New Sinhala pressure group emerges

The new Organisation 'Sinhala Jathike Sangamaya' led by S. L. Gunasekera will hold its inaugural meeting today in Colombo.

The organisation which comprises members from the breakaway group of the Sihala Urumaya has vowed to carry out the objectives which its members planned while in the party.

The organisation which is to take the form of a pressure group will not be a political party but will have political objectives, Mr. Gunasekera said.

"Our first goal will be to carry out a campaign against the proposed constitution. This will be done through seminars. We will send out groups to the villages to educate the people. We will also carry out some propaganda to show the plight of the Sinhala people," he said.

The DIG and his letter

In a strange twist to the controversy over security for the Dalada Maligawa, DIG Mahinda Balasuriya has fired off a letter to The Sunday Times correspondent in Kandy. He states:

"The Sunday Times reporter Shane Seneviratne never had a personal interview with me or never had a telephone conversation with me in this regard. I have never issued a press-release in this regard to Mr. Seneviratne. At the time of publishing I never knew him personally or officially. I did not even know that there was a news correspondent by the name Shane Seneviratne in Kandy.

Note by our correspondent:

The DIG has not denied that he had written a letter to the Mahanayaka Theras and the Diyawadana Nilame, advising them to raise funds to buy security equipment to the Dalada Maligawa. I quoted the letter written by the DIG and nowhere did I mention that he spoke to me."

For the benefit of our readers we publish a montage of the letter sent by the DIG to the Mahanayakas and the Diyawadana Nilames.

Child abuse leads

By Faraza Farook

Child abuse has topped criminal offences committed last year, according to the National Child Protection Authority.

Nearly 1,000 child abuse cases which included physical torture, sexual abuse and trafficking had been referred to the Attorney General last year, NCPA chairman Prof. Harendra de Silva said.

Child abuse cases first came into prominence in 1995 and 1996, with police receiving only 200-300 complaints a year.

What is reported is just a tip of an iceberg. The amount that surfaces depends on a lot of factors. The tenfold increase was a result of expanded awareness of the problem, Prof. Silva said.

He said awareness was a preventive aspect targeted at the public and private sector, the general public and children. Professionals such as teachers, doctors and policemen who dealt with children were trained to develop their skills to specialise in this sensitive field of work.

Prof. Silva said thought international conventions on children had been ratified and many legal reforms had taken place to ensure that perpetrators were punished, counselling and rehabilitation of children had not progressed. The need to improve facilities and the employment of trained staff was an urgent need, Mr. Silva said.

Though abused children were sent to rehabilitation centres they lacked facilities. Children could be abused even at these centres. When an abused child could not be sent home, he was kept in a hospital or orphanage, he said.

Govt. resumes news briefings

By Nilika de Silva

Resuming the practice of cabinet news briefing, Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa on Friday reiterated that the government was not ready to abide by any temporary ceasefire arrangement and called again for substantive talks on a political solution.

He said that the government had outlined its position and the LTTE now needed to come out with concrete proposals instead of a patchwork ceasefire which the rebels might use again to regroup and relaunch operations.

He said the ceasefire issue had not been taken up again at the cabinet meeting this week because the government's position had already been made clear.

Speaking after the first cabinet meeting of the year and addressing the first news conference after the government's re-election in October, Mr. Yapa announced that new legislation had been approved by cabinet to tighten bail laws as part of moves to tackle the rising crime wave.

Light reflectors to counter spiralling road deaths

By Nilika de Silva

In a bid to improve road safety, with more than 2,000 annual road deaths in Sri Lanka, 500 school children were given light reflectors to be worn at night.

The reflectors donated by Swe Road, a Swedish consultancy firm on road safety, were handed over to the school children at a workshop on Friday.

The school selected for the pilot project, Rajaguru Sri Subuthi Vidyalaya, Waskaduwa is located near a long straight stretch of the Galle road, where vehicles tend to speed with no regard to other vehicles and road users.

If the pilot project proved successful the manufacturing of light reflectors would be awarded to a local company, project director, National Road Safety Secretariat, Savithri Senanayake said.

A reflector has the capability to reflect light that falls on its surface from all directions as it is embedded with a number of prisms.

According to research, a pedestrian becomes visible in the headlights of a vehicle only at a distance of 130 metres, while a pedestrian with a reflector becomes visible at a distance of 400 metres. Similarly, under dipped lights a pedestrian can be seen only 30 metres away but with a reflector he can be seen at a distance of 130 metres.

The National Road Safety Secretariat together with the Ministry of Highways is moving to prioritise road safety on school curriculum.

