A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
(Full Story)
Search This Blog
Back to 500BC.
==========================
Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Thursday, May 25, 2017
Parliament
Govt. to fill approximately 1,000 vacancies in North: Sagala Ratnayake
The Government will take immediate measures to fill approximately 1,000
vacancies in the North to address the unemployment issue in the area,
Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayake informed Parliament yesterday.
The minister was replying to an Adjournment Motion moved by Opposition
Leader R Sampanthan on the unemployment of youth in the North and East.
The minister told Parliament that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
visited Jaffna over the weekend and had lengthy discussions on the
matter of unemployment of youth.
“The Northern Chief Minister, several Jaffna district MPs and NPC
ministers also attended the meeting. The protracted war had stopped
employment creation in the area. The PM wanted me to communicate to the
House that as the first measure to address this problem, approximately
1,000 vacancies in the North will be filled.
“These will be as Development Officers and Teachers. Mostly Arts
Graduates will be recruited and they will be given some training.
Similar measures will be taken to address the unemployment issue in the
East,” he said.
The Opposition Leader demanded the immediate intervention of the
Government to solve the unemployment issue in the North and East, also
pointing out that almost eight years have lapsed since the end of war.
SLMC wants PSC appointed to look into archaeological destruction
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Leader Minister Rauff Hakeem yesterday in
Parliament, requested for the appointment of a Parliament Select
Committee (PSC) to look into allegations of destruction of
archaeological sites and forests.
The minister made this request when Environment and Mahaweli Development
Deputy Minister Anuradha Jayaratne and Education Minister Akila Viraj
Kariyawasam brought the attention of the House that the destruction of
archaeological sites was a matter of concern in the North and East.
Deputy Minister Jayaratne told Parliament that a total of 94
archaeological sites in Ampara, Trincomalee and Batticaloa had been
destroyed during the period from 2013 to 2017.
He said out of them, 47 sites were in Ampara, 30 in Trincomalee and 17 in Batticaloa.
He said it had been identified following a census that Ampara had 430
archaeological sites that needed to be protected. Commenting on the
issues surrounding the Wilpattu forest, the Deputy Minister said the
President has appointed an independent committee on May 17 to look into
complaints by the people after declaring forest lands North of Wilpattu
as a reserve. He said the report of this Committee was due within a
month, adding that it would help to resolve the remaining problems in
Wilpattu.
The issue came up as Chief Opposition Whip and JVP Leader Anura Kumara
Dissanayake pointed out that the Government should have made direct and
immediate intervention when the issues of the Wilpattu forest clearing
and destruction of archaeological sites in the East cropped up. “Had the
Government dealt with these issues immediately and more effectively,
the intervention of other organizations or groups would have been
unwarranted,” he said.
Education Minister Kariyawasam pointed out the conduct of the
Archaeological Department over the past years was highly questionable,
adding that its inefficiency and apathy contributed to the sad state of
affairs of the country’s archaeological heritage. “Now we are
restructuring this Department. Many vacancies in it had not been filled
in the past, but we have now taken measures to fill them,” he said.
Minister Hakeem intervening at this point, requested a PSC to look into
the matters pertaining to archaeology and wildlife, adding that they
have concerns over the Government’s recent decisions with regard to
those matters.
“Some are using these very issues to trigger communal tensions. Let us
have a broad discussion and solve them once and for all,” he said.
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said the proposal to appoint a PSC would be
taken up at the next Party Leaders’ Meeting.
If former govt sorted out delimitation issue, no delay in holding LG elections: Minister Mustapha
The proper way of holding Local Government Elections without any
unnecessary delay would not have been a problem if the previous
government had sorted out the delimitation issue, said Provincial
Councils and Local Government Minister Faizer Mustapha in Parliament
yesterday.The Minister further said that instead of solving the issue,
the then Minister Hisbullah was dancing to the tune of the then Minister
Basil Rajapaksa, creating delimitation in a Cool Room. He added that
the previous government had created this mess, leaving us to sort out
the mess they had created. That was one of the reason for the delay in
holding the Local Government elections,” Minister Mustapha said.
The Minister made these observations in response to a question raised by Joint Opposition MP Dullas Alahapperuma.
The Minister also said that he always acted in a just manner. He added
that the delimitation was a practical issue which had been made worse by
Hisbullah during the previous regime. He added that had MP Dullas
Alahapperuma been the minister responsible for preparing the
delimitation during the previous government, it was sure that he
(Minister Musthapa) would not have this problem today.
He also said that the government had cleared up the mess, while there
were some political issues to be sorted out. He added that sorting out
the technical problems had been completed.
He added that there were some political issues to be sorted out which were out of his purview.
“The minority and minor parties need to discuss matters with the Prime
Minister and other party leaders to sort out political issues,” the
Minister said.
Police should take responsibility in controlling such incidents: Minister Ratnayake
There had been several incidents that had caused communal disharmony in
the recent past and there were flaws in implementing law and order
against them from the Police, said Law and Order and Southern
Development Minister Sagala Ratnayake in Parliament yesterday.
