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TNA, UNP and
SLFP(M) too to oppose
JVP to vote
against budget
The JVP has
decided to vote against the government's budget,
The Sunday Leader learns.
The JVP
decision, it is learned will be announced at a
press conference before the budget debate gets
underway.The JVP also decided yesterday to
support the no confidence motion against
Minister Milinda Moragoda.
Informed sources
said it is because the party has decided to
oppose the budget that the Appropriations Bill
was challenged in the Supreme Court through
Colombo District MP, Sunil Handunnetti.
In his petition
to the Supreme Court, Handunnetti said
provisions in the bill were in violation of the
constitution and required approval by a two
third majority in parliament and approval by the
people at a referendum. The JVP MP further
alleged the bill violates the sovereignty of the
people as set out in the constitution.
The JVP in its
petition also states full control of public
finance is vested in parliament but that the
bill seeks to wrest that power away from
parliament.
The Sunday
Leader further learns it is following the
decision to oppose the budget that politburo
member and MP, Anura Kumara Dissanayake also
called for the toppling of the government at a
JVP seminar in Gampaha last Sunday.
Dissanayake said
President Mahinda Rajapakse's government was the
weakest administration post independence and the
time had come to topple it. He also charged that
the government was reeking with corruption and a
top heavy administration was created to appease
a handful.
"Now people
eagerly await for the 2004 government to fall.
It is easily done. This is the weakest
government post independence. It survives on
charitable crumbs and has not a leg to stand
on," Dissanayake had said.
Meanwhile the
TNA too has decided to vote against the budget,
a senior party source said.
The source said
the party expected to summon all 22 MPs to be
present for the budget vote.
The UNP, JVP,
TNA and the SLFP (M) combined strength in
parliament is 106 with one JHU MP monk Ven.
Uduwe Dhammaloka Thero also functioning as an
independent member. The number of votes required
to defeat the budget is 113.
It is learned
the government is wooing several UNP MPs to join
its ranks before the budget with offers of
portfolios while the opposition too is
canvassing the support of several SLFP MPs and
the minority parties in parliament.
Maharoof vows to
stand by UNP decision
UNP Colombo
District MP, Mohamed Maharoof last week informed
the party leadership that he will stand by the
UNP parliamentary group decision on the no
confidence motion on Tourism Minister Milinda
Moragoda.
Maharoof who met
UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe last week
explained that he wrote a letter in support of
Minister Moragoda due to their personal
relationship but added he will stand by the
party decision on the no confidence motion once
a final decision is taken.
The Colombo
District MP also told Wickremesinghe he will not
leave the UNP or join the government under any
circumstances. Maharoof said he cannot with a
clear conscience join a government that has
brought untold hardships on the people and one
that won the presidential election by fraudulent
means.\
Contacted by The
Sunday Leader Maharoof confirmed he will stand
by the party decision on the no confidence
motion and vote in keeping with whatever
decision the parliamentary group makes on the
issue.
Govt looks for
postponement
UNP wants
Milinda motion debated on Tue.
By Nirmala
Kannangara
The UNP has
proposed that the no confidence motion against
Tourism Minister Milinda Moragoda be taken up
for debate on Tuesday, October 23.
Chief Opposition
Whip Joseph Michael Perera confirmed this to The
Sunday Leader last week and said that although
the UNP has proposed the date the government is
now in the process of delaying the debate.
"In fear of the
no-confidence motion the government now wants
time to cancel the local government election
bill on the 23rd and they claim that if that
could be passed without any debate they can take
this up as planned," claimed Perera.
When asked
whether the government is intentionally delaying
taking up the no-confidence motion Perera said
that although the government is now terrified
knowing what the consequence would be it was
Milinda Moragoda who suggested an early debate
on the issue.
"Even we did not
want this to be taken up early but on the
request of Milinda Moragoda we too want this to
be taken up at the earliest," added Perera.
According to
Perera this issue will be taken up at tomorrow's
party leaders meeting and if the government is
not ready for the debate on Tuesday the UNP will
ask for the earliest date before the budget
scheduled for November 7.
"Interestingly
now the government queries as to why we need to
take Milinda Moragoda's issue first when there
were plans to bring a no confidence motion
against Minister Keheliya Rambukwella earlier.
