Newly refurbished Parliament Media Centre declared open

The newly refurbished Parliament Media Centre was declared open this morning at a special ceremony held at the Parliament complex.

By Sandun Jayawardana

The newly refurbished Parliament Media Centre was declared open this morning at a special ceremony held at the Parliament complex. The refurbishment of the media centre was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya was the Chief Guest at the ceremony which was also attended by senior officials of Parliament and representatives of USAID.

Addressing the gathering, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya stated that on looking back during these final months of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka, one could be extremely happy with all the progress this Parliament had achieved.

He noted that one of the key objectives they had was to ensure that people were made aware of the important work that was being done in Parliament. The decision to telecast Parliament proceedings on radio and television came from this desire to let people see and hear for themselves what happened in Parliament, he added.

The Speaker further said that the decision to open the proceedings of the Parliament Select Committee looking into the Easter Sunday attacks, as well as the proceedings of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) and the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) was an extension of this decision to give the media and the people more access to what went on in Parliament. He said they hoped to open the proceedings of the various Parliamentary Oversight Committees to the media soon as well.

Stating that Parliament holds the media in highest regard, he appealed to the media to ensure that they are fair and balanced in their reporting.

(Pics by Indika Handuwala)