Grievances of Muslims in the North

Grievances of Muslims in the North

Marisa de Silva-4 Mar, 2013

“It is not only inhumane to be expected to live under such terrible conditions, but these conditions are also a breeding ground for mosquitoes and the spread of other communicable diseases. If the water is not pumped out manually, it will be at least April by the time all the water left over by the floods evaporate,” said a distraught Muslim IDP from Uppukulam, Mannar, whilst pointing to a stagnant pool of water left by December’s flood (2012), in his backyard. He, together with his wife and widowed daughter live in a one-roomed shack in Uppukulam since their return in 2000.

Muslim families in Uppukulam, Kondapitty (Mannar District), who were evicted by the LTTE in 1990, were given permit land by the State and permitted to return to Uppukulam in 2000. Having lived in cadjan huts for years, some families have been moved to an Indian Housing Scheme four years ago. Of the 96 houses built, only 50 (comprising approximately 200 residents) are currently occupied, as there is no water supply, and the conditions of these houses and there immediate environs is deplorable, particularly as a result of the recent floods. There are still pools of flood water (remaining from last year), surrounding many of the houses. The 46 owners of the unoccupied houses are living temporarily with friends and relatives until they are able to return to their homes. They will return once the flood water recedes, but will have to leave once more when the monsoons begin, said another villager.

As there is no Government water supply, these families (most with no steady source of income), are made to cough up Rs. 2000 a month per family, to get water from a bowzer, which can be shared between four houses at a time. They also suffer a lot without water during the drought season each year, as the bowzers do not come at all then. “The main water lines have all been laid out, but we are still to get connected to the Government water supply,” lamented one elderly villager. Most of the houses also do not have proper toilet facilities, which is quite troublesome for the people.

Many of the families here are female headed, but most of them are not ably employed, and have therefore lived hand to mouth since their return in 2000. Some women make Dosai and sell, some give tution at a nearby Montessori, whilst most of the men are day labourers. The youth who have completed school do not want to go fishing, and therefore have little option but to idle at home as there are no jobs for them. Some children are compelled to drop out of school after their O/L’s as their parents cannot afford to buy books for them and are therefore unable to send them to school.

Tamils villagers in the surrounding areas however, say that these families all own houses in other areas such as Puttalam, and have only returned to get new houses.

An elderly, ailing single mother of three daughters (two of whom are mute), live in a little cadjun shack in a plot of land in Vidathalthivu (Mannar District), awaiting the clearing of her original lands, which have become jungle lands during the war. Having returned in 2009 and registered with the local authorities, she is currently staying rent free on a private land, the owner of which currently lives in Colombo. She cannot build on it, but she has been permitted to live there. Her cadjan house is rotting and falling apart due to the rains, and the land being infested with mosquitoes and snakes is quite hazardous to live on, but she has no other choice, she says. “I have spent all my savings on educating my girls, but now they cannot find jobs. They are very intelligent and are quite skilled in tailouring work, but there is nobody to help us,” said the desperate mother.  They have no water, electricity or income. She relies on the help she gets from her daughter and son-in-law who work in Puttalam. Also, when the water level is low, she tries to catch prawns from the lagoon nearby. They have to use the pond nearby to bathe and have water to drink only during the rainy season. The rest of the time, they need to buy water from the bowser.

Gota plans media show by arresting Bodhu Bala Sena leaders

Monday, 04 March 2013 

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has directed Senior DIG Anura Senanayake to take into custody the Secretary of Bodhu Bala Sena, Ven. Galagodatte Gnanasara Thero and the organization’s theoretician, Dilantha Vithanage until the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions conclude in Geneva.

The Defence Secretary has also directed Senanayake to ensure that the two Bodhu Bala Sena leaders are not subjected to any harassment and to admit them to a paying ward at the Colombo National Hospital.

External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris has asked the Defence Secretary to at least pretend to take some action against the Bodhu Bala Sena activists in order to give the impression to the international community that the government was acting against the organization. He has said that although the actions of Bodhu Bala Sena are favorable to the government locally, it created a negative impact on the country when trying to get the support of the Middle Eastern countries at the UNHRC.

