Was it the PRDA or Dayan Lanza that spent money for this road construction?, Negombo police have failed to remove Dayan Lanza’s cut outs, UNP cutouts outnumbered by those of the Lanzas, Collecting money illeglly on behalf of the Lanzas and One of the ‘massage palours’ allegedly run by the Lanzas

By Nirmala Kannangara in Negombo
Photos by Asoka Fernando and Thusitha Kumara

Number of eligible voters – 100,283
Number of polling booths – 64

The once calm and tranquil town of  Negombo better known as ‘Little Rome’ is expected to be plagued with thuggery and violence in the run up to the October 8 Municipal Council election.

Although officially Negombo police do not agree with this theory, police sources on the basis of anonymity confirmed to The Sunday Leader that they are getting ready to deal with the situation.
“Through first-hand experience we are predicting that there will be a blood bath during the pre and post election periods. We expect in-house fights – in the UPFA camp for preferential votes,” the sources said.
Out of the three main political parties, the JVP has taken a complete back seat in Negombo. There was neither a red flag nor a poster to be seen. Even the Negombo voters with whom The Sunday Leader spoke with are not certain whether the JVP is contesting for the Negombo Municipal Council.
Although it was not exactly the same with the UNP, one wonders whether they too have given up the battle well ahead of the election. While there were UNP posters pasted on the walls in the town center and even in the interior, the party did not seem to be as active as the UPFA.
However UNP Chief Organiser for Negombo Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene is of the view that the UNP is neither silent nor has it taken a back seat, and is very active in organising the campaign.
“We have put our most energetic team forward this time and they are getting ready to put up a good fight as the Negombo people are now fed up with thuggery politics,” Dr. Jayawardene told The Sunday Leader.
Meanwhile UPFA Chief Organiser for Negombo and State Resources and Enterprise Development Deputy Minister Sarath Gunaratne said that he has planned to put a complete stop to all illegal activities in Negombo after the election victory.
“Ours is a party that people love in this country. Despite all this, our party members have brought disrepute to Negombo by engaging in many illegal businesses, mainly running brothel houses. I will not allow anyone from our camp to engage in illegal businesses. It is a well-known secret as to how these people extort money and run illegal businesses in and around the town and this has now become a cancer,” said Gunaratne.
However Dayan Lanza the brother of Provincial Minister Nimal Lanza and Ramona, cousin sister of Dayan Lanza are contesting in the Negombo MC elections.
Ramona’s husband, Mark Sujith who is presently serving a jail term for a suspected murder contested the previous MC elections under the UNP. After winning the election, he crossed over to the ruling party at the request of his wife’s cousin Nimal Lanza. Although Mark Sujith too had sought nomination it is said that he was denied it because he is serving a jail term.
Although the Negombo police have removed cut outs and billboards of candidates in the town center, they have failed to abide by the election law in the interior areas. While huge cut outs of UPFA candidates can be seen along by-roads none of the UNP cut outs were visible.
Meanwhile allegations have been leveled against the Lanzas’ who are a powerful family in Negombo. Nimal Lanza who was the Negombo Mayor at one time is the present Provincial Minister for Road Development, Tourism, Housing, Animal Production and Fisheries while his father Pilendran Lanza is allegedly involved in extorting money from fishermen. It is also alleged that he has obtained an illegal contract to collect money from the vehicle park at the fish market and is running two brothel houses under the guise of massage palours.
“Who is there to take action against the Lanzas’ in Negombo? Either the Negombo police are deaf and blind or all the top brass in the police are Lanza stooges,” a three-wheeler driver said.
According to him, all three-wheelers had to carry a campaign sticker of Dayan Lanza, the younger brother of Nimal Lanza who is contesting the MC elections
“In the event we fail to paste the sticker we have been told that we will be prohibited from parking our three-wheelers in the allocated stand. Therefore willingly or unwillingly we have had to paste this sticker on our vehicles,” he said on condition of anonymity.
It was surprising to note the many by-lanes that were under construction, the work of the Provincial Road Development Authority (PRDA) which comes under Nimal Lanza.
When The Sunday Leader captured photos of 7th Lane, Nimala Maria Mawatha where concrete was being laid, a man said to be from the neighboured questioned us as to why we were photographing this work. He went on to say that Nimal Lanza had deployed him to see whether the media will arrive to highlight the ‘sudden developments’.
However a PRDA officer and workers confirmed to The Sunday Leader that these sudden ‘development works’ began soon after the elections were announced and further claimed that their target is to concrete as many by-lanes as possible till the municipal elections.
Although it is the PRDA that is footing the bill on these road developments,it is interesting to see Dayan Lanza’s photo being displayed at the entrance of every recently concreted road.
“The elder brother is the Minister in charge of the PRDA and the younger brother’s photo is displayed all over to show that it was Dayan Lanza that got these roads concreted,” an angry villager told The Sunday Leader.
When asked as to whether these road developments have been targeted towards his brother Dayan Lanza’s election campaign, Minister Nimal Lanza said that it was an ongoing project and  not an election gimmick.
However when asked as to why his brother’s photo has been displayed Minister Lanza wanted this newspaper to ask the neighboured. “I have never asked my officials to do that. Since I am doing some work for this town people may have decided to put up Dayan’s photograph. An act I am not responsible for,” he said.
Meanwhile UNP candidates Royce Wijitha and Lucky Fernando are confident of winning the elections. “Who wants to allow drug barons and rapists to run the MC,” they queried.
Wijitha and Fernando told The Sunday Leader that this would be the last chance for the Negombo voters to prevent thugs, racketeers, drug barons, brothel house owners and rapists from entering to the Negombo MC.
“The time has come to chase away these underworld gangs and stop them from further destroying this once peaceful Little Rome. All government resources have been utilised for their own benefits and we are not able to send our children even for private tuition classes.
Drugs are sold openly and the police have allowed brothel houses to run their businesses without any hindrance. There is no peace in Negombo at all. No development work is done. The Negombo MC funds have dried up as they have been utilised for the councilors’ personal use,” they said.

