Three unions which did not agree with the February 13 deal to end the plantation strike are to launch some form of "passive resistance" to get a higher daily wage for the workers, a spokesman said.
M.S. Sellasamy, General Secretary of the Ceylon National Workers Congress (CNWC)- a breakaway group from Minister Thonadaman's CWC-told a news conference that the deal between the government and the big unions was a victory for neither party nor the workers.
Addressing newsmen at the Orient Club along with Ashraff Aziz of the ADWC, Mr. Sellasamy said the workers would get the additional six rupees profit bonus only if they put in 60% attendance.
Further the extra six rupees would not be taken into consideration for EPF and ETF payments.
Mr. Sellasamy who quit the CWC after a head-on clash with leader S. Thondaman said that once again Mr. Thondaman had bulldozed his way and worked out the Rs. 95 +6 deal with President Kumaratunga before he flew off to India.
Mr. Aziz also told newsmen that the agreement would not provide much benefit to workers and they would campaign for more though not taking direct strike action.
Deputy Minister P. Chandrasekeran, whose United Peoples Front also opposed the wage deal reached by the major unions was not present at the news conference. The UPF, the CNWC and the ADWC had earlier called on workers to resist the wage deal and continue the strike.
But by last Tuesday the three minor unions also decided to return as the workers were suffering immense hardships without even their January wages.
Major changes are being made at national television Rupavahini in the wake of the resignation of Director General W. D. Jayasinghe who quit after a heated row over some political programmes, including a recent documentary on the life of business tycoon Upali Wijewardene.
Rupavahini sources said well-known broadcaster Palitha Perera who resigned from the SLBC recently was taking over as deputy director general in charge of programmes. Singer Lakshman Wijesekera is also expected to get a top place.
Mr. Jayasinghe, a veteran administrator, quit after a series of disputes culminating in the controversy over the Upali Wijewardene programme which Mr. Jayasinha claimed was defamatory of the business tycoon's wife, Lakmini. Some sources said President Kumaratunga had met Mr. Jayasinghe and asked him to stay on for two months until a replacement was found but he had declined. They said the President's Press Secretary Asoka Pieris has also been approached. The Deputy Information Director Lakshman Perera was on Wednesday appointed as acting DG.
Meanwhile the well-known TV and radio announcer Eric Fernando has been appointed as director general of SLBC.
Amidst these controversies, moves are underway to set up a pay TV called Channel 9. Sources say Mr. Fernando is expected to oversee initial operations of Channel 9 in which Presidential Media consultant Sanath Gunatilleke and other leading figures have interest or investments. (See also Political Column on Page 8)
Police are questioning two young men on matters relating to homosexual offences as part of investigations after a British Sunday newspaper made charges against the famous space visionary, Arthur C. Clark, a top officer said yesterday.
Deputy inspector General M. S. M. Nizam told The Sunday Times the two men in their early thirties had provided some "concrete evidence" but declined further details accept to say the police were also looking for a third person named in the London Sunday Mirror article.
Dr. Clark at the felicitation ceremony
The British tabloid on February 1 splashed a front page story portraying Dr. Clark as an alleged child sex and male sex offender. This came on the eve of Britain's Prince Charles' visit to Sri Lanka during which he was expected to confer a knighthood on the British-born Dr. Clark who has been living in Sri Lanka for the past few decades.
The space visionary and author of some of the best known books on science fiction, has denied the British newspaper allegations as nonsense, contemptuous and revolting, vowing that his lawyers would take legal action for defamation of character.
Meanwhile a senior broadcaster whose name has also been linked in this affair as a provider of male partners told The Sunday Times yesterday that the allegations were false.
Despite the growing scandal, Colombo Otters Aquatic Club which has been named as one of the haunts of Dr. Clark, yesterday went ahead with a ceremony to felicitate Dr. Clark on the award of knighthood to him though Britain has put off conferring of the award on the space writer's request till matters are cleared.
