A rubbish dump landslide in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo has killed at least 16 people and injured over a dozen, a military spokesman and hospital officials said this morning.

Emergency workers are digging into the mountain of trash in search of survivors.

The estimated 91m dump collapsed after flames engulfed it late yesterday, the island nation's traditional new year's day, and witnesses said around 100 houses could have been buried.

The death toll rose to 16 as more bodies were discovered this morning, army spokesman Roshan Senivirathna said.

At least four teenagers were among the dead, a nurse at the main Colombohospital told Reuters.

Rescue operations are under way with soldiers using heavy equipment to remove the garbage.

Police said about 145 houses had been damaged, but they did not say how many had been buried.

Residents of the area, mostly living in shanties, have been demanding the removal of the dump saying it was causing health issues.

The government had planned to remove it soon under an infrastructure plan.</s>Colombo financial city looking to attract South Asian investors

A top official of the Colombo International Financial City (CIFC), also known as the port city project, says that they expect investments to the tune of $13 billion to start coming in from 2018 and that they target major investors from South Asia, particularly India.

Inaugurated by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September 2014, the project has persisted over the last three years, surviving controversies and drastic changes.

Amid mounting concerns over its possible environmental impact, Sri Lanka and China in April 2016 decided to redefine the port city project, now calling it an international financial city. The largest foreign direct investment in Sri Lanka, the $1.4-billion project will now house a financial centre and a host of other facilities, including a marina, a central park, and possibly an international school and hospital over the next 30 years, its developer said.

“We want to create a city where it would be interesting for South Asians to come and live, invest, do business and may be manage their wealth,” said Liang Thow Ming, chief sales and marketing officer of Sri Lanka’s CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd, which is handling the project.

A subsidiary of China Communication Construction Company, in which the Chinese government is a major stakeholder, CHEC projects that investments to the tune of $13 billion will begin coming in from 2018. For this, the company has begun reaching out to investors in South Asia, particularly in India.

Given Colombo’s strategic geographic location in the Indian ocean, investors see the potential for a major financial hub in the city, filling the void of financial cities between Dubai and Singapore. “Arabs are not going to come here instead of Dubai; Malaysians and Indonesians will not come to Colombo instead of going to Singapore. For the same reason, South Asians would like to come to Colombo,” Mr. Liang told The Hindu.

On potential investors in India, Mr. Liang said: “The spirit is willing, flesh is weak,” referring to the turbulence in the real estate sector. However, he was confident that once a few began investing here, others would “join the bandwagon.”

CHEC sees a potential Indian investor as someone with money to park, making frequent trips to Colombo to meet bankers and do business. Investors might consider admitting their children to the international school at the financial city, and perhaps even buy a plush apartment there, Mr. Liang said.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s economy has been facing major challenges in the last few years, with its growth dropping to a three-year low of 4.4% in 2016, from 4.8% the previous year, Reuters reported. Asked if that would impact the project, Mr. Liang said the financial city did not depend on that. Giving an example of an investor who makes a weekend trip to Colombo, to meet his bankers, see his children studying here and perhaps spend time and money at a hotel and at restaurants, he said these were independent of how the Sri Lankan economy was doing.

However, project director and top official from the Sri Lankan side, Nihal Fernando, said that while it might be a different structure, the city would be fed by Colombo. “The Sri Lankan economy is very much linked to it and if it fails, it will affect the financial city.” On the other hand, Mr. Liang said the project would create 83,000 jobs, 90% of which was likely to be taken up by Sri Lankans. Mr. Fernando too sees a huge demand for workers, and with their high literacy and English proficiency, Sri Lankans will have an edge, he said.

On measures to prevent money laundering at such a financial hub, Mr. Liang said a separate set of laws, modelled on U.K. laws, would be applicable to the city. “A separate court, separate arbitration centres, a city that is run under a different set of rules — the whole port city playing a different game from the rest of Colombo.”</s>16 killed in Sri Lanka as massive mound of garbage collapses

At least 16 people were killed and more than 600 others fled their homes after a massive mound of garbage collapsed on part of a poor neighborhood near Sri Lanka’s capital during festivities to mark the local new year, officials said Saturday.

Four people were rescued from underneath the mound, but it was unclear whether any others were buried, said military spokesman Roshan Seneviratne. Soldiers were searching the site.

Seneviratne said 625 people whose homes were either destroyed or under threat were being housed in nearby schools.

The Disaster Management Center said at least 12 other people were injured in the incident, which happened Friday night in Meetotamulla, near Colombo. The site had been used to dump Colombo’s garbage for the past few years as authorities sought to give a face-lift to the capital.