The Defence Secretary has explained to the DIG that using a complaint by a Muslim on the halal issue or any other issue related to it to arrest the Bodhu Bala Sena activists could result in a clash between the Sinhalese and Muslims. He has observed that a complaint by a Buddhist monk should be used as the basis to arrest the Bodhu Bala Sena members.

Acting on the instructions, DIG Anura Senanayake has got a monk named, Ven. Heenatiye Samitha Theo to lodge a complaint with the Maharagama Police last Saturday. He is the national organizer of the movement, “The Wonder of Childhood That is Yours and Mine.”

The Thero has complained that his life was under threat by the Bodhu Bala Sena and that a youth attached to the movement had taken Rs. 1.2 million from him and was now evading payment. A youth has been arrested by the Maharagama Police following the complaint. Ven. Gnanasara Thero and Vithanage are to be arrested on a statement recorded by this youth.

It is also learnt that the Defence Secretary has assured the national organizer of Bodhu Bala Sena, Ven. Vitharandeniye Nanda Thero that he would continue to support the organization despite certain actions that would be taken in the next few days in order to give the impression that the government did not have any links with the organization. The Defence Secretary has added that the government was under pressure from the international community due to the actions of Bodhu Bala Sena.

Muza says anti-Muslim demos now in Rajapaksa’s territory

BBS holds anti-Halal rally in Weeraketiya in Hambantota

By Dharisha Bastians- March 4, 2013 
The Joint Opposition laid the blame for rising anti-Muslim sentiment squarely on President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s shoulders yesterday, after the Bodu Bala Sena held a massive anti-Halal demonstration in Weeraketiya, in the Hambantota District on Saturday (2).
Addressing a media briefing of the UNP led Vipakshaye Virodhaya, Colombo Mayor A.J.M. Muzammil said the town in the deep south was Rajapaksa country.

“Weeraketiya is in the heart of the President’s kingdom,” he charged.
Muzammil said that the Government had made no move to prevent the anti-Muslim rally in Weeraketiya even though it was clearly well within their power to do so. He stated that the President was making statements about fostering harmony between communities but took no action when it came to anti-Muslim sentiment spreading in the heart of his electorate.
The Colombo Mayor said that the message to the rest of the island was clear by the Government’s inaction in the south.
“It is a clear license for the anti-Muslim groups to hold these rallies and demonstrations anywhere in the country – if it can be held in Weeraketiya where the Government enjoys the most support,” Muzammil said.
The Colombo Mayor charged that the protest in Weeraketiya proved there was more to the anti-Halal movement than meets the eye.
“The Government is failing in the handling of the Halal issue,” Muzammil told the media.
He said that it was regrettable that the Government was dismissing the compromise offered by the All Ceylon Jamaiythul Ulama (ACJU) for the Halal certification process to be taken over by a State institution.
“How can the Government say it doesn’t involve itself in religious matters when it facilitates the Haj Pilgrimage with the Muslim ministers every year?” the Mayor queried.

Toilets are also named after Mahinda Rajapaksa – Azad Sally

MONDAY, 04 MARCH 2013

The whole country has been ‘Rajapaksized ‘so that even a toilet constructed anywhere in the country will be named ‘Mahinda Rajapaksa International Toilet’ says Azad Sally.

Speaking further Mr. Sally said not a single leader in the country had named any project in their own names while they were living.

However, the present regime uses the name of Mahinda Rajapaksa for every project and also adds ‘international’ label to it said Mr. Sally at a press conference held yesterday (3rd).

A panel of 9 judges to hear petitions

MONDAY, 04 MARCH 2013

A panel of nine judges of the Supreme Court will convene tomorrow (5th) at 9.30 a.m. to hear seven petitions say reports. This is the first time this number of judges is included in a panel after 1987, when the 13th amendment to the Constitution was being heard.

Among the petitions they will consider tomorrow are five fundamental rights petition connected with former Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaanayake, a fundamental rights petition filed against Mr. Mohan Peiris’ appointment as the chief justice and a petition filed against the writ abolishing the decision given by the Parliamentary Select Committee against former Chief Justice.