An Otters official described the allegations against Dr. Clark as derogatory. However the British tabloid in the weeks following the sensational lead, says it is standing by its story and giving more details to back it up.
A Motor Traffic Bill moved in Parliament last Tuesday has crashed off the road and sparked a heated dispute over Minister M. H. M. Ashraff's threat to burn the state-controlled Tamil newspaper, Thinakarn for allegedly blacking out his speech.
Under the surface is a long standing feud between Mr. Ashraff and his fellow Minister A.H.M. Fowzie. On Tuesday the two Ministers clashed over the building of the Kalmunai-Akkaraipattu highway. The Thinakaran on Wednesday published Mr. Fowzie's speech but not Mr. Ashraff's provoking an outburst from the latter.
Mr. Ashraff, leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress threatened to burn the Thinakaran, the Tamil morning daily of the Lake House Group, while calling on the Speaker to take action against the Editor and the reporter concerned.
Ashraff: newspapers must not play politics
The Sunday Times spoke to the two rival ministers and also to other political figures regarding the issue.
Minister Ashraff said, "I am strongly of the opinion that newspapers must not play politics and must be fair in their reporting.
"I am talking from experience. Many do not know that I started life as a newspaper reporter. I tried to be fair, I never took bribes nor was I ever drunk while working. Today some journalists are drunk and do take bribes.
"When I said I will burn the Thinakran I meant it symbolically. I want people to know that the Thinakaran plays politics. I have a following in this country and I want the people to know what that paper is doing. It blacks out my speech so that the people will not know what I have said. This is a underhand tactic. Newspapers must not be pawns in the hands of politicians or anyone else. I want my supporters to know that this paper is unfair. Then they will not buy the Thinakaran. What is the use of a paper if it does not sell?
"I have taken official action as well by reporting both the Editor and reporter to the Speaker. The idea of burning the newspaper was a symbolic act to show my outrage against the partial reporting."
Asked whether he felt the same about Opposition speeches being blacked out, Mr. Ashraff said," I hope they too will raise the issue, as I have done."
Fowzie: I don't break promises
In his speech in Parliament Mr. Ashraff accused Minister Fowzie of breaking his promise to build a sixty foot wide road from Akkaraipattu to Kalmunai. Mr. Fowzie in reply said, "I don't break promises. Despite the lack of finance we started on the Akkaraipattu-Kalmunai road. Mr. Ashraff has a habit of threatening to burn newspapers. Once he wanted to burn the Veerakesari. Newspapers must not deliberately leave out speeches made in Parliament, but then again there are the constraints because of the lack of space. Most papers if they don't publish a speech immediately, do so later. You cannot threaten to burn a paper. It is wrong. Then we must have a Hansard paper and write every word that is spoken in Parliament, immediately.
"I have fulfilled my promise of a road from Akkaraiputtu to Kalmunai. Mr. Ashraff is angry because he wanted the road to be sixty feet wide. Our policy is to have a road not more than fifty feet wide, so that the number of houses and other premises broken down is minimised. I tried to oblige him but what he does not know is that I had continuous protests from the people of the area and also the SLFP made representations to me that the road should not be more than fifty feet if at all, and if possible even less wide. So he brought this out in Parliament during the debate on the Traffic and Transport Act even though there was no relevance."
"For my part I try to oblige requests made by Parliamentarians be they in our party or not," he said.
Rauf Hakeem, Secretary of the SLMC and Deputy Chairman of Commitees said, "I don't agree with Mr. Ashraff when he talks of burning newspapers be it symbolical or otherwise.
"I know the State papers give publicity mainly to speeches made by Government members. This is wrong and the opposition too must raise it with the Speaker.
"Parliamentary reporting must have balance. In this case I feel there has to be a deliberate effort to black out Mr. Ashraff's speech because it concerned Mr. Fowzie. Anyway it is best to leave it in the Speakers hands. I think Mr. Ashraff who generally respects journalists made these remarks about burning the Thinakaran in the heat of the debate. I don't think he really meant it, though he had reason to be angry when his speech seemed to have been deliberately blacked out."