Mano Ganesan, M. J. M Muzammil, Milinda Moragoda and Shafeek Rajabdeen

New candidates, new policies. With Municipal Council elections coming up, candidates are canvassing with a will. Posters of a few candidates are already visible around Colombo. Yet, it would seem that quite a few are reluctant to vote.

There are those like Nazly, who said that he would vote, as he did for all elections. “It is my right to use it wisely on the candidate whom I feel will do well for the general public as a whole,” he said. But he was clearly in the minority. Many others said they were disillusioned with the whole process and with politicians. “The people stealing from us will change, and it will not make a single difference in my life. So I do not care,” said Chatura. This was echoed by Kasun, “I lost my faith in politicians a long time ago. I generally do not trust any politician from any party, as it is my firm and sincere belief that the only interests these men and women hope to serve are their own – power to the people be damned.” Kasun did add that one of the main candidates in Colombo was making him reconsider. ‘I find his liberal values very attractive. He has yet to convince me, though. Is he all about meaningless rhetoric, or can this guy actually take Colombo places? I guess only time will tell, and I am not sure I want to bet my vote on such an uncertainty. So, no, I am afraid I will not be voting this year, either,” he said.
Thush said, “Although I am not particularly invested in the politics of this country, I must admit that there is no candidate who has reached me in any of the mediums that I am exposed to daily (mainly radio and the web). Basically I do not see any one person being able to make a difference in the near future over the other, which is why I am not too concerned about this election. I guess it all comes down to the party they represent and what that party stands for.”
With many of Colombo’s youth unsure of how to cast their vote, perhaps it is time to examine the politician’s policy statements – pared down. So, without the usual fuss, frills and rhetoric, here are some of the main candidates vying for the Mayoral post in the Municipal Council elections, and their promises to improve the city.

Milinda Moragoda

The UPFA candidate has held Cabinet portfolios before. A former leader of the Sri Lankan National Congress, he joined the SLFP in order to contest for the position of mayor.

