It said the Colombo Consumer's price index had decreased by 89.5 points compared to July mainly due to decreases in the prices of rice, pepper garlic, red onion and fresh and dried fish. The prices had come down mainly because the supply had gone up.

The Department also said the inflation rate had dropped to 11% in August from 11.1% in July.

SLAS alleges business push for new Customs Chief
By Tania Fernando
A row has erupted over the appointment to one of the most important public service posts with the Sri Lanka Administrative Service warning that the functions of this important Department could be seriously affected.

The SLAS has objected to a Cabinet recommendation proposing that an officer from the Customs Department itself be appointed as its Director General.

SLAS President S. Rannuge said the person to be appointed had been in the Customs for more than 20 years - a factor which the SLAS felt could jeopardise the functions of the department which is one of the biggest revenue earners for the state.
The SLAS said that generally an officer from the SLAS had been appointed to this vital post.

The SLAS president said he felt the move to appoint a person from within the Customs was being pushed by business interests.

Right of reply
Parliamentarian A. Vinayagamoorthy referring to an article which appeared in The Sunday Times states:

"I refer to the column Thoughts from London written by Neville de Silva in The Sunday Times last week. There is no truth in what has been written about my BMW.

I did not give it to the LTTE and it was not taken by anyone at any time to Wanni. It is available in Colombo and even last week I went to Parliament in my BMW and several MPs saw my car in Parliament."

Hameed stamp
On a request made by the A.C.S. Hameed Commemoration Committee, a stamp in his honour is to be issued on Tuesday to mark the third death anniversary of the veteran Foreign Minister.

Mass Communication Minister Imtiaz Bakeer Markar and Minister Karu Jayasuriya are scheduled to take part in the ceremony in Mr. Hameed's hometown of Akurana.

Mr. Hameed represented the Akurana-Harispattuwa electorate continuosly for more than 30 years.

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