All National Parks open

All National Parks in the country will soon be open to foreign and local visitors, said Environment and Natural Resources Minister Champika Ranawaka. He said this on Saturday after opening the Kumana National Park that had been closed to the public from 1985 to 2003 due to terrorist activities, and also after being badly affected by the tsunami in 2004.

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Navy Commander visits Aussie ship

Navy Commander Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe visited “HMAS Glenelg” arrived from Australia at the Colombo Port last Thursday. The patrol boat belonging to the Royal Australian Navy, arrived in Sri Lanka on a goodwill visit.

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Rs 2400m WB aid for road network

The World Bank has agreed to grant Rs 2400 million to develop the road network covering 100 rural villages in the Badulla district. This follows successful talks Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva held with World Bank representatives, Treasury officials and the Road Development Ministry.

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Dockyard secures Dutch dredgers for repairs: Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDPLC) has been successful in securing repeat business from Van Oord, Holland one of the biggest dredger operators in the world. Currently trailer suction hopper dredger, Volvox Olympia is undergoing lay-up repairs in the yard. This is the second vessel to utilize Colombo’s full-fledged repair facilities after split hopper dredger Costa Blanca were successfully attended to during November last year. Dredger Volvox Olympia accommodated in Colombo Dockyard’s 125,000 DWT drydock along with three other vessels.

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