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COL rising to dizzy heights By Nalaka
Nonis Shell and Laugfs
have increased the price of a LP gas cylinder by Rs. 30 and Rs.
65 respectively. The chairman
of the Laugfs Gas Lanka, W.K.H. Wegapitiya said that the price of
a gas cylinder might even go up further in the event of a war in
the Middle East. Although the Fair Trade Commission has ordered Shell to reduce the price of a gas cylinder by Rs. 45, a spokesman for Shell told The Sunday Times that they are not in a position to comply due to the high price of LP gas prevailing in the world market. The prices of
bread and bread-related items too have gone up between Rs. 1 and
Rs. 1.50 after Prima Ceylon Limited announced a price increase in
flour claiming that the price of flour has recorded an increase
in the world market. Mr. Parakrama
Dassanayake, the President of the Bakery Owners' Association of
Sri Lanka said that they were forced to increase the prices of bread
and other flour-based products in consequence. "The other
reason for the increase is the hike in prices of margarine, yeast,
gas and diesel," he said. He added that
margarine and yeast prices have gone up by 15 to 20 percent. Meanwhile, according to the weekly price bulletin issued by the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute, there has been a steep increase in the price of rice and vegetables when compared to last year. Discussions shortly to rev IBIS bus deal By Harinda
Vidanage The three-member
delegation includes the Director General of PERC, Mr. Deepal Gunaratne,
Mr. R. Paskaralingam and the Secretary of the Ministry of Transport
Mr. Susiriwardena. This was revealed
by Mr. Poorna Chandana de Silva, the coordinator appointed by the
Ministry of Transport. According to
Mr. de Silva the implementation has been delayed because President
Chandrika Kumaratunga is opposing the deal. Preliminary
discussions will commence next week, but bids have also been called
for some of the other remaining bus companies. Meanwhile the
People's Alliance has alleged that the government has entered into
an agreement with the IBIS bus company although the company is not
in a position to purchase over 39% of the shares of the state-owned
bus companies. PA spokesman
Dr. Sarath Amunugama said that this is the only the second time
in the history of Sri Lanka that a government has become the guarantor
for the working capital of a private company, with the Hilton hotel
project being the first. Mr. Mangala
Samaraweera who toured England recently alleged that although the
government has claimed that the IBIS bus company has links with
a former British Prime Minister there is no such link. Mr de Silva said that the government became the guarantor because that no bids were received initially because of the high risk involved in investing in state-owned bus companies due to the excess staff and the poor state of the buses. |
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