Its another issue. We would take this up at the
most appropriate moment and what we are
requesting is an early date for Moragoda's
no-confidence motion," added Perera.
Meanwhile The
Sunday Leader learns that a day outing for
parliamentary security staff was organised by
Minister Moragoda at Kithulgala Rest House.
Around 106 parliamentary security staff have
joined the outing and the hotel has been asked
not to charge from the officers as it was on the
Tourism Minister's account according to the
disclosure.
Yala remains out
of bounds
By Shezna Shums
The military
search operation inside the
Yala National Park is still
continuing with the park out of bounds for
tourists.
The other
national park Wilpattu is to be reopened soon to
the public. Officials from the military media
unit stated that a search operation like the one
being done at Yala would not be carried out at
Wilpattu.
In 2006 an
explosion inside the Wilpattu
National Park killed eight
persons while last week's attack inside the Yala
National Park killed seven
persons.
The official
added that the Yala
National Park might be reopened
in about two weeks time.
Director,
Department of Wildlife and Conservation (DWC)
Ananda Wijesuriya told The Sunday Leader that
until they get security clearance the Yala National Park would remain
closed to tourists.
The Defence
Ministry has planned to provide security to the
coastal areas within the national park as part
of new security measures.
Minister gets
Gem Authority to pay wife's int'l roaming
charges
The Gem and
Jewellery Authority had to pay a sum of Rs.
80,717 to settle the mobile telephone charges of
the wife of Minister of Enterprise Development
Mano Wijeratne on the directive of the Minister.
The bill was for
international roaming call charges of Barathy
Wijeratne, the Minister's wife. The Minister's
wife is the Consul for Turkey.
Documentary
proof in possession of The Sunday Leader shows
the bill was paid by the Gem and Jewellery
Authority on a directive by the Minister
The payment
voucher number 1818 of the Gem and Jewellery
Authority dated September 28 states the payment
is made for 'Hon. Mano Wijeratne's mobile
phone.'
However the
attached bill bearing number 0777 272326 gives
the user name as Mrs. B.D. Wijeratne.
The official
receipt issued by Dialog Telekom too is
addressed to Mrs. B.D. Wijeratne.
Minister
Wijeratne when contacted by The Sunday Leader
admitted the connection was in fact registered
in his wife' name, who is also his private
secretary.
He said the bill
was paid when he was in
Azerbaijan.
"The connection
is registered in my wife's name. I know where
you got all this information. I don't have a
phone, a house or anything. You can publish
these," he said.
Barathy
Wijeratne is also the Consul for
Turkey.
PBOA gives Govt
Dec. 31 deadline
By Risidra
Mendis
Private bus
owners have given the government time till
December 31 to find a solution to their
problems.
In a letter
addressed to Transport Minister Dulles
Alahapperuma and the National Transport
Commission (NTC), members from the Private Bus
Owners' Association (PBOA) have listed out their
problems that need to be solved before the end
of this year.
Prior to this
deadline, private bus owners made repeated
requests to the Transport Minister and the NTC
but are yet to receive a reply.
Speaking to The
Sunday Leader President, PBOA, Gemunu Wijeratne
said their organisation has requested the
Transport Ministry to give them permission to
review the bus fares twice every year, to make
the National Transport Authority a department,
reschedule bus time tables, prevent time
checkers from collecting bribes and issue
licences to drive only buses to new drivers.
"Milk powder and
flour prices are being increased and the
government is not taking action to stop it. The
cost of spare parts for buses and fuel prices
are also going up. We are requesting the
government to give us the opportunity of
reviewing the bus fares in January and July
every year," Wijeratne said.
He added that
the government was favouring the Sri Lanka
Transport Board (SLTB) bus drivers when issuing
time tables. "Alahapperuma has said that all bus
drivers have to get a special licence issued by
the Registrar of Motor Vehicles (RMV) for
driving buses only. We are not willing to
accept this decision taken by Alahapperuma,"
Wijeratne explained.
IDPs and hosts
clash over resources
By Arthur
Wamanan
A conflict
situation has erupted between the IDPs and the
host community in Puttalam over the allocated
resources, Musali People's Parliament (MPP)
President, S.M.A. Niyas said.
Speaking to The
Sunday Leader on this issue, Niyas said the IDPs
in Puttalam were sharing resources allocated to
the area with the host community.
He said the
situation has now intensified due to the actions
of certain politicians in the area.
