The multi-million rupee project to build the Palatial Presidential residence is to go ahead despite the widespread criticism which led to legal action against the government by the residents of the area.
The Additional Solicitor General, K.C. Kamalasabeysan this week informed courts that the acquisition orders to acquire land in the Kotte area had been withdrawn, but no mention about the future status of the project was made.
Media Minster Mangala Samaraweera said that the government had not abandoned the proposal to build a home outside Colombo for President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, but rather decided to construct it in another location.
According to reports he had also said that the gorvenment feels that it is essential to buid a official residence for the President away from the city.
A spokesman for the Presidential Secretariat said however that they are not aware of the new location but revealed that when earmarked it would involve a lot of planning as they would have to virtually start all over again.
Officials of the Urban Development Authority were also not aware of any developments regarding the changing of venue for the Presidentís residence.
C. T. Maliduwapathirana a resident of the area said that the decision to choose a new location may involve making certain adjustments to the land. He added that there are various speculations about where the President’s residence was being constructed.
The Presidential Residence which was previously to be constructed in Kotte was estimated to cost a staggering Rs 1.5 billion. This came in the wake of a government announcement a few months ago that 40 acres of land in the Pelwatte area would be acquired to build a presidential residence and secure a housing complex for Ministers and Parliamentarians.
Over 30 luxury houses would have been demolished whilst 150-200 residents of the area vowed that they would not relocate at any cost and alleged that they were kept in the dark about the proposed residence and that the President and Cabinet had been misguided by the UDA. Even the students of the area were deeply worried about the issue.
C.T. Maliduwapathirana filed a case in late July and asked the Supreme Court to grant and issue a mandate in the nature of a writ of certiorari, quashing the declaration made by the President under the UDA Projects (Special Provisions ) Act No 2, of 1980 to acquire properties. Several petitions were also filed.
Last week, it was announced that the government had decided not to proceed with the acqisition of land for building a Presidential residence.
Furthermore, according to Additional Solicitor General the multi-million rupee project to build the presidential residence is to go ahead despite the widespread criticism which led to legal action against the government by the residents of the area.
The State Pharmaceuticals Corporation Chairman Colvin Gooneratna reacting to the lead story in ‘The Sunday Times’ last week has denied any wrong-doing by the corporation but his reply still leaves many questions unanswered.
In a letter to The Sunday Times, Prof. Gooneratna states: I wish to inform you that contrary to what is claimed in the news item, the Attorney General has at no time reprimanded the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC). The Attorney General has made an observation regarding the provisions of the Cosmetics, Devices and Drugs Act number 27 of 1980 in a letter addressed not to the SPC but to the Director General of Health Services (DGHS).
Secondly, and again contrary to what is claimed in the news item, no SPC imported drugs are awaiting clearance in the port as of my writing this on Monday September 8, 1997, except routine arrivals which will be cleared in a day or two.
Thirdly, the SPC has not violated any drug laws as claimed in the article. About 25% to 35% of imports of medicinal drugs must necessarily be from unregistered sources for the following reasons:
1. Some drugs are monopolies or near monopolies. These firms do not bother to register with the Drugs Authority.
2. For some drugs there are no registered suppliers at all.
3. For certain drugs there may be one or two registered suppliers, but there are adverse quality control reports about them. Under these circumstances we import drugs with permission of the DGHS, who is the Drug Authority for Sri Lanka. If the SPC did not import the above drugs with the permission of the Director General, Government hospitals will have a serious shortage of about 150 essential drugs.
Our reporter says: A letter sent by the Attorney General’s Department about the import of drugs has clearly stated that “I find that the State Pharmaceutical Corporation had imported drugs without obtaining a licence under section 9 of the Cosmetics, Devices and Drugs Act...”
As the SPC Chairman Colvin Goonaratna says the letter was not addressed to the SPC, but to the DG Health Services. However the AG’s Department has observed that the SPC has imported drugs without a licence, which is a violation of the Cosmetic and Devices Drugs Act.
The SPC Chairman also maintains that no SPC imported drugs are awaiting clearance, but according to Medical and Custom sources there are uncleared drugs at the Port. We are in possession of letters sent by the SPC seeking the permission of the DGHS to clear some 19 items held at the Port. The letter said ‘As you are aware we have on number of occasions written on matters relating to import of items which do not have registered sources or the registered sources are very expensive. Based on this we have been importing from sources who are past and previous suppliers. For this we had the authorization of the Ministry of Health. Now the following items are in the port which have not satisfied the registration requirement’. (Nineteen items have been listed). However the AG’s Department had already observed that the DGHS cannot grant exemptions to importers and therefore if the drugs were cleared it would have been illegal as it would be a violation of the Cosmetics Devices and Drugs Act.