His Policy Platform

•    A clean and efficient administration
•    Right to information
•    Protecting and saving religious and cultural diversity
•        Building approvals within a month
•    A safe city
•    A modern and beautiful city
•    Better living conditions for tenement dwellers
•    A mechanism for swift action in case of breakdowns
•    Improved sports facilities
•    Purawesi Saviya to counter youth unemployment
•    Improving and streamlining healthcare facilities
•    Foreign aid
Note- This is Moragoda’s 12 point 100 day programme. He also has a long term (4 year) policy document in draft form, which will evolve with input from the public.

 M. J. M Muzammil

The UNP candidate was first elected a Western Provincial Councillor in 2004, and was re-elected in 2009. He also contested in the Parliamentary elections in 2010.

His Policy Platform

At the time of going to press, Muzammil was unable to provide his policy platform to The Sunday Leader.

Mano Ganesan

Ganesan is the Leader of the Democratic People’s Front (DPF). He is also president of the trade union Democratic Workers Congress, and Convenor of the Civil Monitoring Commission, a human rights movement.

His Policy Platform

•    Development with humanism; beautifying citizens’ lives before infrastructure
•    An administration that will be a model for ethnic relations and equality (e.g. all 3 languages used in administrative work)
•    Opening of all the city’s waterfronts to the public for reasonable use
•    Engaging the citizens in running Colombo by forming ward committees
Shafeek Rajabdeen

Rajabdeen is a member of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC). He was a Member of Parliament until last year.

His Policy Platform

•    Develop pre-schools; new equipment and more qualified teachers, more education facilities for tenement children
•    Renovating community centres, fitting them with air conditioning and converting them into gymnasiums for youth
•    Add children’s section in public library and improve library premises
•    Improve garden tenements- eventually rehousing people in their place of birth
•    People’s participatory projects; getting people involved in community service
•    Management of solid waste
•    Building more children’s playgrounds
•    Introduce legislation to oppose Ministry of Defence involvement in Municipal areas

So there you have them, the candidates and their policies. It will be interesting to see if any of these candidates have struck a chord with voters. Who will win this face-off? But the more salient question is, will people vote, considering the general disillusionment expressed?
The answer to that will become clear on results day.

Moragoda Acknowledges Garbage Yet A Huge Stink

By Raisa Wickrematunge

UPFA Colombo mayoral candidate Milinda Moragoda acknowledged that despite the extensive beautification programme, solid waste management in the city continued to be a problem.
Moragoda said he knew there was at least one garbage dump site in Kolonnawa. He noted that the area was built as a landfill, so it would be possible to pile earth over the garbage.
However he added, “It’s not the best option.” Kolonnawa has enough space for it to be used for another one and a half to two years, but after that, a more viable solution would have to be found, he said.
The problem was compounded due to the nature of Sri Lanka’s garbage, which was similar in composition to India’s, Moragoda said.
The water content of the garbage makes it difficult for it to converted into an energy source, he observed.
In addition, he conceded that many children’s parks in the city were badly maintained.  The same was true of football fields belonging to youth clubs. The problem was that the community had been expected to help in maintaining the parks, he said. As such, Moragoda said he would, with the help of citizens, set up community organisations to ensure the maintenance of parks, football fields and other public spaces if he is elected Colombo’s mayor.

-

Hakeem Denies Slamming Moragoda….

Rauf Hakeem

Minister of Justice and SLMC leader Rauf Hakeem denied rumours that he had been criticising UPFA mayoral candidate Milinda Moragoda for squandering money during campaigning.
It had earlier been said that Hakeem had criticised Moragoda for canvassing for votes in nightclubs. However, Hakeem refuted the rumour as utterly false.
“I never spoke of him or criticised him in that fashion,” Hakeem said. He added that he had worked with Moragoda when he was in the Government negotiating team seeking peace with the LTTE. Hakeem added that he had read his manifesto and thought it ‘novel’, adding that it dealt with appropriate issues. “Since our parties are contesting, I wish him well. We may constructively criticise some of his statements,” he said.