However, residents living in tiny homes in the area had been protesting against waste being dumped there because of health hazards.</s>MSC Daniela is docked at Colombo port, Colombo International Container Terminal, ten days after a blaze broke out in the aft section of the 13,800 teu, local media reported. No further information was provided.

Earlier, Ceylon Today reported that the Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre (MRCC) Colombo, had received a fire distress call from the local agent of 'MSC Daniela' as the vessel was 120 nautical miles off the Port of Colombo, on Tuesday (April 04).

The Panama flagged container ship was sailing from Singapore to Egypt and the fire broke out in the vessel while outside the Colombo Port. Colombo was not meant to be a port of call for the ill-fated vessel, but Colombo, soon was to be a matter of necessity and not a matter of choice.

Sri Lanka Navy had despatched two patrol boats to evacuate the crew of the vessel in case the fire spread. And two Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) tugs tackled the fire on the ship.

Earlier, a statement from Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) said: "The extent of the damage and cargo losses will not be known until the vessel has safely berthed and has undergone a thorough inspection. Customers with cargo on-board the MSC Daniela should contact their local MSC office."</s>A garbage dump landslide in Colombo, Sri Lanks has killed at least 12 people, according to reports. Rescue workers are rushing to find people who may still be trapped under the rubbish which slammed into nearby houses.

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA—A massive mound of garbage collapsed in Sri Lanka, killing 19 people, injuring 13 and forcing more than 600 others to flee their homes during festivities to mark the local new year, officials said Saturday.

Soldiers on Saturday were searching the site in Meetotamulla, a town near the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo.

Four people were rescued from underneath the mound, but it was unclear whether any others were buried, said military spokesman Roshan Seneviratne, who said five children were among the dead.

Police spokesman Priyantha Jayakody said police were investigating whether the collapse Friday night was a natural disaster or a deliberate act of sabotage.

The site has been used to dump Colombo’s garbage for the past few years as authorities sought to give the capital a facelift. But residents living in tiny homes in the area have protested against all the waste being dumped there because of health hazards.</s>Malinga was forced to hand over the captaincy to Angelo Mathews last week due to a slow recovery from the injury and missed the Super 10 opener against Afghanistan on Thursday.

"Malinga's knee injury flared up before the match against Afghanistan yesterday," a team spokesperson said.

"He has been ruled out of the World Cup and has flown back to Sri Lanka this afternoon."

The 32-year-old paceman with blond-tinted hair and an unorthodox action is not quite the same player who was a key figure in Sri Lanka's progress to three World Twenty20 finals in the last four tournaments.

He was, however, considered key to their success in India, where he has performed admirably in the Indian Premier League.

"Sri Lanka team management on tour have observed that Malinga whose niggling injury has been flaring up would be better off resting it, and have recommended he return to Colombo," Sri Lanka Cricket said in a statement.

The selectors will choose Malinga's replacement after practice matches between the remaining players in the World T20 squad to be played in Colombo later on Friday.

Sri Lanka will take on 2012 champions West Indies in their second Group One match in Bangalore on Sunday.</s>Colombo, April 15 - At least 16 persons died after a rubbish dump collapsed and buried their homes under tonnes of garbage outside the Sri Lankan capital, officials said. Sixteen people died and seven were injured after the collapse of the Meethotamulla rubbish dump, a worker at the Sri Lanka Disaster Management Centre told Efe news.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Nerve News.</s>Apr 14, Colombo: The Meteorology Department of Sri Lanka today requested the fishermen and the naval personnel to be vigilant when venturing into the sea as the seas off the island will be rough. Issuing a warning at 12 noon on Friday for the next 24 hours, Meteorology Department said due to the active cloudiness associated with a low level disturbance in the Bay of Bengal, in the east of Sri Lanka, sudden increase of wind speed can result in sudden roughness of seas around the island.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Colombo Page.</s>Extension Given to Probe Sri Lanka’s War Crimes is No Surprise

In late March this year, the United Nations Humans Right Council (UNHRC) granted Colombo a further extension of two years to probe alleged war crimes committed during the civil war. The main political party of Sri Lanka’s Tamils, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), went along with this decision because it meant Sri Lanka would continue to be under international investigations for a further period.

Sri Lanka’s Tamil people are understandably disappointed. So are the people of the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, home to over seventy million Tamils. Two days prior to the resolution being passed allowing Sri Lanka an extension of two years, a demand was made by V Maiteryan from Tamil Nadu’s ruling party, the All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhkam (AIADMK) in the Rajya Sabha that India oppose the resolution. Instead, New Delhi supported the resolution.

