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CDB reborn as CCD
The Crime Detection Bureau which was abolished by President Chandrika Kumaratunga in January last year will be re-established by the government under the name of Colombo Crimes Division from tomorrow, the Interior Ministry announced yesterday.

The establishment of the new Crime Division would help in much needed detection and prevention of crimes, the ministry said.

The Colombo Crimes Division, which will be under the overall supervision of DIG Bodhi Liyanage, will operate under three divisions - Colombo North, Colombo South and Operation Division. Each unit will be headed by an Assistant Superintendent of Police.

Bus owners seek deal before talks start
Private bus owners have written to the Government and Norwegian peace facilitators requesting that private buses be allowed to ply on the A9 route prior to peace talks.

Lanka Private Bus Owners Association President Gemunu Wijeratne told The Sunday Times he had made the request on Friday to Peace Secretariat Chief Bernard Gunatillake and Norwegian officials.

Mr. Wijeratne said people were now being made to pay exorbitant sums such as Rs. 1,200 for the Colombo-Jaffna journey whereas the private bus owners proposed to charge only about Rs. 600.

Acting Attorney General
Solicitor General C.R. de Silva, PC has been appointed Acting Attorney General from tomorrow.

Mr. de Silva will act for the incumbent Attorney General K.C. Kamalasabeyson PC who will be overseas. The Solicitor General was recently asked to supervise the criminal division of the Attorney General's Department in addition to his exisiting functions.

Top officials get house warning
Some divisional secretaries are alleged to have rented out their official residences while getting allowances from the government to maintain those residences, an official said.

Acting on this, Home Affairs Minister Alick Aluwihare has ordered that official residences given to divisional secretaries should be occupied by their families only and no one else.

Tony no more
Tony Fernando, a revered figure in the Sri Lankan western music scene who charted the fortunes of the Jetliners, died on Thursday after suffering a severe heart attack.

The 67-year old manager/businessman plucked Mignonne Rutnam, his wife, from obscurity to launch her impressive singing career with the Jetliners in the 1960s. The Jetliners has and still is Sri Lanka's most successful western music band, taking off to Hong Kong in the 1980s and remaining there as an extremely successful outfit. Friends of Tony described him as a strict disciplinarian. "He was a wonderful driver of the Jetliners and I remember how he used radio sets as an amplifier for the band at the old Coconut Grove!" recalled Kenneth Honter.

The first outfit of the Jetliners in the 1960-70s included Mignonne, Anton Gunawijaya, Harris Jurampathy, Indra Raj and Ishan Bahar.

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