President visits Sri Pada in a helicopter

Tuesday, 19 February 2013

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to visit Sri Pada to honor a vow he had made on the Navam Poya that falls on the 25th.

Since the 68 year old President is now unable to make the traditional arduous trip to the summit of the mountain through Nallathanni or Kuruwita, is to use modern methods to make his trip to Sri Pada.

A new helipad is being built near the Maha Maluwa in Sri Pada for the President’s helicopter. The helipad is currently being built by personnel from the Sri Lanka Army and Sri Lanka Air Force.

The President and the First Lady would therefore visit Sri Pada on Poya Day.

Interestingly, the state media is to give live coverage of the President’s visit to Sri Pada by creating the impression that the President had climbed to the summit of the mountain together with other devotees from Nallathanni.

The Presidential security entourage is already making the necessary security arrangements for the trip.

Army looks for person who beheaded the President

Tuesday, 19 February 2013 

A joint operation was carried out in Matara to find the person who had removed the President’s head from a cut out that was erected near the Mahanama Bridge in Matara. President Mahinda Rajapaksa was to tour Matara on the 17th.

Officials have immediately taken steps to replace the vandalized cut out of the President with another. Photographs show how the cutout was replaced.

War heroes were deployed to clean the parks and drains in the Matara town while the police was tasked to remove posters from the town in order to beautify the area for the President’s visit. It is learnt that the Matara District Secretary and the Matara Urban Council officials had tried to prevent the incident of vandalism of the President’s cut out from reaching the media.

The President was to have his lunch in the Godagama area and the police had ordered that all little kiosks with thatched roofs to be shut and removed from the area.

The President is to open a building at the Sujatha Vidyalaya in Matara. The school authorities had been informed that a crowd of at least 2,500 was required if the President was to grace the occasion. The schools authorities had then put up tens spending several lakhs to accommodate the crowds. Monies had also been collected from the students to paint and prepare the school for the President’s visit. Each student had paid Rs. 350 while each prefect had paid Rs. 2,500 and the rest of the monies had been collected from sponsors and well wishers.

The President had called for an inquiry and a report into the incident where a student had stolen coconuts to collect money to paint her school. Circulars were also issued saying that monies should not be collected from students for school activities. However, we cannot understand why these circulars are not applicable to the schools the President visits. We do not know what the students at Sujatha Vidyalaya would have stolen or what crime the parents would have engaged in to find the money.