Colombo Archbishop Rt. Rev. Nicholas Marcus Fernando in his condolence message stated that Mother Teresa’s message was always the same, not proclaimed with verbal eloquence but with the simple gesture of tender, loving care.
The Archbishop said that quite early in her missionary career, Mother Teresa thought of neighbouring Colombo’s poor and the destitute and came over here in 1969 and began working immediately but after a few years she had to take back her Sisters because this country’s laws failed to see the greater good.
“But Mother Teresa came back in 1984 and opened Shanthi Nivasa in Mutwal and soon after Prem Nivasa in Moratuwa. These were followed by similar Homes in Kandy, Batticaloa and Galle,” the Archbishop added.
“Our own people in Sri Lanka have seen and experienced Mother Teresa’s love for the poor, the downtrodden, the fogotten masses,” he said.
“Mother Teresa of Calcutta is no more with us. She is neither in Calcutta nor in Colombo, neither in Rome nor in New York. She is no more in the slums of the world. She has been received into God’s own kingdom,” the Archbishop said.
Colombo Mayor Karu Jayasuriya has complained to IGP W.B. Rajaguru about the alleged high handed act of two opposition MMCs who with the backing of two PA MPs are forcibly trying to put up unauthorised structures for their supporters in the city.
At least nine such structures are being built in Maligawatte in Colombo Central and some more are coming up at De Mel Mawatha.
A CMC spokesman told The Sunday Time that when employees of the council and police had gone to the site to demolish the structures, one of the MMCs had gone and threatened that they could demolish the structures while he was inside, it is alleged.
It is learnt that after April 15 this year no unauthorised structures were allowed to be constructed.
The spokesman said the CMC is worried that the Colombo city would be “turned into a slum city before the next SAARC conference.”
DIG Colombo Range D.M.T.B. Dissanayake is conducting inquiries.
A charity dinner dance to mark 50 years of Australian official representation will be held at the Colombo Hilton on September 19 at 7 p.m.
The funds raised will go to provide assistance to the victims of the war and the Salvation Army Home for elderly men at Rajagiriya.
Government leaders are considering alternative ways of implementing the proposed devolution package amidst opposition even from within the PA to plan for a non-binding referendum, political sources said.
The LSSP, one of the constituent parties of the PA recently warned the govt. not to bypass Parliament and dishonour the Constitution by adopting the method of getting a direct ‘yes’ from the people at a non-binding referendum.
The sources said govt. leaders were meeting top lawyers and constitutional experts to study various possibilities as the November deadline for the package nears and prospects of an all-party consensus get dimmer.
Amidst the claims and counter-claims a government source pointed out that on at least three previous occasions, efforts to bring about a devolution of power had been thwarted and undermined. If it happened again the minorities would never believe that the Sinhala people were sincerely committed to a sharing of power.
The govt. source said they were still hopeful of getting the support of the UNP to obtain a two-thirds majority in Parliament while the Muslim and Tamil parties were also hopeful of reaching agreement on the setting up of a Muslim Council in the South-East.
In a news release the NDUNLF states that at a meeting of the organizers of the NDUNLF, it was noted that views have been expressed in certain quarters, that the Constitutional reforms will be effected by other methods in the event of the Government not being able to obtain a 2/3 majority in Parliament.
It was unanimously decided that NDUNLF would strongly oppose any effort to utilize extra judicial methods for constitutional reforms.
‘What people in Jaffna need is peace. The ordinary man is not worried about the package. What he needs is lasting peace’, Vice Chancellor of the Jaffna university, Prof. P. Balasundarampillai says.
Prof. Balasundarampillai who believes that the people in Jaffna still have many doubts to be cleared about the devolution package, points out that although the Provincial Council system was introduced to meet aspirations of the Tamil people and to redress the just grievances, the people in the South are enjoying the very system. Prof. Balasundarampillai told the visiting journalists in Jaffna: “We presume that a genuine effort had been made by the government with sincerity but the people of Jaffna still feel doubtful about the outcome and, in particular about the process of implementation’.
The ordinary men and women in Jaffna do not even care about the package as long as they get peace, the Vice Chancellor said.
A rapport between the army and civilians has been built up over the months.
An elderly man visibly moved by the support provided by the army to conduct the annual vel festival in Nallur told a senior officer, ‘In the past when an aircraft hovered over us, we always thought that it was the Air Force on a bombing mission.