An effective display of the UNP candidate’s posters

Kandy looks like any other town when elections are around the corner. Posters of future Municipal Councilor hopefuls smile (or sometimes glare) down at you from almost everywhere: walls, gates, shop-fronts, vehicles and trees.
Somewhere in the town, even a garbage dumpster was not spared.
The good news is that the area surrounding the Kandy lake was untouched, allowing one the usual scenic view of the lake, with occasional glimpses of the Dalada Maligawa. The town was of course a different story, with its patchwork of faces looking down at the people hurrying along with their morning activities.
While the citizens of this heritage city displayed varying levels of optimism (or pessimism) towards the upcoming Municipal Council elections, there was one thing that almost all of them echoed when asked what they wanted from a future mayor: they wanted a cleaner city.
The Sunday Leader met with the mayoral candidates from the two main political parties (the UPFA and the UNP) eyeing the Kandy mayor’s seat . One of them the former Diyawadana Nilame, who says he is in a good position to give Kandy what it needs, the other a former Municipal Council opposition leader, who claims the people are ready to accept the UPFA for their future plans and vision that previous mayors lacked.
Both of them are confident of victory.
Below is what the UNP’s Neranjan Wijeyeratne and UPFA’s Sena Dissanayake had to say about their plans for the country’s hill capital.

What The People Say
L. R. A. Rankothge, Lottery Ticket Seller, “What people want is a cleaner city. We need a solution to the garbage problem. People make promises, but they do not always keep their promises.”
Anura Rajapaksa, Store Manager
“There are so many shortcomings. Facilities are at a minimum. There is no proper bus stand in the town and garbage disposal is a problem. With the experiences we have had so far we cannot really foresee any big changes. But we do hope the new (Municipal Council) members will do something good for the city.”
T. G. Sirisena, Fruit Seller
“The city should develop. If we can have a good environment to do our business, that is more than enough.”
Manjula Hemantha, Trishaw Driver
“What we need is good parking spaces. The Municipal Council can do this for us, but we do not know if they will.”
Manel Athauda, Shop Employee
“There is a lot that can be done. Look at the state of the bus stand near the clock tower. During rainy days, there is so much water clogging the area. There is no proper bus stand. It is very congested and dirty there.”
Madduma Bandara Abeysinghe, Retired Teacher
“One problem is that proposals made are not always practical. They say that they will collect garbage at a particular time, but the lorry does not come on time. The politicians use politics as a ladder to climb to the top, and there is this trend of crossing over. They contest under one party, and when they cross over they betray their voters.”
Nirmala Daswani, Shop Owner
“The streets are not all that clean. It is the people who are dirtying the streets, so I think they need to be educated.”

UNP – Neranjan Wijeyeratne

The Diyawadana Nilame (1985 to 2005), Neranjan Wijeyeratne has taken a significant step from being the lay custodian of the sacred tooth relic, to contesting for post of mayor. When asked what he felt about this move, he said, “Our family is a political family. After I left the Maligawa in 2005, I joined the UNP because my grandfather was with the people who started the party in 1946,” he said.
A day before the nominations, Wijeyeratne was requested by the nomination board to take up mayoral candidacy. “I could not refuse. This is a very prestigious post, and I thought we can do a lot for the city. Kandy is a historical city. I know the Kandy crowds and the background, and I have connections with other religions also,” he said.
During his 20 year tenure as Diyawadana Nilame however, several incidents took place, some of which were of a controversial nature. The bombing of the Dalada Maligawa by the LTTE, and Wijeyeratne’s handling of the aftermath was one such issue. Wijeyeratne had also come under criticism for allegedly speaking out in defence of politician and former Cricket Board president Thilanga Sumathipala, when he was accused of passport fraud in 2003.
Responding to questions as to whether all this may have an impact on his political future, Wijeyeratne said that he was never involved in the Sumathipala controversy. “I do not have any connections with him. I only objected to cricket matches being played on Poya days,” he said.
He added that, “There were no controversies, everyone supported me. After the bombing of the Maligawa, I started a restoration fund. We got advice from the Mahanayake Theros and renovated the entire temple,” he said.
His former role as the Diyawadana Nilame would in fact have a positive impact on his chances of being elected Mayor, he said.

