Home NewsThe IslandThursday 21st January, 20104

by Herath M. Abhayasinghe

Kuliyapitiya – President MahindaRajapaksa’s victory at the Presidentialelections of 2005 save the country fromLTTE terrorism, Media, Information,Enterprise Development and InvestmentPromotions Minister AnuraPriyadarshana Yapa said.

“At this critical stage, it is time tospeculate what would have been theplight of Sri Lanka if MahindaRajapaksa was not elected President in2005,” he said.

If Mahinda lost the election, Eelamwould have been declared in the Northand East by now. The entire countrywould have been a pool of blood as theLTTE would have waged war to capturethe whole of Sri Lanka, the Ministersaid.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s vic-tory prevented that danger by defeating

the LTTE terrorism. Thisachievement is enough forpeople to cast their votes inhis favour, he said.

The Minister wasaddressing a series of meet-ings in the KatugampolaElectorate in support of thecandidature of PresidentRajapaksa. The meetingswere held in Raddala,Nagama, Akkarathihacolony and Pethigodagedara.

The Minister said thateven after the defeat of the LTTE, issuesadvocated by them were emerging in theNorth and the East.

The right to self-determination,remerger of the North and the East,removal of High Security Zones hadcome to the forefront through the TNA –the political wing of LTTE.

President MahindaRajapaksa, as a true patriot-ic leader, had rejected thedemands of the TNA, hesaid adding that the opposi-tion Presidential candidatehad accepted them. In otherwords, they had agreed tore-divide the unified SriLanka.

“TNA MP ThuraiRatnasingham categoricallystated in a TV interviewthat General Fonseka and

Opposition Leader Rani lWickremesinghe had agreed to granttheir demands. They had signed a pact tothat effect. They could not tear up orignore that pact as it was conveyed to theinternational community. Their actionsshowed that they would be ready to evenbetray the trust of the people to get a few

votes,” he said.The Minister claimed that General

Fonseka was only a puppet dancing tothe tunes of the internationalCommunity. His other companions, theUNP, the JVP, Mangala, Hakeem, ManoGaneshan and the TNA also do the samething and have no regard for the country.

“President Mahinda Rajapaksa onthe other hand is a bold and courageousleader who has the courage and guts toask the Western Powers to mind theirown business without poking their fin-gers into the internal affairs of SriLanka. We are proud of such a boldleader. We have no alternative but toelect him our President for the secondterm with a bigger mjority. Then theinternational community will realisethat Sri Lanka is with Mahinda. Thenother countries would not interfere inour affairs,” he said

Mahinda saved nationfrom terrorists

The Government of Japangranted Japanese 29 millionYen (approximately Rs. 36 mil-lion) for the preparation ofdetailed designs for the con-struction of five bridges inthe Eastern Province.

The Eastern province wasbadly affected by the conflictduring the past 30 years,where most of its infrastruc-ture facilities including roadswere destroyed or damaged.

The proposed five bridgesunder the Japanese aid wouldcontribute to the rehabilita-tion programme carried outby the Government as well asthe improvement of the livingconditions of the people inthe Eastern Province.

The preparation ofdetailed designs ofPanichchankeni Causeway, abridge on the A 15 (Batticaloa-Trincomalee) road and four

other bridges, 240/4 bridge,Mundeni River bridge,Pulavady bridge and 287/7bridge on the Peradeniya-Badulla-Chenkalady road willbe done making use of thisgrant.

These bridges were con-structed during the colonialperiod and are over 50 yearsold.

The project will be imple-mented by the RoadDevelopment Authority underthe supervision of theMinistry of Highways andRoad Development.

The signing of theExchange of Notes inColombo took place betweenKunio Takahashi,Ambassador of Japan in SriLanka and P B Jayasundara,Secretary, Ministry ofFinance and Planning.

RanaweeraManukulasooriya,Gokarella Corr.

Thirteen roads in thePolpithigama DS division, thatwere in a dilapidated condi-tion, have been concreted anddeveloped by the Sri LankaSamurdhi Authority under its‘Gama Neguma’ Samurdhi vil-lage development programme.

Rs. 7 million has beenspent by the SamurdhiAuthority for this purpose.

Roads in the Bulnewa,

Bogolla, Indigolla, Malasna,Kalawana, Elagamuwa,Thalamalgama, Pohorawatta,Medakanda and MoroththaGrama Niladhari divisionshave been renovated underthis program.

“As a result of the renova-tion of these roads, we wereable to provide transport facil-ities to nearly 1,850 familiesliving in these villages,”Polpithigama Samurdhi man-aging director E. M. I. K.Ekanayake said.

by Ariya Waidyasekera,Ambalantota Corr.

More employment opportunitieswould be created in 2010 for the peo-ple of Bibile and Siyabalanduwa withthe opening of two new sugar facto-ries in those areas.

More than 8,000 tonnes of sugar-cane will be crushed per day at thesefactories.

Apart from sugar, Ethanol, fertil-izer, fuel and electricity will also beproduced.

Alcohol would not be produced,the Project Director said.

by Ariya Waidyasekera,Ambalantota Corr.

All private bus owners in theHambantota district should becomemembers of the Southern ProvinceBus Owners’ Association to benefitfrom trade incentives, RoadTransport Authority ChairmanJanak Priyantha Illesinha said.

Addressing the sixth annualgeneral meeting of the Hambantotadistrict private bus owners associa-tion at Bay Beach Hotel in Tangalle,he said a ticket-issuing machinecosting Rs. 30,500 will be providedto bus owners through the RuhunaDevelopment Bank.

The bus owners as well as thosewho want to be bus owners, couldpurchase more buses, with VATexemptions.