But last week it was helicopters showering flowers over the vel cart for a change at the Nallur annual festival’.
The elderly man was speaking to the Town Commander of Jaffna Brigadier Susantha Mendis who was instrumental in reorganising the historic annual temple festival. The vel cart was driven along the packed streets with some 250,000 people participating after six years. Unarmed security personnel closely moved with the civilian population to take part in the religious festival.
The civilian attitude towards the security forces has changed dramatically since the security forces started moving closely with the civilians after taking control of the Jaffna peninsula following the Riviresa operations.
Nelliady market: normalcy is returning but problems do exist (inset) Prof. Balasundarampillai
A cross-section of civilians interviewed by ‘The Sunday Times’ during a Defence Ministry organised visit to the Jaffna peninsula said that normalcy was returning to the region, but of course problems still existed.
‘One of the main problems people face is the large number of check points which the people or children have to pass regularly when they get to work, market or school’, a school teacher who did not want to be named said.
But, Jaffna security forces overall Commander, Major General P.A. Karunatillake says they have no alternative, but to carry on with the routine checks due to the security situation. He said they were trying to minimize the check points, but the civilians would have to bear with the security forces in view of the security situation. According to government figures more than 465,000 civilians have returned to the peninsula.
‘One of the main issues the government would have to look into is the unemployment problem. If the problem is not solved soon this would be an ideal hunting ground for the LTTE’, a retired post master said. ‘Most of us are surviving with the income, coming from our relatives or children abroad. There aren’t enough chances as yet to generate sufficient income. People largely depend on the dry rations provided by the government’, he said.
Major Gen. Karunatillake admits that the unemployment rate is still high and more than 100,000 depend on the dry rations.
The Vadamarachchi Commander, Brigadier Larry Wijeratne who is also keen to see that employment is available to the population in Jaffna said, ‘We know that the private sector is responding to open up their offices in Jaffna. This is a good sign. Already a private shipping line has opened an office in the Nelliady area to buy local products to be shipped to Colombo’. Many of the civilians still shaken by the scars of the raging war, want peace, but whether it would dawn on them is yet to be seen. They do not have a clear idea of the much publicised devolution package.
Another area which the residents fear is about the alleged disappearances of youth in the peninsula which has not been uncommon during the previous periods, when different regimes were controlling the Jaffna peninsula. The Divisional Commander for the Valikamam division, Major General Lionel Balagalla said no disappearances had been reported in the past six months from his division.
He said there had been various incidents reported including rape cases, but stern action had been taken against those involved in the incidents with cases pending against them.
With vegetables available in excess the army has moved into purchase their stocks bringing relief to the farming population in the north.
‘The government and the military will have to work hard to rebuild the lost confidence among the Jaffna population for us to return to normal’, says an ex-principal who has been battered by the war in the past decade. It is not only his view, but many of the civilians believe the same.
An association calling itself Avadhi Lanka, has criticised the government’s “double standards” in enforcing disciplinary action against public service officials.
Avadhi said the government has failed to take diciplinary action aginst two public officials — the Defence Secretary and the State Pharmaceutical Corporation Chairman.
Avadhi, started by a group of retired public officials, said these instances show that the government is undermining its own determination to enforce accountability in the public sector. ‘‘The question then arises - whom is the government trying to fool? “
An open verdict was returned by the Colombo Chief Magistrate inquiring into the death of an EPDP senior member, Thambirajah Vadivel.
Chief Magistrate S.V.P. Munidasa Nanayakkara who held the magisterial inquiry into the death also visited the scene of the incident at the EPDP’ office, Park Road, Narahenpita. He instructed the Narahenpita police to go ahead with the investigation and arrest the suspects as the deceased had sustained multiple injuries from what looks like a grenade explosion. He ordered that the body should not be cremated but buried. The JMO has stated that the deceased sustained multiple injuries due to the bomb explosion and death was caused by haemorrhage and shock.
The explosion took place at theparty office onThursday around 10.45 a.m.
A public meeting to commemorate the 133rd birth anniversary of Sri Anagarika Dharmapala will be held in front of his statue at Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo 07 on Wednesday, September 17.
Prime Minister Sirmavo Bandaranaike, Cultural and Religious Affairs Minister Lakshman Jayakody and Colombo Mayor Karu Jayasuriya are due to take part.
The Maha Bodhi Society of Sri Lanka will also conduct ceremonies on Tuesday and Wednesday to mark Dharmapala day in Panadura.
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