Help Hiruni
Monday, 03 June 2013 
LankaNewsWeb, TheIndependent.lk and Share & Care partnership to build a house for Sri Lankan school girl living in a cemetery
(Media – charity partnership to build a house for Sri Lanka school girl living in a cemetery)
People are born in hospitals, live under some kind of shelter and die.
Then only they come to the cemetery to be buried or cremated there.
That’s the normal routine for everybody: or so we are told.
But this is an unusual story of a Sri Lankan girl who is forced to change that routine.
Instead of coming to the cemetery to spend the final leg of her journey (or journey after life) she is forced to make it her home.
Not alone, though: together with her 85-year old grand-mother.
This is the story of ten year-old Hiruni Vishva Lanka, who lives in a makeshift hut at a corner of the cemetery in Ragama.
She currently studies at Dharmarakshitha Junior School, in Ihalagama, Raggama.
She is about to sit for her year-5 scholarship examination.
As far as Hiruni remembers her parents also lived in the hut when she was a small girl but when the mother fallen in love with another young man, her father left them.
Within a year, the mother has also fled-away with the new boyfriend leaving the grand-mother and the grand-daughter alone.
Since then, it was for the elderly grandma, who was 80 at that time, to look after the young girl.
Even today she is doing all odd jobs she could and walks along the houses to sell greens in order to look after the daughter of her own son.
In addition, some good-hearted people have made small donations once in a while.
The part of the cemetery has later turned into a playground forcing Hiruni & grand-mother to another corner.
Neither authorities, nor religious or social leaders were concerned about their plight.
Unlike many living creatures, they are not afraid of the dead.
They only fear the living ones; for many, including Buddhist monks, have been trying to evict them from their hut in the cemetery.
Hiruni’s only hope is that she’d be able to continue her education. And it is no secret that the grand-mother will not be there for her, for ever.
This is the summary of a long story penned in Sinhala by journalist Jayasiri Alawatta.
After LankaNewsWeb & TheIndependent.lk published her story, a concerned charity based in London, Share & Care kindly offered a helping hand for Hiruni’s education.
Share & Care has also created a fund to build a house hoping that at least authorities will offer a piece of land.
But as we have seen many a times, we do not want to wait few more years, if not decades, until the authorities open their eyes.
So together with Share & Care, we at LankaNewsWeb & TheIndependent.lk appeal all concerned to offer a helping hand to this noble cause; to fulfil Hiruni’s dream of continuing her education to lead a normal life in future.
And we sincerely hope this will be the beginning of many more such partnerships to help Sri Lanka’s troubled young generation in future.
Minister orders halt to inquiry
Monday, 03 June 2013
Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa has intervened to stop an inquiry into the legal department officials of the National Gem and Jewelry Authority over an alleged frau committed in issuing gem mining licenses.
Yapa was the former Environment Minister and the National Gem and Jewelry Authority was under his purview.
The alleged fraud had taken place in issuing gem mining licenses for a mine in Dabaraliyedda in Amunugoda, Ratnapura.
It is learnt that Yapa’s wife was involved in issuing these licenses.
The inquiry had found that the Minister’s wife had kept back shares of the mines when issuing the licenses.
National Gem and Jewelry Authority Director General, R.M. Sumith had conducted the inquiry against the legal department officials of the Authority. However, Yapa had put pressure on the director general to stop the inquiry after finding out that his wife’s involvement was being revealed.
Employees at the National Gem and Jewelry Authority say that the transaction has resulted in the Authority losing out over Rs. 20 million that was due to it.
The fraud was first unraveled by the Eheliyagoda office of the National Gem and Jewelry Authority that carried out a raid in the gem mines that are now under scrutiny.
