• Jams and more jams despite CBK's outburst
• Day ban on market lorries
• Detainee seeks fate of missing children
• Ex-OIC told to pay compensation
• No TV plug for election violence
• Editors' Guild launches awards for journalists
• Halal Bill aborted
• Sky rocket hits boy's eye
• Former coroner seeks justice
• LTTE's attack plans foiled
• Second spy drama hits London mission
• Temporary relief for temporary residents
• Lanka lauds Delhi's plan
• UNP office attacked
• Foreign support for July strikers
• Build on the consensus, says group
• Flour pills —a problem to Ministry
• Top shooting coach's alleged armoury raided
• YP's wife to succeed him
• Consul in big job racket
• Army Chief begins on positive note
• "I insist on blaming the UNP"
• Thonda says 'not quitting'
• May UNP learn from '98 follies - From the Blue Corner
• The majority politics and abortive military strategies
• 'I'm not one of those who sell their souls'

Jams and more jams despite CBK's outburst

By Faraza Farook and Ayesha R. Rafiq

With a journey through Colombo city taking more than twice as long as it did some years ago, traffic congestion has become a heated issue with an angry President Kumaratunga herself last week charging that the ever present jams were part of a political conspiracy against the government.

At the cabinet meeting last week, the President said she had got several complaints about severe traffic jams where productive working hours and thousands of gallons of fuel were going up in smoke.

She said she believed some elements in police and other interested parties were creating traffic jams as part of a conspiracy against the government.

Pointedly overlooking Transport Minister A. H. M. Fowzie, with whom she is known to be at odds after the rail fare fiasco, the President directed Urban Development Minister Indika Gunewardene to order a ban on all road works till the end of the festive season.

But with Christmas coming and going and with the new year rush now on, the traffic jams are still as severe as ever before and most analysts say the government must tackle the roots rather than the symptoms. They say an excessive number of vehicles, inadequate public transport and the closure of several city roads to provide security for politicians are among the main causes for the chaos on city streets.

Sri Lankans working abroad and having wide-experience in driving say they cannot drive highways here because of rampant undiscipline leading to virtual chaos. One Sri Lankan who had returned from Canada said he had been asked by friends there whether he was not afraid of being killed by terrorists. He had said Sri Lanka's highways were more dangerous than any threat from terrorism.

The situation is made worse by the numerous on going road construction projects in the city, leaving large pot holes and dust storms with the Baseline Road stretch especially being the worst. The more privileged motorists who have AC get through unscathed but most others, especially the ordinary people in jam-packed buses end up suffering from suffocation or severe lung problems.

The government has temporarily stopped all road construction projects being carried out by the Road Development Authority (RDA), the CMC and others.

At last week's post-cabinet media briefing, Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that all road construction operations carried out by the RDA and CMC would be halted until January 2 in a bid to reduce congestion.

RDA Chairman W. A. Jayasinghe said only emergency work such as burst pipelines, and projects handled by foreign construction companies such as the Baseline Road project were continuing, due to the immense costs it will otherwise run into.

But he said local projects, such as the trenching carried out by Sri Lanka Telecom, would be stopped till January 2.

City Traffic Police Assistant Superintendent C. Mendis said the traffic police would take strict measures against motorists who parked vehicles in ways that obstruct the traffic flow.

All private buses coming into Colombo, after disembarking their passengers, have to park in a designated area, near the Sugathadasa Stadium. At present, there are 3500 buses coming into Colombo daily and are parked in Olcott Mawatha and Bastian Mawatha in a haphazard way, severely obstructing traffic, ASP Mendis said.

Arrangements have been made to designate a special parking area on D.R. Wijewardene Mawatha for vehicles going into Fort and Pettah. "If this proves to be successful in easing traffic, we hope to continue it," ASP Mendis said.

He said if pedestrians co-operated with the police, especially by crossing only at pedestrian crossings, the situation would considerably improve.

