For many northerners, this week’s announcement by the regional office of the Road Development Authority (RDA) limiting traffic flow of heavy vehicles on Sangupiddy Bridge was not a surprise given the poor maintenance and poor quality of the bridge built ten years ago at the cost of Rs. 1 billion.

The critically important land bridge that connects three districts in the Northern province along the A 32 road was built at the cost of Rs 1037 million and was declared open in January 2011 by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

On Friday, the RDA’s northern office announced that to ensure public safety, heavy vehicle flow on the bridge was temporarily restricted with immediate effect due to the corrosion of the deck plates.

In a communiqué sent to the Senior Superintendent of Police (Kilinochchi), regional RDA engineer T. Niththiyanantham informed him that, considering public safety concerns, the heavy vehicle flow has been restricted on the bridge to “avoid unnecessary damages until repairs are carried out.”

A Mannar-based fisherman who is engaged in transporting fish stocks to Colombo for export purposes every week lamented that the bridge was not built properly and the road along the bridge was badly damaged with potholes over the years.

“I’m sure someone would’ve pocketed some money from this. We don’t know how long it will take them to repair this bridge,” he said, echoing the sentiments of many others.

For the first time in Sri Lanka, the government is to establish a mechanism to supervise and advice ministries in the implementation of policies, a source said.

A tense situation was reported at the UNP party headquarters in Sirikotha when a group of UNP supporters arrived to hand over a document on reviving the party.

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Harsha de Silva said today that an NPP MP has told him that the Parliament canteen will not be closed but the government will see that no one will abuse the facility.

Two fishermen were seriously injured and hospitalised after a parcel floating on the sea exploded while they were checking it off the coast of Mannar.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) and the Examinations Department have initiated a joint programme to mitigate potential disasters during the 2024 Advanced Level examinations.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake addressed the inaugural session of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka today. Following are 11 key points from the President’s Government Policy Statement;

Speaker Dr. Ashoka Sapumal Ranwala informed Parliament that nomination of Sajith Premadasa, leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), has been accepted as the Opposition Leader of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka.

Jaffna District Independent MP Archuuna Ramanathan refused to move away after he sat on the Opposition Leader's seat inside the chambers despite requests by Parliament staff to move.

National People's Power (NPP) Gampaha MP Dr. Ashoka Sapumal Ranwala was elected as the Speaker of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka a short while ago. Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya proposed his name, and the nomination was confirmed by Vijitha Herath.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake adjourned the Sri Lankan Parliament until 9:30 a.m. on December 3. The adjournment followed the President’s delivery of the government’s policy statement during the inaugural session of the 10th Parliament earlier today.