Handbooks are to be given out to primary and secondary school teachers to ensure that good road behaviour is inculcated in children at a very early age.

Already the handbooks have been introduced at schools workshops to in Colombo, Gampaha, Matara, Kegalle, Ratnapura and Anuradhapura districts.

The educational material is being prepared in conjunction with the National Institute of Education.

This is done with a view to producing good pedestrians and safe drivers for Sri Lanka in the future.It is hoped the new venture would ensure accident free roads.

Fare hike amid raw deal charges

Commuter facilities remain unchanged as state and private sector bus fares go up from today.

The All Sri Lanka Commuters Federation Secretary General, S. M. Chandrasena told The Sunday Times yesterday despite frequent fare hikes, passengers got a raw deal.

Mr. Chandrasena charged that 45 per cent of the day's collection didn't go to bus owners, as drivers and conductors misappropriated it, mostly without issuing tickets to passengers.

Meantime, private bus operators who demanded a 33.3 per cent increase in bus fares settled for a 15 per cent hike. They also held out many promises for passenger comfort.

The Private Omnibus Owners Association has given an undertaking that buses would be run according to a timetable. The association has also urged Transport Minister Dinesh Gunawardena to grant concessions to import buses and to remove mafias operating at various levels.

"We have not gone back on our demands. We didn't want to raise the bus fares too much because of the rising cost of living," said Private Omnibus Owners Association's treasurer Gemunu Wijeratne.

After a series of protracted talks between the minister and the private bus operators, a 15 per cent hike was imposed on bus fares.

The fare hike came in the wake of a Rs. 3 increase in diesel last month and a Rs. 6 increase in November.

Meanwhile, 60 seater buses continue to carry 90 - 100 passengers at rush hours compelling commuters to take at least one hour to reach Mount Lavinia from Pettah, a distance of 12 kilometres.

Luxury and semi-luxury bus fares too have been jacked up.

However, commuters complain that most of the luxury buses have defective air conditioners. They are also overpacked with standing commuters making the luxury travel a nightmare.

Child rape case on Jan. 16

By Tania Fernando

The case of the nine-year-old girl alleged to have been raped by a school principal will be called again on January 16. When the case was called on January 2 it was postponed due to the non-availability of medical reports.

Medical reports submitted by the Kuliyapitiya Hospital turned out to be negative with regard to the girl's pregnancy. However, the first urine test proved positive.

The Sunday Times reported on December 10 last year that the girl was alleged to have been raped by the principal and she was being scanned for pregnancy after the first urine test proved positive.

Kuliyapitiya Hospital's visiting obstetrician and gynaecologist said the girl had initially undergone a urine test at a private hospital which proved positive. However, when a scan was taken later it proved negative.

After The Sunday Times's exposure that the principal of Moraeliya primary school had been allegedly abusing a year four student, he was suspended and later released on bail.

POW families defy government, plan to visit Wanni before ceasefire ends

By Shelani de Silva

Families of soldiers held captive by the Tigers are planning to visit the Wanni this month before the LTTE's ceasefire offer ends, the Association of Servicemen Missing in Action has informed the Defence Ministry.

President of the association E. P. Nanayakkara told The Sunday Times the association hasd informed the LTTE of the visit.

The visit was planned several months ago, but we had to postpone it because the government did not grant permission. We were refused permission due to the prevailing security situation. However, with the LLTE's ceasefire offer we decided to go,even without government permission, he said.

The association would decide on the date next week and inform the government, he said.

The LTTE ceasefire offer ends on January 24.

Peace education to calm young minds

In a move to cultivate the idea of peace in the minds of the younger generation hoping that they will live in a future that will uphold peace, UNESCO, New Delhi and the Sri Lanka National Commission for UNESCO have drafted resolutions to implement peace education in the school curriculum.

Following a regional seminar on Curriculum Development for Peace Education held here last week, where representations were made by educational leaders from South Asian countries, 19 resolutions have been drafted to inculcate peace through the school curriculum.

The seminar aimed at identifying concrete strategies for developing curriculae for introduction into the school system at all levels has identified activities such as discussions, research, exercises, visual sessions, excursions and role plays as ways of disseminating peace education.

The Ministry of Education which is planning to introduce peace education into the new curriculum will target primary and secondary education only.

On the team's concept paper, suggestions were made as to how peace education can be part of the daily subjects. For instance, in science water samples are taken from local lakes or rivers to check for signs of pollution.

During the first phase of the project, test models to be introduced into the school curriculum will be identified and developed while the second phase will review the application of these models in the existing curriculum.

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