He said school bus serviceswould be enhanced to help children.

Southern Province TransportAuthority Director-General H. R. A.Nandasiri, Acting Director H. K.Sudharshana and HDCC Director-General Asmi Thassim were pres-ent.

by Ariya Waidyasekera,Ambalantota Corr.

The slow pace of buses operated byTangalle SLTB and the private sectorfrom Tangalle to Weeraketiya,Walasmulla, Middeniya andAngunakolapelessa, has caused incon-venience to schoolchildren, teachers,government servants and private sec-tor employees.

Students said that teachers andprincipals had warned them severaltimes for being late to school.

by Bingiriya Corr.

A person who had three pairsstag horns and a hunting gun in hishouse was arrested by WildlifeDepartment officials and producedbefore Puttalam AdditionalMagistrate Heshan de Mel.

The suspect pleaded guilty tothe charge of slaughtering rarewild animals and was fined Rs.65,000.

It was revealed later that thesuspect had slaughtered wild ani-mals in the Wilpattu Sanctuary fora long time.

by Kalutara Corr.

Sudath Rohitha de Silvaand his wife GithaniAbeygunawardhana, chargedwith injuring two women seri-ously over a financial transac-tion, were freed on Rs. 50,000bail by Kalutara ChiefMagistrate Kanishka

Wijeratna.The two accused are from

Moragalla Alutgama.Chief Inspector Alutgama

Ravindra Silva told Court thatthe suspects were arrested on acompliant lodged by a residentof Baverian Road, Moragalla.

by Dilanthi Jayamanne

The research and analysisof different types of feverprevalent in Sri Lanka by theDepartment of Ayurvedacommenced early this year,Ayurveda Commissioner,Ramani Gunawardhane said.

The AyurvedaDepartment would collect thedata on the subject and medi-cines prescribed through var-ious forms of Ayurveda andindigenous medicine prac-

ticed.This will be made avail-

able to all Ayurveda doctorsand the general public.

She said researchers werestudying the ancient litera-ture to record details of howthey treated fever victims.There were several types offevers in the country last year,mainly dengue.

The other types includedLeptospirosis (better knownas rat fever) and chikungunyaand other viral flues.

A grand education fair will beheld in Jaffna in September thisyear to enhance the interest takenby students, teachers and the gen-eral public in quality education.

Educationists had pointed outthat there was a necessity to incul-cate students in the Jaffna penin-sula, on the need for higher educa-tion after three decades of war.

Jaffna is the hub of education,business and social activities in thenorthern part of the country, aca-

demics say.Education exhibitions held in

Jaffna have always attracted largecrowds and international pres-ence too had been a significant fea-ture.

Jaffna produced a large num-ber of professionals before theLTTE rebellion broke out threedecades ago.

The government claims it iskeen to bring back the lost glory ofthe education system in the North.

Southern bus ownerstold to join associationto enjoy benefits

School, officework hit by ‘slow buses’

Two sugar factoriesat Bibile andSiyabalanduwa

Rs. 65,000fine for killingrare animals

Priyadarshana Yapa

Secretary of Defence Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, and Minister of Disaster Management Mahinda Samarasinghe,in conversation after addressing a meeting organised to support President Mahinda Rajapaksa at theBaduraliya public grounds in the Agalawatta electorate.

Grant of 29mn Yen fromJapan to design EP bridges

Thirteen roads concreted in Polpithigama DS division

by Don AsokaWijewardena

Campaign for Free andFair Elections has recorded682 incidents of election vio-lence island-wide up toJanuary 18. Around 22 inci-dents where arms have beenused have been reported tothem. About 80 peopleassaulted by political rivalshad been admitted to hospi-tals.

CaFFE Director KeerthiTennakoon said election vio-lence had been rising alarm-ingly countrywide and almost

all political parties had flout-ed election rules and regula-tions imposed by the ElectionCommissioner.

He pointed out that therehad been 171 incidents of van-dalism and assault, 127 cases,violation of election rulesand regulations, 109 cases ofabuse of State property, 79assaults on persons and 49other cases.

Tennakoon said theCaFFE would be deployingelection observers at pollscentres to check whether theelection is conducted in freeand fair manner.

Minister of Power and Energy W. D. J. Seneviratne declared opened a new elec-tricity scheme at Adavikanda in the Ratnapura Electorate. 250 families were sup-plied with electricity at a cost of Rs. 10 million under the ‘Lighting Ratnapura’ proj-ect. Provincial Ministers and Members were present.

Ayurveda Dept. plans researchin different types of fever

Grand EducationFair in Jaffna

Couple allowed bail

CaFFE records 682 incidentsof election violence

by Kalutara Correspondent

The sale of illicit beef at theKalutara public market continuesunchecked while the Urban Councilremains silent, residents allege.

The situation worsened after theKalutara slaughter house was closedfollowing protests from Buddhistsbecause of its proximity to theKalutara Bodhiya, the most sacredreligious place in the Kalutara district.

Beef to the Kalutara market is sup-plied from slaughter houses inBeruwala and illegal abattoirs in theKalutara urban area. There is no prop-er certification from a Public HealthInspector for beef sold at the market,residents say.

This issue was discussed at themonthly meeting of Urban Councilpresided by chairman M. S. M.Mubarak but no decision was taken tosuspend the illicit slaughter of cattlewithin the Urban Council limits inKalutara.

Anti-Beef protestat Kalutara public market

Secretary General of Commonwealth Parliament AssociationDr. William F. Shija paid a courtesy call on Chief GovernmentWhip and Minister of Urban Development and Sacred AreaDevelopment, Dinesh Gunawardena at his office in theParliament Complex on Tuesday (19).