UNP MP, Mahinda Samarasinghe said, "The minister's threat to burn the newspapers has no justification. On the one hand Government is trying to go into the whole question of media reform. We in the UNP suffer most and we have taken up the matter frequently with the Speaker. Burning papers symbolically won't solve the problem of slanted reports in State newspapers."
ULF MP, Ravi Karunanayake said, "I could not help laughing at Mr. Ashraff's remarks. This is nothing new. It is happening all the time in the State media where Opposition speeches in Parliament are generally not reported when made in Parliament. We have been asking for the last three years for media freedom, but still most news and speeches of the Opposition are suppressed or slanted. We have taken this up with the Speaker. But burning newspapers symbolically or otherwise, won't solve the issue. Burning won't bring about fair reporting."
ACTC leader Kumar Ponnambalam said, "I am fully in support of Mr. Ashraff wanting to symbolically burn the Thinakaran for not carrying his speech. Of course it has the elements of a home and home match since Mr. Fowzie and Mr. Ashraff are involved.
"I have a letter to all newspapers regarding K. H. J. Wijeyadasa referring on TV to Tamils as rascals. But most have published this. There are many such cases where my views and opposition views are not published in State newspapers, specially.
"I am taking this matter up with the Press Council. The Opposition too must take some action when their speeches are not published. As a Tamil what other forum have I got to make my views known to the people."
TULF leader, M. Sivasithamparam said, "Politicians should not rely on newspapers. Keeping contact with the people is the best way, I have often been blacked out, I feel Mr. Ashraff should have ignored the whole thing."
Senior lawyer and Sinhala Sanveedanaya Secretary S. L. Gunasekara said he was surprised that Mr. Ashraff could make such statements which bordered on some form of megalomania.
Residents of the Maligawatte flats in Colombo have been warned that unless they buy their flats they will lose them at the death of the legal owner.
This warning given by the National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) in a letter to all residents has stirred protests with angry residents charging that the NHDA is acting unjustly and contrary to promises given earlier.
"At the death of the legal tenants, property coming under the tenant of the Maligawatte flats will transfer to the NHDA. If this property is not handed over the residents will be considered illegal tenants. If they are living with the consent of the legal tenant, then they should buy the flat, after having paid a transfer fee to the NHDA,'' the letter says.
According to the letter signed by NHDA Chairman M.M.C. Pradinandu, this process is intended mainly to deal with illegal tenants. Legal tenants would be able to buy the property at a 25% discount if the entire amount is paid or on other options.
But Wijeysiri Perera, a spokesperson for the residents said when they moved into the flats they were informed that after 20 years they would own the property and such was the case in many of the government flats.
"We have been living for about 25 years and now they send us a letter saying we have to buy the flat or our family members will lose the right to it at the death of the owner,'' he complained.
Even if the full amount is paid the NHDA is unclear over whether the deeds of the flats would be given, tenants said expressing fears that eventually they would have neither the flat nor the deed.
Residents of other flats in Colombo and the suburbs also accuse the NHDA and the PA government of trying to earn money from largely middle class or poor tenants through the new schemes.
They said the sale of the houses would have some justification if they were given at the original cost of construction.
But the sale price now was based on current values, sometimes ten times as much as the original cost.
Continue to the News/Comment page 3 * Referendum or polls: discussions in march * Cross connections in two pages * UNP launches million signature campaign to impeach CBK * LTTE ignores cease-fire call * Alleged plot to kill rebel MP * Save me from AG says Ravaya Editor
Return to the News/Comment contents page
| HOME PAGE | FRONT PAGE | EDITORIAL/OPINION | PLUS | TIMESPORTS
Please send your comments and suggestions on this web site to
info@suntimes.is.lk or to
webmaster@infolabs.is.lk