Divineguma Bill: TNA ups pressure for NPC-bill Will be challenged, they say

By Namini Wijedasa

The Divineguma Bill will be challenged again if it is placed on the order paper of parliament without the Northern Provincial Council commenting on it, said TNA parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran, yesterday.
If it is placed on the order paper again without the North commenting on it, we will challenge it,” he told LAKBIMAnEWS. “The requirement is that the Northern Provincial Council, too, must discuss and resolve the matter.”
“The governor of the Northern Province cannot substitute himself for the provincial council,” he stressed. “The bill will be challenged since it does not comply with the constitutional requirement.”
The government last week withdrew the Divineguma Bill and sent it to the provincial councils for approval in keeping with the Supreme Court determination on the matter. Economic Affairs Minister Basil Rajapaksa, whose ministry submitted the bill for enactment, said he is confident the councils would sanction it. However, the Northern Provincial Council is not operational.
Four petitioners challenged the constitutionality of the Divineguma bill by three petitions presented to the Supreme Court. The proposed legislation seeks to repeal the Southern Development Authority, the Udarata Development Authority and the Samurdhi Development Authority, transferring their powers and functions to the Department of Divineguma Development. This new department would function countrywide.
The three-judge bench that heard submissions comprised Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and Justices Priyasath Dep and S.E. Wanasundera. The petitions were filed by Chamara Madumma Kaluge, general secretary of the Samurdhi Development Officers’ Union, the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and Wijitha Nanayakkara. Sumanthiran is one of the attorneys for the CPA.