APRC stuck without stenos

The all important All Party Representative Committee (APRC) report on submitting proposals to resolve the ethnic conflict has been further delayed due to the non-availability of stenographers, APRC Chairman Tissa Vitharana told The Sunday Times. As the Committee utilizes the services of the Parliament Hansard staff, sittings have come to a standstill until the Budget Committee stages were over. Minister Vitharana said all the members took a decision to suspend sittings until the Budget was voted on.

“We were informed by the Parliament Secretary General that the staff would not be available. Sittings will commence as soon as the Budget vote is over and we hope to complete the final report in two months. We are keen to complete the work as so much emphasis is given to the outcome of the committee. The final recommendations will be on agreement and consent of all parties as they will sign a common document,” he said.

He said although there was the option of acquiring staff from outside there was a problem of accuracy.”We did get some outside staff but the problem of accurate reporting came up and members were not satisfied. It was then that we used the Hansard staff,” said Minister Vitharana.

A few weeks ago the APRC ran into trouble with the MEP and JHU withdrawing their support. They claimed they were dissatisfied over the manner the meetings were taking place. The parties had stated that the Committee was following its own agenda leaving out key issues which needed to be discussed.