The IDPs in
Puttalam are Muslims who were evicted in 1990
from the north.
Niyas said that
the resources had to be shared by the people, as
the IDPs could not go back to their homes in the
north.
The IDPs
continue to live in self-settled houses in
Puttalam, he said.
"There were 7800
houses to be built by a World Bank project. It
did not work out due to certain political
issues," he said.
Deputy Minister
of Provincial Councils Abdul Baiz told The
Sunday Leader he was negotiating with the
relevant parties to find a solution to the
problems faced by both communities in Puttalam.
He said the
government was responsible to find a solution
for the issues faced by the northern Muslims
without troubling the host community in Puttalam.
"There were 24
university entrants for the Puttalam District
out of which 20 were for the IDPs. I think this
is unfair. The IDPs should be given from the
Wanni quota. However, I am not finding fault
with the IDPs. They are innocent people. The
government should take the necessary steps on
this issue," Baiz said.
The MPP has also
written to Resettlement Minister Rishad
Bathiudeen for an appointment.
"He has not
given an appointment so far," Niyas said.
Minister
Bathiudeen could not be contacted for a comment
on this issue.
Meanwhile, the
northern Muslims will be commemorating 17 years
since they were expelled on October 28.
However, Niyas
added there were no programmes planned to
commemorate the event.
79 surrender to Jaffna HRC
Seventy nine
persons have surrendered to the Human Rights
Commission office in Jaffna in September,
officials said.
A top HRC
official in Jaffna who did not wish to be quoted
told The Sunday Leader that persons continued to
surrender to the HRC.
"Last month
there were 79 persons who had come to the HRC
for protection. There have been persons coming
to HRC this month as well," an official said.
According to the
HRC, the persons who had surrendered are being
kept in very bad conditions in the prisons.
They are kept
with criminals and are facing problems due to
the very bad conditions in the prison, the
official added.
Duty free
vehicle scam under investigation
In response to a
letter sent last Tuesday to Director
Investigations, Commission to Investigate
Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, SSP
Neville Guruge, by Themiya Lokubandara Hurulle
querying the progress of the investigation about
the alleged selling of duty free vehicle permits
by MPs of the JHU, the SSP has said that the
investigation is still continuing.
SSP Guruge said
that the Commission is still collecting
documents and taking down statements regarding
this investigation.
"The
investigation is still continuing," he told The
Sunday Leader when asked about the letter.
Businessman
abducted in Wellawatte
A Tamil
businessman from Jampettah Street, Colombo was
reported to have been abducted last week.
According to the
Civil Monitoring Commission (CMC), the
businessman, Rajalingam Srikanthan had been
reported missing since last Tuesday after he had
gone to Wellawatte.
This was the
first abduction reported since the departure of
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise
Arbour, CMC Convener Mano Ganesan said.
"Srikanthan was
reported to have gone missing when he had gone
to meet his friend in Wellawatte. His motorbike
was found in a place between Wellawatte and
Dehiwela. Investigations are continuing,"
Ganesan said.
"This was the
first complaint received since Louise Arbour
left the country on October 13," he said.
There were four
abductions when the UN High Commissioner was in
the country.
Ganesan said two
cases were reported from Colombo while the other
two were reported from Trincomalee
Disaster
management network to be updated
The
meteorological and disaster management network
of the Department of Meteorology is to be
improved with better equipment to meet the
challenges of natural disasters.
It is learnt
that over 90 percent of the global natural
disasters are weather-related.
These is true
evenwith regard to Sri Lanka, where almost all
the natural disasters are weather-related.
Unlike in the
past, natural disasters such as intense rainfall
and rainy spells leading to severe floods,
landslides and prolonged droughts are
experienced more frequently in the country
thereby causing an immense strain on the
economy.
Upgrading of
facilities at the department would enable it to
provide a better service to the public by way of
providing more accurate weather forecasts,
advisories and warnings duringperiods of bad
weather.
The Japanese
Government, through the Japan International
Co-operation Agency has agreed to upgrade the
meteorological observation and communication
network.
UNP wants Govt.
to remove tax on fuel and flour
By Nirmala
Kannangara
The UNP last
week queried why the government could not exempt
taxes from wheat, flour and fuel in a bid to
bring down the cost of living.