The extension comes as no surprise given the rationale behind UNHRC resolutions on Sri Lanka since 2012. The primary motive for the US backed resolutions in the UNHRC since 2012 was to increase US leverage vis-à-vis Sri Lanka and stem Sri Lanka’s drift towards China under the Rajapaksa Presidency. Indeed, as early as December 2009, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee report, “Sri Lanka: Re-charting US Strategy after the War” had noted that Sri Lanka’s strategic drift (towards) China will have consequences for U.S. interests in the region and had called for adopting a multifaceted, broader and more robust approach to secure US interests. In view of the substantial evidence pointing to war crimes that implicated Rajapaksa, the US was well equipped to pressure the Sri Lankan Government. The US backed resolutions between 2012 and 2014 calling for the war crimes to be investigated by a body of international experts was part of this robust approach. Rajapaksa, though unsettled by these resolutions was emboldened by Beijing’s continued support.

In January 2015, Rajapaksa was ousted and replaced by his former colleague Sirisena who appointed Ranil Wickramasinghe from the right-leaning United National Party (UNP) and the preferred candidate from Washington’s point of view as Prime Minister in the new ‘unity Government’. The regime change was directly attributable to the US’ continued pursuit of the robust approach. In this case it involved working in tandem with New Delhi which had become uneasy with Colombo’s provocative stance of taking on a decidedly pro-Beijing position ignoring New Delhi’s attempts to court Colombo. Matters came to a head when Colombo’s provocative posturing involved permitting Chinese submarines to dock in Colombo during 2014 and brushing aside New Delhi’s concerns.

Having wielded the ‘stick’ to unsettle Rajapaksa, the US was quick to employ the ‘carrot’ to consolidate the new regime. Thus the March 2015 hearings of the UNHCR to consider progress made by Sri Lanka to investigate the war crimes was postponed to September 2015, a move initiated by the US, now an ally of the new regime. Although, there was some opposition from the EU countries on the grounds that the postponement may result in a precedence, the US stance prevailed. The US continued to wield the carrot during the September 2015 proceedings by amending the March 2014 resolution calling for an international investigations into a domestic accountability mechanism with international involvement. In effect, a hybrid mechanism that was a far cry from the international investigations envisaged earlier. The US intention to down grade the accountability process was made evident in late October 2015, when US Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal called for a collaborative resolution. Notwithstanding these developments, a senior member of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), M A Sumanthiran told this writer in early November 2015 that he was confident of the resolutions being implemented as agreed in view Britain’s continued support. The extension granted in March 2017 suggests this confidence to be misplaced. In April 2016 Samantha Power, U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, in an attempt to further reassure Colombo, made an extraordinary statement claiming that Sri Lanka has, since January 2015, emerged as a global champion of human rights and democratic accountability.

The US backed resolutions in the UN on Sri Lanka’s war crimes passed between 2012 and 2114 were designed to pressure the Rajapaksa regime which had become a close ally of Beijing. Thereafter, the resolutions were intended to maintain US influence by placating Sri Lanka’s Sinhala establishment which is opposed to the very idea of war crimes. The Sri Lankan President Sirisena’s flat denial of allegations of’ war crimes in an interview with Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid, in January 2016 and former President Chandrika Kumaratunga ruling out the involvement of courts to probe war crimes in February 2017 are products of this mindset.

The two year extension granted to implement the earlier resolutions is patently part of the strategy to keep the Sinhala political establishment onside.</s>COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A massive mound of garbage collapsed in Sri Lanka, killing 19 people, injuring 13 and forcing more than 600 others to flee their homes during festivities to mark the local new year, officials said Saturday.

Soldiers on Saturday were searching the site in Meetotamulla, a town near the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo.

Four people were rescued from underneath the mound, but it was unclear whether any others were buried, said military spokesman Roshan Seneviratne, who said five children were among the dead.

Police spokesman Priyantha Jayakody said police were investigating whether the collapse Friday night was a natural disaster or a deliberate act of sabotage.

The site has been used to dump Colombo’s garbage for the past few years as authorities sought to give the capital a face-lift. But residents living in tiny homes in the area have protested against all the waste being dumped there because of health hazards.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said Saturday that the government would soon remove the garbage dump from the area.

Seneviratne said 625 people whose homes were either destroyed or under threat from the collapse were being housed in nearby schools. The 13 injured were receiving treatment at the Colombo’s main state hospital.
A landfill slide in Colombo, Sri Lanka, kills at least 16 people.