But all these measures do not seem to be effective, by the look of the daily traffic jams. The public too seem to have little faith in these measures, and as such are not adhering to the rules.

Many of those we spoke to said that if they were to adhere to all these rules, it would make the situation worse for them, as they would be spending more time than ever on the roads.

They complained that parking at D.R. Wijewardene Mawatha to enter Fort was absurd, as it was a long walk, and shoppers would soon get disgusted.

One disgruntled passenger said it took her one hour just to travel from the Public Library to Pettah. She said this delay meant that she was unable to attend to much of the work she had planned to do during the day. The Transport Ministry has carried out a survey on the city traffic jam , an official said.

D.S. Jayaweera, Deputy Director of the ministry's planing sector said the survey which had been carried out in seven significant areas showed that whereas in 1990 a 20km journey took 40 minutes, it now took an average of 1 hour and 20 minutes.

With all this confusion, it's not a rare sight to see angry fists being waved and drivers yelling at each other in frustration. In areas where there are shopping malls, the situation is worse with everybody competing for parking space.

On a recommendation, the Transport Ministry banned parking during peak hours, Mr. Jayaweera said.

He said the traffic lights system was not properly synchronised, especially in the Maradana, Olcott Mawatha and Technical College areas.

However, with all these measures by the government, there still seems to be no relief apparent for the traveller, and it seems like a major revamp of the traffic system is necessary to ease the congestion.

Day ban on market lorries

As part of the plans to ease the traffic jams, tough restrictions are to be enforced for lorries entering or leaving the ever-crowded Manning market in the city.

The Colombo Municipal Council has issued notices to the traffic police setting out new regulations for lorries entering the Manning Market. The regulations state that from January 1, all lorries have to leave the Manning Market by 8 am.

The market has to be kept open from 11pm. onwards to let outstation lorries enter, while those from the suburbs can enter from 4am. onwards. But all lorries must leave before 8am, Traffic Police Inspector W.S. Nissanka said.

The CMC is also finalising arrangements to have the lorries parked in an area belonging to the CMC near the Sugathadasa Stadium, the council's top traffic consultant T. Kanagasingham said.

He said they would charge about Rs. 10 from lorries.

At present lorries coming into Manning Market are parked at Bastian Mawatha, Olcott Mawatha, 4th Cross Street and 5th Cross Street. Police and others feel this is one of the main causes of traffic congestions in the Fort and Pettah areas.

Detainee seeks fate of missing children

By S.S.Selvanayagam

A woman who has been detained by the police for 15 months has appealed to the Anti-Harassment Committee (AHC) to trace two children — her son and niece — who she claimed have disappeared while in police custody.

Velautham Maheshwari, human rights activist and secretary to the Forum for Human Dignity (FHD) told The Sunday Times she had brought to the attention of the Anti-Harassment Committee that the woman, identified as N. Maheswari, along with her son N.Ketheeswaran (11) and her niece R.Tharshini (9) were arrested by the Mount Lavinia police in April last year and detained till 14.08.98.

"The Mount Lavinia Police have told her the two children would be presented at the juvenile courts but they are now denying any knowledge of the whereabouts of the two children.

The woman was transferred to Welikada prison where she is undergoing immense mental trauma, not knowing the fate of the two children," Ms. Velautham said.

She pointed out that it is 19 months since the mother was arrested and requested the Anti-Harassment Committee to also probe why the mother was kept in police custody for so long.

A Sub Inspector of the Mount Lavinia police told The Sunday Time the children had been sent to the Ramakrishna Mission children's home from the Pannipitiya children's home on March 17. But Ramakrishna Mission children's Home manager, Swami Jeevan Anandaji, said there was no truth in the police claim.

A spokeswoman of the Pannipitiya children's home when contacted also said the children were never there.

Ms. Velautham said her organisation's search at several children's homes in the city and the suburbs also proved futile.

