Food supplies to the Kilinochchi district has further deteriorated and the displaced population remains deprived of their rightly deserving requirements, according to a report submitted to the government. The eligible recipients of dry rations have been arbitrarily pruned to 25,000 families although the displaced population, accommodated in welfare centres as well as with friends and relatives, stands at a total figure of 52, 487 families with the staggering accumulation of 203,410 persons the report revealed.
The requirements of flour and sugar for the month of July under CGES (Commissioner General of Essential Services) supply was not met adequately. Whereas the requirement of flour for July was 950 metric tons the actual supply was 505 metric tons with a shortfall of 445 metric tons while the requirements of sugar remained undispatched, the report said.
The situation of those displaced consequent on Rivirasa operations II and Sath Jaya operations is sad and desperate as they have not been issued any provision of dry rations according to orders of the CGES, it added.
Due to Jaya Sikurui operations, 993 families consisting of 4133 members have been issued only with three days cooked meals and two weeks dry rations, the report said.
In the case of kerosene oil, though the total quota of 2,550 barrels was allocated and authorised for this district, it has been reduced to 1,000 barrels which cannot meet domestic and other essential needs, the report added.
The consumer items that are transported and brought into the district fetch exorbitant prices in view of the high cost of transport involved to cover long distances, it pointed out.
Sanath's
mother :confidence in son
While millions of people were justifiably sad
or weeping and thought that Sanath Jayasuriya himself was crying after his
failure to break the world Test batting record last Wednesday, Sri Lanka's
batting hero — quite calm and collected — called his mother a few
moments later to say "Amma, that's what cricket is all about." And the
courageous mother, Sanath's best friend and fan, inspired him further by saying
"whether you succeed or fail, you will always be my champion."
The Sri Lankan batting hero who with his good friend Roshan Mahanama led one of the biggest ever re-writing episodes of world cricket record books last Tuesday and Wednesday, draws most of his courage from his mother, especially and from hallowed family values. Before and after any international match here, Sanath gets away from the five-star hotel comforts to visit and worship his mother and father.
Sanath's mother Breeda, now unable to personally be at matches because of a spine problem but keenly watching every moment on TV, spoke to The Sunday Times at their Boralesgamuwa home last Friday about her feelings and deep faith in her son and how she has now come to accept the reality that what has to happen will happen in cricket or any dimension of life.
She recalled that fateful moments on Wednesday morning when all eyes were on Sanath Jayasuriya as he moved closer to Brian Lara's historic 375. But at 340, something virtually unbelievable happen. The man who had totally dominated and demolished the Indian bowlers for more than 13 glorious hours suddenly faltered and spooned a dolly catch to silly point.
What did Breeda feel at that moment? Quite naturally, the immediate reaction was shock and sadness.
"I wanted to telephone Sanath. But then I felt in the immediate emotional aftermath, it would not be wise to do so. So I waited for him to call. When he did, he was calm and strong," Ms. Jayasuriya said.
"It will take more than a dismissal for my son to cry. Of course it was a disappointment. But my son is a man of courage. He won't cry over setbacks," she added amidst wild and widespread rumours that Sanath cried in the dressing room while some spoke of even suicidal feelings.
Ms. Jayasuriya shared how she also got over initial bouts of nervousness during her extraordinary son's extraordinary career.
On Wednesday evening, when virtually everybody in Sri Lanka was talking about the historic feats of Sri Lanka and Sanath, the fateful son wanted to be with his parents. So he came to them with lots of flowers, including the garland that President Kumaratunga had given him when she visited the Premadasa Stadium at the height point of that dramatic day. All the bouquets, including the President's garland was presented by Sanath to his mother and father. he said it all with flowers.
Recalling that moment of disappointment when he was dismissed for 340 Mrs. Jayasuriya said that for her he had achieved a record by being on the field for two whole days and most importantly proving to the world that he is not only a master blaster at one day games but also at Test matches. "This was a greater achievement." I was proud of him, she said.
Giving an insight into Sanath's nature and characteristics that only a mother could give, Ms. Jayasuriya said "he has a strong personality seldom broods over anything but gets on in life with patience behind the dynamism, courage and wisdom."
The UNP is protesting against Speaker K.B.Ratnayake's ruling on Friday on the controversy regarding compensation regulations under an expired act.
The UNP had claimed the regulations were invalid.