He said the Police should take responsibility of controlling those
incidents. He added that the Police should implement the law
impartially, irrespective of religious and communal differences.
He made these observations in response to special statement made by EPDP
Parliamentarian Douglas Devananda and Chief Opposition Whip and JVP
Parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake under Standing Order 23(2) on
several incidents that could have affected communal harmony.
However, the Minister said the Police had informed him that
investigations to the recent incidents of violence were in progress and
they needed more time to provide him with complete findings of the
recent incidents. “The Police needed several days more,” Minister
Ratnayake said. “Once investigations are over, the House would be
informed.”
Minister Ratnayake further said that there had been several incidents of
law and order being taking place and the Police could have acted fast.
At this stage, JVP Leader Dissanayake said that not only the Police, but
the government too could have done so.
“Yes, the government too,” Minister Ratnayake said. “We regret such
incidents and we have paid them our fullest attention. We have
emphasized to the Police that the law should be implemented and those
responsible for the crimes should be dealt with. We would try to prevent
the incidents of hate speech. We also accept that peace and maintenance
of law and order is of paramount importance.” Minister Ratnayake
further said the bomb explosion at Manchester brought back memories of
the dark era of our past to our minds. “I as Minister of Law and Order,
assure you that the government would to its best,” the Minister said.
The minister also said that such isolated incidents have been accounted
as acts against communal disharmony. “One such incident was the
Kahawatta incident. No body had attacked a shop owned by a Muslim
person. One boutique had caught fire and the walls of the adjoining shop
of the Muslim person had been gutted by the fire,” the Minister said.
“The fire at the Muslim shop in Elpitiya was also another similar
incident. CCTV footages proved a thief had robbed the shop and fled
after setting fire to the shop. However, it was found that the suspect
had been convicted for another theft in Kadugannawa two years ago.”
Govt. slack in arresting culprits propagating racial harmony in country: JVP Leader
The Government has done nothing to arrest the culprits concerning
several incidents that had taken place during the past several days that
had caused racial and communal disharmony in the country, accused JVP
Parliamentarian and Chief Opposition Whip Anura Kumara Dissanayake in
Parliament yesterday.
He made this observation moving a special statement under Standing Order 23 (2).
MP Dissanayake said the majority of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim
communities abhor such violence. He added that none of them wanted to
see the country being pushed towards communal disharmony. He also added
that only a small group of people in our communities attempt to resume
violent activities. They seem to have various intentions and
motivations, including the creating of a Sinhala and Muslim clash. It is
the duty of the government to act fast and prevent the country from
being pushed towards disharmony by such groups.
“The government should have acted fast in preventing a situation that
could push the country towards another bloodbath,” MP Dissanayake said.
“There are serious doubts in the minds of the public that the government
in the face of social and economic problems, was trying to make use of
these violent incidents to divert the minds of the public.”
EPDP leader Douglas Devananda too making a special statement on the
incidents of communal disharmony, reported in the recent past and urged
the government to take immediate action to prevent the furtherance of
similar incidents.
Act to suppress media: A wrong and incorrect statement: Dy. Minister Paranavithana
Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media Deputy Minister Karunaratne
Paranavithana refuted the statement that there was an attempt to move an
Act to suppress Mass Media.
The Deputy Minister expressed his views in Parliament yesterday in
response to a statement made by Joint Opposition Member Sisira Jayakody,
who said that there was a rumour that the government was getting ready
to pass an act to suppress the media.
“It is a wrong and incorrect statement,” said Deputy Minister
Paranavithana. “There was a proposal pointing out the need of setting up
an Independent Commission to regulate the media. It also was a proposal
made by the media themselves.”
Deputy Minister Paranavithana said that acting on the proposal, a media
advertisement was published to get the views of the public to set up an
independent media mechanism.
Angunakolapelessa Prison to be opened next month: Justice Minister
The Angunakolapelessa new prison will be opened next month, Justice
Minister Dr Wijayedasa Rajapakshe said in Parliament yesterday.
The construction of the prison complex commenced in 2014. The opening of
this prison complex built with modern facilities by spending a large
sum of money was postponed at a previous occasion as the President
declined the official invitation to attend the ceremony.
The minister also said plans were afoot to shift the Welikada Prison to
Horana. He said these moves would help to ease the overcrowding in
prisons. He pointed out that about 17,000 persons are in prisons at
present, adding that about 50 percent of them are youth imprisoned for
drug related offences.
Rajapakshe was moving Civil Procedure Code (Amendment) Bill for debate yesterday.
The minister said amendments were aimed at addressing the delay in civil
court cases. He pointed out a total of 745,888 cases had been piled up
in the country’s courts of law, adding that the majority of them were at
Magistrate and District Courts. As at December 31, 2016, there were
3,566 cases in the Supreme Court, 4,837 cases in the Appeal Court,
171,896 cases in District Courts and 539,392 cases in Magistrate Courts,
the minister said. He also said the Government is working to introduce a
new Civil Procedure Code and Criminal Procedure Code to suit modern
times. He added that two Committees comprised of legal experts are
working for that purpose.