POINT PLAN
•    To prepare a special plan to develop Kandy, which is a world heritage city
•    To improve the infrastructure facilities to cater to the daily needs of the people in the town (roads, water, electricity, housing and education)
•    To ensure peace and unity amongst communities in all religious groups, through mutual respect. Co-operation, co-existence, understanding and trust among them by organizing and giving support for cultural programmes
•    To arrange better and alternative land from the government to officially settle poor families and make those areas environmentally pleasing and safeguard from future encroachments by converting same to nature/ public parks and children’s play areas under public / private management
•     Through a well planned multi storied low-cost housing complex, to provide permanent roofing for such families and engage the government, business entrepreneurs in a mutually beneficial manner, philanthropists and foreign aid to make this a reality
•    To establish a scholarship fund with necessary tax incentives to encourage further education of the constituents’ children so that they will work for the advancement of the city
•    A speedy payment and application gateway to ease the settlements, and handing over of documents via the internet, subject to the originals being sent and also a centralized counter for same at the Kandy Municipal Council and make our service speedy and professional
•    To have a selection building of plans readily available along with obligations to upgrade pavements immediately in front of business premises within the central city of Kandy, allowing for expansion of shop space on the first floor and also conforming to the architectural heritage of the city, similar to the form of the Queen’s corridor extensions whereby providing shelter from both sun and rain to pedestrians. To build private sector and KMC partnerships for the mutual benefit of the city by engaging the city’s heritage committees, businessmen and KMC and UDA officials to make our city an example and work in true partnership
•    A comprehensive waste management and recycling programme along with alternative energy generation through garbage refuse in order to create a healthy environment and business and job opportunities

—-

UPFA – Sena Dissanayake
Although he has not been named the official UPFA mayoral candidate, former Municipal Council opposition leader, Sena Dissanayake, said he was the UPFA’s ‘team leader,’ and a favourite for the post of mayor, as indicated by voting trends over the last few years.
Kandy has been a UNP stronghold for a long time now, and when asked how strong the UPFA’s chances were of winning over the city, Dissanayake expressed optimism.
“It is true that the UNP used to have a stronghold, but not any more. Ever since the President won the war, the people have a lot more faith in the UPFA,” he said.
Dissanayake also said that previous mayors had not had a proper vision or programme in place to tackle the issues faced by the city, and that he intended to change that trend.
“Since the President took over, the roads have been developed. Many roads have been carpeted,” he said. He also pointed out that garbage was a big problem for which the military had already been deployed to watch out for people who dumped garbage around the town.
“Kandy is a sacred city, where people live together peacefully. It is home to places of worship of all religions. We plan to keep this city clean,” he said.

POINT PLAN
•    All the environmentalists who love this historic city, all the professionals of various fields, the commercial sector of the city: with the help of these sections, to appoint a Think Tank to advise the Mayor and Council
•    To seek the support of His Excellency the President and the Chief Minister, Central Province, to obtain funds to finance the development works of the city
•    To improve the city bus services, a proper management to be proposed for the functioning of an efficient school bus service
•    As Kandy is a recognized world heritage centre, steps to be taken to protect our historical sites in the area
•    In the preparation of the Annual Budget, advice to be sought from the Think Tank in order to provide a better service for the ratepayers
•    In order to protect the environment of the city, no unauthorized structures would be allowed and steps would be taken to beautify the city
•    To develop the D. S. Senanayake Library and the Auditorium to the foremost position in the island in order to protect the resources of the city
•    To convert the Municipal Workshop to a full-fledged engineering unit in order to repair all the municipal vehicles so as to save the Council’s money. To appoint a suitable engineer for the purpose
•    To eliminate all forms of corruption to enable the rate payers to seek the services they need from the municipality without any hindrance
•    To improve the electricity facilities to the satisfaction of the rate payers and to set up a separate electricity services unit for the purpose
•    The maintenance of proper health facilities is the primary duty of the Council. Disposal of dirt and refuse, maintenance of clean drains, inspection of all hotels and restaurants to ensure clean and wholesome food for the consumers, prevention of infectious diseases and provision of clean water
•    To set up a separate unit for receiving of all complaints regarding water supply

Jilith Nishantha

This time for the Municipal Council elections in Galle, we have group leaders Jilith Nishantha for the UNP and Fowz Niyaz for the UPFA making promises so one or the other could be elected Mayor.
Both group leaders have similar promises: the only difference is that the opposition candidate was more open when speaking about internal corruption while the other remained tight-lipped and  evasive when these issues were brought up.

