6.8mn vehicles, most imported from Japan and India, on its roads at the end of 2016, including nearly 720,000 cars. To encourage citizens to replace their cars the government announced a slew of measures including slashing taxes on electric cars and hiking them on large fuel guzzlers, as well as introducing a new carbon tax on fossil fuel-burning vehicles. “The tax on electric cars will be reduced by over a million rupees ($6,600) to encourage motorists to switch to clean energy,” Samaraweera told parliament while unveiling the government’s annual budget for 2018 on Thursday. Import tax on large cars will be hiked by nearly $17,000, he said. The government also offered cheap credit to the owners of buses and the country’s 1.3m tuk-tuk taxis to help them make the switch. Samaraweera presented the country’s revenue and expenditure proposals for 2018 a day after slashing taxes on six commonly consumed commodities to curb high living costs as  inflation hit 7.8%. The government has blamed the record inflation on sharp increases in food prices.  Tens of thousands of rice and vegetable farms were hit by severe floods earlier this year that killed hundreds in the island nation. The finance minister also revised up the country’s budget deficit for 2017 to 5.2% of GDP from an earlier projection of 4.6%.

Sri Lanka drastically cut import taxes on essential foods yesterday to curb record high inflation before its annual budget presentation, AFP reports from Colombo. Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said he was slashing taxes immediately on six commonly consumed commodities to cut high living costs. “Tomorrow I will unveil a budget that will boost the entrepreneurial spirit of our young people,” the minister told reporters.  “But we also need to address the immediate issue of food prices.” The government slashed tariffs on lentils, onions, potatoes, cooking oil, dried fish and sprats, staples of the Sri Lankan diet. According to the Colombo Consumer Price Index, inflation hit 7.8% last month, the highest since the index was launched in 2013. The government has blamed the record inflation on sharp increases in food prices.  Tens of thousands of acres of rice and vegetables were wiped out by devastating floods and a severe drought earlier this year that killed hundreds in the island nation. The tax cuts will cost the state some $10mn a month, the minister said, an amount that will be compensated for in the national budget through fresh taxes or cuts in spending, he added.  The move comes at a time when Sri Lanka saw a 7.4% dip in worker remittances, its main source of foreign currency, underscoring challenges for the government’s coffers.

Sri Lanka’s fuel shortage will end on November 9, Petroleum Minister Arjuna Ranatunga said, as state-run oil retailer Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and Lanka IOC traded blame charges over the shortage. Thousands of Sri Lankan motorists formed long queues for fuel for a fifth straight day yesterday after CPC limited the supply last week following a delayed fuel shipment and rejection of another due to the wrong specifications. Ranatunga said the next shipment of 40,000MT of gasoline is expected today and the shortage could be addressed tomorrow after immediate  distribution. “Once the shipment comes, the situation will return to normal,” he told reporters in  Colombo. The November 8 shipment was originally expected to arrive last Thursday, but officials did not give any reason for the delay. In a separate statement, the petroleum ministry said there was a request by LIOC, a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation to accept an initially rejected 35,000MT cargo after filtration, but authorities did not accept it, “in the interest of the Sri Lankan consumers”. CPC trade unions, which are not in favour of LIOC operations in Sri Lanka, said the Indian firm has forced CPC to accept the rejected shipment while keeping the vessel on the eastern coast. LIOC, however, said a replacement cargo would have taken 25-30 days and its supplier offered to remove the particles via filtration process to enable expedited  delivery by November 3-4. “For reasons unknown to us, this proposal was not acceptable to CPC officials. Allegations of LIOC pressurised CPC to accept the original parcel without correction are totally false,” it said. The Indian firm also said the delay in CPC’s shipment has “led to shortages of petrol across the country, particularly given that CPC caters to 84% of the  Sri Lankan market”. The petroleum ministry also said there was an interruption to the CPC’s Sapugaskanda refinery operations due to electrical failure, which resulted in a  production loss for three days. Trade unions at CPC have blamed a government deal to handover 99 oil tanks in the island’s eastern port city to LIOC for a lack of storage as the Indian firm is utilising only 15 tanks and not allowing the CPC to use them for storage. The current shortage also comes a month after LIOC said it would increase petrol prices because it was incurring a loss, though CPC said it would not raise prices. LIOC has not increased the price yet. Both have said they have been incurring losses on petrol sales. Sri Lanka has agreed with India to jointly develop and operate all oil tanks in the oil storage facility located in Trincomalee near the world’s second deepest natural harbour. IOC has agreed to build a second refinery with a capacity of at least 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in Sri Lanka, while Modi in 2015 pledged to establish a petroleum hub in Trincomalee. A Lanka IOC official had said that due to trade union pressure CPC would be allowed to use 10 of the 84 tanks earmarked for the joint venture between the two companies.