Implementation of LLRC recommendations NO DEADLINE
By Ravi Ladduwahetty-
October 11, 2014
The Cabinet of Ministers approved a Memorandum, presented by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, for the establishment of a Special Bureau to expedite the full implementation of the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
However, Government spokesman and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told the weekly Cabinet news conference yesterday that the government could not set a deadline for the full implementation. He was responding to a question from a journalist as to when the final implementation of the recommendations would be completed.
The Special Bureau would be functioning under the Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga, who is already Head of a Presidential Task Force to implement the National Plan of Action, he said.
He explained that 45 of the recommendations, out a total of 144, which work out to around one third of the total, have been implemented and the government was fully committed to implementing the rest as well. He said that ten were now in the pipeline of being implemented.
Responding to a question whether the functions of the Special Bureau would be anything different to the existing mandate of the Presidential Task Force, headed by Weeratunga and who would represent it, Rambukwella said that he did not know and that he would keep journalists informed at next week's briefing on the details.
He also said that the government has made giant strides and headway in the peace issues since the cessation of hostilities, adding that the government has resettled 300,000 northern residents while removing all the landmines. "There are a large number of countries which have finished wars, but they have not removed any landmines at all, such as in Israel which they have not done in 60 years.
The Minister also explained that the delay in the implementation of some of the recommendations of the LLRC was the need for new constitutional amendments and the recalcitrance of the Tamil National Alliance in arriving at the Parliamentary Select Committee which has been set out for the settling of the ethnic question and also for the very purpose of the LLRC implementation. "They are blowing hot and cold at various times," he said.
Responding to a question in the Ceylon Today, Page One Lead story, on the Northern Provincial Council passing a resolution that the military should evacuate from Jaffna by the end of this year, Rambukwella said that it had to be decided whether that resolution is in consonance with the Constitution of Sri Lanka.
When asked whether the Constitution specifies issues regarding private lands as well, He said the government had the discretion of deciding which was applicable in the interests of national security.
By Ravi Ladduwahetty-
October 11, 2014
The Cabinet of Ministers approved a Memorandum, presented by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, for the establishment of a Special Bureau to expedite the full implementation of the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
However, Government spokesman and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told the weekly Cabinet news conference yesterday that the government could not set a deadline for the full implementation. He was responding to a question from a journalist as to when the final implementation of the recommendations would be completed.
The Special Bureau would be functioning under the Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga, who is already Head of a Presidential Task Force to implement the National Plan of Action, he said.
He explained that 45 of the recommendations, out a total of 144, which work out to around one third of the total, have been implemented and the government was fully committed to implementing the rest as well. He said that ten were now in the pipeline of being implemented.
Responding to a question whether the functions of the Special Bureau would be anything different to the existing mandate of the Presidential Task Force, headed by Weeratunga and who would represent it, Rambukwella said that he did not know and that he would keep journalists informed at next week's briefing on the details.
He also said that the government has made giant strides and headway in the peace issues since the cessation of hostilities, adding that the government has resettled 300,000 northern residents while removing all the landmines. "There are a large number of countries which have finished wars, but they have not removed any landmines at all, such as in Israel which they have not done in 60 years.
The Minister also explained that the delay in the implementation of some of the recommendations of the LLRC was the need for new constitutional amendments and the recalcitrance of the Tamil National Alliance in arriving at the Parliamentary Select Committee which has been set out for the settling of the ethnic question and also for the very purpose of the LLRC implementation. "They are blowing hot and cold at various times," he said.
Responding to a question in the Ceylon Today, Page One Lead story, on the Northern Provincial Council passing a resolution that the military should evacuate from Jaffna by the end of this year, Rambukwella said that it had to be decided whether that resolution is in consonance with the Constitution of Sri Lanka.
When asked whether the Constitution specifies issues regarding private lands as well, He said the government had the discretion of deciding which was applicable in the interests of national security.