Jilith Nishantha of the UNP, in his manifesto claims that if he is elected mayor, there will be:

•    A systematic process for removing garbage from the city and recycling it. Currently Galle has an inefficient, ineffective system of garbage disposal.
•    Repairing and maintaining roads that are under or belong to the Galle Municipal Council (GMC).
•    A special program for the needy who receive people’s funds from the GMC and the doubling of that sum.
•    A rain water drainage system for the homes in Galle that get flooded by rain water.
•    A trading complex for the street vendors who were removed from the pavements to conduct their business.
•    Completion of work in the Dadalla dual crematorium for the public’s use
•    Funds for building and development work provided by NGOs will be properly utilized. In the past, the money has been mishandled and misappropriated.
•    GMC will have special funds to be used for Sunday school children.
•    Create a reign of fair governance in which governors will not have a chance for fraud as was the case previously.
•    Make the city of Galle beautiful
The Sunday Leader met with Nishantha at his home in Galle where he went into detail about where the Galle Municipal Council (GMC)  currently stood. Nishantha claims that the GMC is heavily politicised. He is of the opinion that it matters little if it is the UNP, UPFA or JVP that gets elected: what he feels is that the GMC needs to be more independent and less politicised.
He claims that things are in such a bad state that instead of working  eighthours a day, the workers work four. What the GMC lacks is proper leadership and he is of the opinion that the internal corruption and politicisation will end under his leadership.
A few additional points Nishantha made was that under the UNP, the GMC would take steps to protect the Galle Fort as a heritage site. According to him, building the international cricket stadium right in front of the Fort has damaged it.
Despite protests however, the stadium was put up. In case there is a cricket match, the whole town gets blocked causing terrible traffic jams. In addition, because of the location of the stadium, the Fort can only be seen if you stand right in front of it, whereas in the past it could be seen from any distance. Also, children who are into athletics have no place to practice. He feels that relocating the grounds is essential and that the grounds would then be used for the benefit of the potential athletes.
He added that vehicles entering the Fort would be restricted too as the roads are too narrow to accommodate large vehicles. In addition, the Galle roundabout will be built in a more systematic manner to conduct traffic better.
“These are some of the biggest problems in Galle and this is what we plan to solve,” he said.

Fowz Niyath of UPFA claims that if he is elected Mayor, he will:

•    Develop Galle as a tourist city and equip it with the required infrastructure.
•    Set up modern business centres.
•    Develop Galle’s beach fronts.
•    Develop a method of effective garbage disposal by compost generation.
•    Since Galle is slightly below sea level, it creates difficulties during heavy rain fall. Several more water pumps will be set up to handle this issue.
•    Improve the city’s sports facilities.
•    Further develop the roads.

When the accusations of corruption and misuse of funds was brought up, Niyaz said that during the time he served as Mayor (from between August 4, 2011 to September 10, 2011) he didn’t have adequate time to inquire comprehensively into the issues and address them. While he dodged the question, he however did make a statement to the effect of “but by minimising administrative waste I believe we can save up to 5 lakhs a month,” confirming the fact that under the previous administration misappropriation of funds was rife.
Galle, however, has always been a UNP stronghold. Opposition candidate, Nishantha sounded confident about UNP’s chances and said that it was the vote of the Muslims that gave them the edge. Niyaz accepted this. “I accept that the city is traditionally a UNP stronghold, and once the UNP won with 18,000 majority votes. 14 of the 19 seats were for the UNP. This was back when I was with the UNP. But I’m honestly confident that of the 19 seats that the UPFA will get at least 12 or 13. The UPFA has so far improved 111 roads, we’ve provided vocational training for 1600 individuals. We’ve built 130 homes. 216 toilets,” he said, sounding confident that these figures would help UPFA beat UNP from their stronghold.