When these regulations for the payment of compensation under the Rehabilitation of Public Enterprises Act were moved in Parliament on Tuesday, the UNP pointed out that the Act had expired on May 12 and the regulations were therefore invalid.
Minister G.L. Peiris claimed the regulations had been gazetted on May 9, three days before the act expired and therefore they were valid.
But Deputy Speaker Anil Moonesinghe who presided at last Tuesday's sittings as the Speaker was out of the country, adjourned sittings and after consulting party leaders postponed the debate until the legality of the regulations was fully studied.
Speaker Ratnayake who returned on Thursday considered submissions made to him by Minister G.L.Peiris on the basis of advice given by Attorney General Sarath Silva.
It was their view that the regulations were valid.
The Speaker agreed and gave a ruling on those lines.
But the UNP is not accepting it. A party spokesman said the Speaker had not consulted the UNP and they would protest against the ruling.
Closed door talks on constitutional reform with delegates from seven Commonwealth countries, academics and leaders of political parties, got under way at the BMICH yesterday, amid doubts being raised as to how relevant were such discussions without the participation of the LTTE.
Speaking at the inaugural sessions, Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe felt compelled to examine the manner in which the constitutional reform process was linked to the question of peace. While constitutional reform was all well and good, what the common people, desperately needed was peace.
"We can militarily weaken the LTTE so that they would accept what is on offer. But in case this does not happen, what are you going to do? We have to ask ourselves some questions. Should the constitution making process continue with the existing parties, or should it be widened ? Should we talk with the LTTE ? These are not questions that are going to make us popular, but they are questions that have to be asked," he pointed out.
Responding, Justice Minister G.L. Peiris stressed that even if talks with the LTTE are initiated, it could only be on certain conditions.
"The LTTE will have to give us a guarantee that they are willing to talk on substantive political issues and not merely humanitarian questions. They would also have to be agreeable to a time-frame within which the discussions could be structured," the Justice Minister said.
Any discussions "like Tennyson's brook, cannot meander on forever", he quipped. Meanwhile, a more immediate question needed to be addressed. "The question is not whether we would talk or not talk to the LTTE. It is evident that any process of reform would come to naught if the LTTE is not involved at some stage. But we ourselves have to come to some measure of consensus on what we can offer, before we can expect the LTTE to respond. Otherwise this exercise would be as abortive as other attempts in the past," he added.
Noting instances in the past where efforts at reaching a settlement had been scuttled by various Oppositions of the day, the Justice Minister went on to stress that if an all party consensus is reached on the proposals, this would put a different complexion on things. The LTTE would then have a guarantee that the past would not repeat itself.The exchange between Justice Minister Peiris and Opposition Leader Wickremesinghe on the LTTE vis a vis the constitutional reform process took place in a context of discussion on certain key issues in the proposed draft Constitution.
The Opposition Leader called for a further strengthening of the supremacy of the Constitution as opposed to the supremacy of the Parliament. For this, the Public Security Ordinance under which emergency laws are imposed should apply only in certain narrowly specified situations.
Preventive detention and press censorship should be more focussed. Present restrictions on the operation of fundamental rights should be further relaxed.
Mr. Wickremesinghe also opinioned that judicial review of legislation by the courts should operate without a time limit. The present laws do not allow for judicial review at all, while the proposed draft allows it within a limited time of two years.
This time limit ought to be done away with, he said. Conceding the argument for doing away with the time limit, Justice Minister Peiris nevertheless pointed out that an open ended judicial review of legislation might have a negative effect on the "settled expression" of the people.
In other words, a law might be overturned long years after it is passed, and people have acted on it. It is for this reason that a time limit has been imposed, he said.
"Meanwhile, existing law contrary to the Constitution will be referred to a committee that would put the matter to the Parliament who would then decide whether that law ought to be retained, he explained. The retention of this clause in the present constitutional proposals had been subject to extensive criticism by human rights activists.
Participants at the deliberations at the BMICH scheduled for the weekend include noted legal and constitutional scholars of the region such as former Indian Supreme Court Justice P.N. Bhagwati, former VC of the University of New Delhi, Prof. Upendra Baxi, Prof. Steven Toope, Dean of the Faculty of Law, McGill University, Patricia Hyndman, Fellow Wolfson College, Cambridge, Prof. Cheryl Saunders, Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne, Justice Pius Langa, Deputy President of the South African constitutional court and Prof. Lakshman Marasinghe of the Faculty of Law, Windsor University Canada.
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