Aranayake journalist case:

Ex-OIC told to pay compensation

The Supreme Court has ruled the fundamental rights of Aranayake correspondent of Lake House have been violated and ordered former Aranayake police officer in charge, W. Dharmaratne, to pay Rs. 50,000 as compensation.

The Supreme Court also ordered the Inspector to pay Rs. 10,000 as legal costs to the petitioner and fixed January 16 as the deadline to make both payments.

The journalist, Pradeep Kumara Dharmaratne, was arrested and beaten up by a Police team led by Inspector Dharmaratne following the publication of a news item in Dinamina on January 26 about the brewing of kassippu in the Aranayake area.

The Bench comprised Justices Dr. Ranjith Amerasinghe, Lakshman Weerasekera and Professor Shirani Bandaranayake.

The journalist had cited the Aranayake OIC as the first respondent. He had also cited Sergeant Ratnapala, PC Bandara, PC Samarasinghe, former IGP W. Rajaguru and the Attorney General.

In his news item the journalist had written about the thriving kassippu trade in the Aranayake area and SSP for Kegalle Pujitha Jayasundara had cited the report at a public meeting. On the same day the journalist was arrested, beaten up and taken in a police jeep along with utensils used for brewing kassippu.

At the Police Station the OIC had questioned him about the news report and assaulted him. His right arm was dislocated, according to the petition.

Three days later the journalist was produced before the Aranayake Magistrate for the alleged offence of brewing kassippu, and released on bail.

Pradeep Kumara later received treatment at the Kegalle Hospital for internal and external injuries. During his stay in hospital his house was burnt and damaged with the alleged connivance of certain officers of the Aranayake Police Station.

No TV plug for election violence

By Chamintha Thilakaratne

Some political parties have appealed to the Elections Commissioner to allow more TV campaigning as part of a bid to curb violence at the North Western provincial elections, but Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake has turned down the request.

Mr. Dissanayake told The Sunday Times that if the parties wished to curb violence, they themselves should take the necessary steps at their rallies and pocket meetings.

The request for more TV campaigning could not be allowed in terms of the elections laws, he said.

The request was made by some parties at a meeting with the Elections Commissioner at his office, but the ruling PA was not represented.

The PA's Chief Ministerial candidate, S. B. Nawinna, said he felt the meeting was not important and if anyone knew the basic rules of elections and kept away from violence there was no reason to attend meetings.

However, he said he had told a party member to attend the discussion but the member had walked out saying nothing important was happening at the meeting.

Other parties, however, disagreed saying having a meeting was better than having no meeting. They accused the PA of being irresponsible and encouraging violence.

The next meeting between the Commissioner and all parties will take place on Wednesday.

Meanwhile the People's Action Front for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) has made arrangements for religious prelates to come forward in settling election disputes in the province.

PAFFREL sources said two leading Catholic prelates and Buddhist monks had agreed to intervene or mediate in disputes though some circles were of the view that the clergy must keep out of politics.

But PAFFREL sources said they felt it was quite in order for the clergy to get involved in preventing political violence without getting involved in party politics.

Some 40 incidents have been reported in the province since nominations were handed over early this month. According to PAFFREL officials, most of the incidents were minor ones.

Meanwhile, the UNP sources said they were considering a massive damages claim against a Sinhala newspaper which made a serious charge against the party's chief ministerial candidate Gamini Jayawickrema Perera.

Editors' Guild launches awards for journalists

The Editors' Guild of Sri Lanka has launched the Journalist of the Year Award and other Awards of Excellence for outstanding journalists in the print media.

Nominations for the Awards for 1998 will be accepted by the Guild till January 31 and a panel of judges will make the selections thereafter. The awards will be presented at a ceremony in March.

All journalists who have published their works in 1998, including free lancers will be eligible to enter. Newspapers and Members of The Guild will also be permitted to recommend nominees.

For the initial year, the following categories will be selected. The coveted Journalist of the Year; Best Photo Journalist of the Year; Best Cartoonist of the Year and Scoop of the Year. In addition Excellence in Journalism Awards will also be made.