Voice of the People

The reaction of the people of Galle to the elections is an accharu. There were a few who expressed dismay and mistrust at any candidate likely to be chosen. There are also several who ardently believe that the UPFA will continue on the line of development and others who believe that the UNP will make a positive difference. But while they were quite open with their views and expressed them articulately, it was a different matter when it came to taking pictures. Several people refused to allow their pictures be taken. One gentleman, after allowing his picture to be taken, changed his mind saying that he could get into trouble.
But if the outcome of the elections were to be judged by what the people have said, it is clear that the seas are boiling for the UNP and that with it’s current leadership crisis, people’s faith in them has ebbed away like the tide.
Cafe owner, Jiffrey, simply expressed how he didn’t have faith in any of the candidates or their false promises. Similar views were expressed by Jiffrey’s neighbour, Mrs. Ameen, who spoke of how elections heralded sweet hollow words, after which nothing would be done to keep them.
Fruit shop vendor, Chandrasena however said he believes in the UPFA. “They actually seem to be doing something. There’s so much development going on,” he said.
Clothing shop owner, Karunaweera said that looking at how the country’s current political situation is, it is hard to believe anyone would keep to their promises. He also added that he was unsure if he would cast his vote because he has completely lost faith in the system. “What we want is someone who will do something good for us, not someone corrupt. We all want something good for the town, we all want to see it develop.”
Florist, Chandana Gamage meanwhile was confident about the UNP. He added that while he believed the Government was doing a good job on the whole, the UPFA MC members in Galle are a drawback. “People’s livelihoods were affected when they got rid of the pavement for the pavement hawkers and took away our source of water by closing down the public taps,” he said.
Nimala, a trishaw driver meanwhile said that he wasn’t interested in voting for any particular party. “But looking at the situation impartially, UNP severely lacks leadership, but the government seems to be doing something good,” he said.
“I think the government will do something, because the opposition lacks proper leadership,” said Priyantha, a grocer, jokingly adding that his life would probably be forfeited if he were to say anything else.
Padma, a mother and shop owner, said that she believed the government has helped development. “They built the bus depot here,” she said.
“The Govt. will definitely develop the place,” said Tony, a shop owner.

Law Makers, The Law Breakers

Mohamed Mahroof and Ranil Wickremesinghe

Former UNP Colombo District parliamentarian Mohamed Mahroof who crossed over to the ruling party following his failed attempt to get the Mayoral candidacy nomination from the UNP for the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) claims that he had given one billion rupees to the UNP leader for election campaign work.

Mahroof told The Sunday Leader that he had given UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe one billion rupees for campaign work on two occasions in 1999 and in 2005 for the presidential election campaign.
“I have proof to show that I have given Rs. 500 million for each presidential campaign that Ranil Wickremesinghe contested,” he claimed.
However Mahroof did not wish to say how he got the one billion rupees which was given to Wickremesinghe.
According to Mahroof, the first Rs. 500 million had been handed over to one Ananda Atukorala who happens to be a close friend of Ranil Wickremesinghe at his (Mahroof’s) Colombo residence while the second Rs. 500 million was handed over to Atukorala and Malik Samarawickrema prior to the 2005 presidential election.
“Although Atukorala visited my residence to collect the money, I sent the remaining money two days before the election to Samarawickrema’s office through my secretary,” claimed Mahroof.
Mahroof meanwhile said that he has challenged Ranil Wickremesinghe  to a live debate if he (Wickremesinghe) denies taking money from him for the 1999 and 2005 presidential election campaign work.
“I have now thrown a challenge to Wickremesinghe for a live debate where I am ready to divulge every detail about the money I have given him (Wickremesinghe). That is why I do not want to divulge anymore details as I want them to be raised at the debate,” said Maharoof.
When contacted,Malik Samarawickrema told The Sunday Leader that there was no truth in these ‘rubbishy’stories of Mahroof sending money to his office to be spent on Wickremesinghe’s campaign,
“I am sick of answering these questions because whenever there is a crossover during election time, such stories which are rubbish allegations are made up. There is no truth to these allegation,” Samarawickrema said.