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now praises JR's constitution Ms. Kumaratunga speaking after the opening of a five-storey hospital constructed at a cost of Rs. 120 million said the former President was responsible for many misdeeds, but one good thing he had done was to create the post of a presidency with executive powers. The President said that it was during President Jayewardene's time that corruption increased and the war started, but among those faults one good thing was the executive presidency. She said she did not intend to misuse or abuse the powers of the executive presidency. Responding to calls from the crowds to 'take over powers', the President said that when the time came she knew how to use her powers. The President's praise of the 1978 Constitution was contrary to what she had been saying earlier about the constitution. President Kumaratunga at previous meetings described the 1978 constitution as a 'Bahubootha Viyawasthawak'. Mourners
stage protest against LTTE opposite SLMM office Vairamuththu Mehanathan (32), alias Justin, a member of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), was shot dead by extremists on Friday evening while he was returning home from the PLOTE office in Vaidiyamalai Road in Puthur, in the Batticaloa district, the sources added. The coffin was brought to the SLMM office situated at Lake Road on their way to the burial grounds. The relatives claimed that it was the responsibility of the monitors to provide security and also to investigate the killing. However, the SLMM representative in Batticaloa, Ms. Laila Badawy, told the protesters that their mission was to monitor the cease-fire agreement and not interfere in police investigations. Ms. Badawy told The Sunday that they were closely monitoring the situation to prevent any backlash. World
Bank funded project to wind up In a letter sent last week to the Education Ministry Secretary, the Director General of the Department of Public Enterprises, V. Kanagasabapathy has referred to the delay in liquidating the National Authority on Teacher Education (NATE). The letter stating that the Authority should be liquidated by July 31, drew the Ministry Secretary's attention to the Cabinet decision dated September 10, 2002 by which approval was granted to repeal the National Authority on Teacher Education Act. No. 32 of 1997 and vest the responsibilities of the Authority with the National Institute of Education or the Teacher Education Branch of the Ministry as appropriate. In his letter Mr. Kanagasabapathy states "I would appreciate if immediate action is taken to liquidate the institution and transfer the assets to the National Institute of Education by passing a Resolution in terms of Finance Act. No. 38 of 1971 before the end of July 2003." NATE is part of a World Bank funded project on Teacher Education and Teacher Deployment and the shutting down of the authority was said to be a violation of the credit agreement between the World Bank and the Government. The work of the authority included streamlining of teacher education, teacher education upgrading and accreditation, policy making and advising the ministry. The Cabinet Memorandum signed by the Minister of Human Resources Development Education and Cultural Affairs describes action to be taken with regard to the present staff of NATE. Officers who are seconded would revert to their substantive posts, those on contract will be discontinued at the end of their period during the year while other academic staff would be given the option to join the NIE. The memorandum called for the rationalization of institutions under the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Education and Cultural Affairs relating to general education. A committee appointed to study the role and functions of institutions relating to general education under the Ministry had found that there was duplication and overlapping of powers and functions in certain areas leading to inefficiency and wastage. Who
put patents before patients? Speakers at a seminar held at the BMICH on Friday said provisions for compulsory licensing - through which safe drugs could have been obtained at low costs - were left out of the Intellectual Property Bill drafted by the Director of Intellectual Property and a top level committee. The Bill which had been in the drafting for years was suddenly gazetted on May 21 and tabled in Parliament on May 26, without the provisions which could have helped millions of Sri Lankans for decades to come. But health rights activist Dr. Kamalika Abeyratne, the Centre for Policy Alternatives and another petitioner obtained a copy of the Bill with difficulty and challenged it in the Supreme Court, just hours before the constitutional deadline. The Supreme Court last month struck down several clauses relating to patent rights of big pharmaceutical companies, ruling that those clauses were a violation of the fundamental rights of the people. The Supreme Court in a powerful act of judicial activism and involvement, told government officials that they were appointed essentially to protect and work for the rights of the common people and not for big global companies. The Supreme Court in a judgment that might be cited as a precedent in other cases said the Intellectual Property Bill was a violation of equality provisions in the Constitution. It said there could not be equality among unequals and that it was absurd to suggest there was a level playing field for powerful global corporations and defenseless people. CPA director Rohan Edrisinha and lawyer Sharmila Anthony who argued the case against the Bill in the Supreme Court told Friday's seminar the case showed a lack of openness, transparency and accountability on the part of officials who drafted the Bill. They said that after the Bill, without the benefits to the people of Sri Lanka, was gazetted on May 21, the CPA had gone to much difficulty in trying to get a copy of the Bill. They said such
actions by officials made a mockery of the Constitution and the
sovereignty of the people who had a right to know what was being
done. Dr. Karunaratne said a newspaper advertisement had been published last year calling for suggestions relating to the new Intellectual Property Bill but Dr. Edrisinha insisted that such a move was far from the democratic requirement of keeping the people informed. The seminar was organised by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Trade, in consultation with Health Action International Asia Pacific (HAIAP), to get suggestions for the drafting of a new Intellectual Property Bill in line with the judgment of the Supreme Court. HAIAP Co-ordinator Dr. K. Balasubramaniam and patients' rights activist Dr. Joel Fernando who chaired the seminar said the irrational import and sale of some 8,000 varieties of drugs in Sri Lanka was the main cause of a deadly and unjust pharmaceutical situation in the country. |
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