UNP
Parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake at a media
briefing in Colombo last week accused the
government for failing to exempt taxes from
wheat flour and fuel although the taxes for big
onions and rice were exempted.
"Trade Minister
Bandula Gunawardena has said that taxes for big
onions and rice have been exempted to control a
price hike in the local market. If he is really
worried over the rising CoL why can't he exempt
taxes from wheat flour and fuel as well,"
queried Karunanayake.
While accusing
Gunawardena of putting the blame on the UNP for
the present price hikes Karunanayake posed a
challenge to Gunawardena to exempt the wheat
flour taxes to break the flour monopoly in the
country.
Karunanayake
further accused the government of importing rice
when rice harvested in Sri Lanka is being sold
to CIC and Lanka Grain Elevators as poultry
feed. "What logic is this? Is this being carried
out for the existence of the government?" he
queried.
Meanwhile
Karunanayake accused the government for the
cement shortage in the country and said that it
is hilarious to note that the government has
requested Bangladesh to export cement as a
remedy to the cement scarcity.
"Plans are afoot
for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with
Bangladesh. This is not beneficial to the
country. Where is the JVP that shouted against
the UNP's FTA policy? If things go on this way
the government will soon sign FTAs with
Afghanistan and Ethiopia," he further stated.
Lanka to promote
Ayurveda tourism
By Nirmala
Kannangara
The Tourist
Board (SLTB) is to promote
Sri Lanka as a niche destination
for ayurvedic treatments in the international
tourism market.
"We want to
create a brand image as our country has a
history of more than 2,500 years in ayurvedic
treatments. If we could convince the tourism
generating markets that we are capable of
treating chronic diseases such as paralysis and
Parkinsons disease we could attract more
tourists to the country," said Additional
Secretary Tourism Ministry George Michael.
Briefing the
media Michael said that plans are afoot for the
promotional campaigns to be launched but
stressed the need to have commitment from the
leisure industry as well as from ayurvedic
doctors in the country.
Website for CBK
www.presidentcbk.org a website providing
information on the work accomplished during the
presidency of Chandrika Kumaratunga has been
launched.
The site will be
updated regularly to provide information on the
Former President's activities, views and
thoughts.
Prices of
essentials down
Prices of
essential items in the Jaffna peninsula have
gone down during the last two weeks while some
items remain high, traders in the area said.
A kilo of rice
is sold at Rs. 65 to 75 and a kilo of sugar at
Rs. 70. According to the traders, the prices are
likely to remain unchanged for the next few
weeks.
This has been
the pattern of prices since the closure of the
A9 highway last August. However, prices of items
such as milk powder and oil continue to be high.
"A litre of oil is sold at Rs. 180. The prices
of milk powder and baby products are also high,"
they said. The traders said wheat flour is
given to the consumers through the co-operative
stores in the areas. "It is not enough," they
added.
"A litre of
petrol is sold at Rs. 128. This has not changed
for a long time," the traders added. (AW)
Survey of
southern coast for oil deposits
By Warren
Balthazaar
The Petroleum
Corporation is to seek international expertise
to conduct surveys on the southern coast of the
island to locate new oil deposits.
Minister of
Petroleum and Petroleum Resources Development
A.H.M. Fowzie said that Sri Lanka would shortly
look for foreign expertise to survey the
southern seas, as preliminary surveys that were
conducted earlier this year indicated a
possibility of oil deposits in the southern
oceans.
He also said
that the survey would cost up to US$ 6.5
million.
International
investors have been approached by the Ministry
in this regard to explore possible oil deposits
off the northwestern shores.
Fowzie claimed
that over 40 foreign firms have shown an
interest when the government put forward the
eight blocks allocated for exploration last
month.
He said that
successful bidders would have to pay the Sri
Lanka government a 10 percent fee on oil
produced and a 35 percent tax on profits in
return for an eight year licence to prospect for
oil.
Fowzie added
that a survey conducted by Norway showed that
there was a possibility of oil and gas deposits
in the Cauvery basin off Mannar.
The Ministry
estimates that the basin could carry oil
reserves in excess of one billion barrels.
Fowzie said that
Sri Lanka drilled seven wells in the Mannar
region in the '70s with the support of the
Soviet Union but failed to find any oil at the
time.
He said that if
oil deposits could be located this time the
Ministry would not have to import petroleum
products..
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