The Guild hopes to expand the scheme to other categories in the following years and explore avenues including the electronic media as well.

The main purpose of the awards scheme is to recognise professionalism in journalism and to reward those who have excelled during a particular year, the Guild said. The scheme is open to all journalists and newspapers in all three languages.

Further details will be published in the national newspapers soon.

Halal Bill aborted

By Shane Seneviratne

The so-called Halal Bill which led to controversy among animal rights groups and Muslim groups, has been withdrawn Minister Lakshman Jayakody said.

The bill envisaged that manufacturers of meat products adhered to the Halal process if they carried the Halal tag on their products.

Animal rights activists were of the opinion that if the Halal bill was passed Islamic methods of slaughter would have to be adhered to. But Muslim groups argued that only manufacturers would have to follow a certain process in preparation of food and the bill did not cover the slaughter of animals.

The Minister of Religious and Cultural Affairs made the disclosure when he met the Mahanayake Thera of the Malwatte Chapter, The Sunday Times learns.

Mr. Jayakody said that as the minister responsible for the fostering of all religions, he had to look into the problems that the Muslim community was having regarding the current Halal practices.

He said he had discussed the issue with other ministers, MPs and various groups before deciding to withdraw the bill.

Muslims have complained that most traders were using the Halal tag largely for commercial purposes and needed to be regulated by law. But animal rights groups claim such a law could be interpreted as legalising the Muslim slaughter method.

Mr. Jayakody also denied charges that Minister M. H. M. Ashraff had encroached on the historic Deegavapi area when carrying out some developments project. He said Mr. Ashraff's projects were only in the Oluvil area bordering Deegavapi but he had stopped those also in deference to the feelings of Buddhists.

Sky rocket hits boy's eye

By Faraza Farook

A six-year-old boy's eye was critically injured when a sky rocket hit him straight in the face, a National Hospital official said yesterday, giving the casualty toll from the festive season fireworks.

He said an operation had been performed in the child's cornea, but it was doubtful whether he could regain his sight.

The child was one of more than 15 people admitted to the national Hospital's accident ward with injuries from Christmas firecrackers — either due to negligence or the poor quality of the crackers. There had been three children whose eyes have been affected because of similar incidents.

Another eight-year-old who had set alight a pile of leftover powder collected from the crackers, had the whole of his face burnt, the official said.

Former coroner seeks justice

A former Additional City Coroner for Colombo is seeking justice from the Justice Ministry about his removal which he says was done without proper notice or explanation. Attorney Amir Sheriff who served as a City Coroner in the 1970s and was later reappointed as an additional city coroner soon after the PA government came into office in 1994, says he was again discontinued from service without proper notice or an explanation.

Mr. Sheriff said his initial removal was due to political victimisation. Although he was reappointed in 1994, Mr. Sheriff says he had been suspended while carrying out his duties,

Ten months later in spite of repeated requests to the Ministry of Justice and Minister G.L. Peiris, to furnish reasons for what transpired, he had not received answers. "I have been denied my Fundamental Rights," Mr. Sheriff stressed.

LTTE's attack plans foiled

Plans by the LTTE to carry out fresh attacks on economic targets have been unearthed by detectives.

An official of the Directorate of Internal Intelligence (DII) said the plans were revealed when they questioned five LTTE suspects who were arrested recently.

The targets included Ceylon Electricity Board transformers, power stations and bank vehicles.

The suspects arrested by police in several parts of the country are now being interrogated by detectives of the DII which was set up recently to oversee all internal intelligence work.

The DII official said police and institutions concerned had been told to take extra precautions.

Earlier this year, several economic targets, mainly transformers were attacked by the LTTE. But the attacks were gradually scaled down reportedly because of the arrests of several suspects.

Meanwhile the CID has arrested two businessmen for questioning over the purchase of a ship to transport goods from Colombo to the north.

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