Judges Saleem Marzook, Shirani Thilakawardene, Nimal Gamini Amaratunga, K. Sree Pawan, P.A. Ratnayake, Chandra Ekanayaka, Sathya Hettige, Prasad Dep and Eva Wanasundra are members of this panel. Out of the judges of the Supreme Court only the Chief Justice Mohan Peiris and S.I. Imam, who is retired, are not in the panel.

Justice Shiranee Secretly Advises Journos, Signature Of The Judge Who Refused To Hear The Case Also In The Judgment

By Mudliyar -March 3, 2013 

Conduct and demeanor of the Judges in the Supreme Court has now reached unimaginable heights underMohan Pieris, the new Chief Justice, de facto, which may probably the worst, some witnessed on February 26,2013, in the Supreme Court in Sri Lanka since independence. No one had ever heard that Judges in the Apex Court use sign language to invite the pressmen to the chamber to discuss as to how what transpired in the Court house should be reported, but this is what exactly happened after the hearing of the Revision Application of the Colombo Dockyard case was over.  Justice Shiranee Thilakawardane, in the open Court called the reporters to her chamber to advise them how to avoid adverse submission made by the Counsel for the Petitioner, exposing the gross misconduct and dishonesty of Mohan Pieris, the then AG. Reporters never thought that call made in the open court was directed at them until the peon was sent for them, calling them to come to the Chambers of Thilakawardae J.

When they reported at her chambers they were duly advised as what to report in the media, with specific instructions given to avoid all references made against Mohan Pieris’s misconduct and dishonestly revealed in the open Court by the Petitioner’s Counsel.  Later on the same day a hurriedly written uncertified judgment (reproduced herefor your reference) signed by all three judges was given to ‘facilitate’ the media men with their reporting.

According to the facts presented in the Court in this case, with overwhelming evidence backed by a statement by the Director General of Customs, Sudharma Karunarathna, revealed that the AG, Mohan Pieris was directly responsible not only for deceiving the DGC but also deceiving the Supreme Court, when the AG withdrew  the  Supreme Court action (SC/SLA/100/2010) filed against the Colombo Dockyard Ltd (for misappropriation of public funds of over 619 million rupees) disregarding the written instructions of the DGC. In this case the AG had deceived the Supreme Court that he was withdrawing the said Court action with full agreement of the DGC, which the DGC has completely refuted in her written statement to the AG, which however was suppressed by the AG to the Court, but the Petitioner filed had filed in Court with another statement by the DGC which states as follows ‘in my view the conduct (of Mohan Pieris) amounts to professional misconduct and professional dishonesty’.

According to the case schedule of the day (01-02-2013) this case was due to be taken up at Court No 502, before a Bench chaired by Marsoof J. However just before the Court sessions were commenced, an announcement was made in the Court, that this particular case had been transferred to Court No 403, before a bench headed by  Ratnayake (other two being Hettige J, the former Senior State Counsel and Eva Wanasundera, the former AG). Ratnayake J had already informed that he would not take part in the hearing ‘for personal reasons’. Interestingly Justice P.A. Ratnayake’s signature also in the written uncertified judgment, which was given to the press by Justice Shiranee.

Related posts;

Rs 619 Million Public Funds Fraud Case Against Mohan Peiris And PB Jayasundara: The Lawyer Was Threatened

Case Against Mohan Pieris: A Tragic Day For Justice

Former Deerstalkers In The Supreme Court Brazenly Safeguard Errant Gamekeepers

Dockyardgate, Returns To The SC Seeking Full Bench Hearing

Peoples’ Judicial Power Becomes A Myth In Sri Lanka

‘Dockyardgate’ Returns To Supreme Court: Legal Challenges To Mohan Pieris’ Regime At SC Continues

Man attempts self-immolation to press Centre to vote against Sri Lanka in UNHR

ByBosco Dominique, TNN | Mar 4, 2013

CUDDALORE: With heat on the Sri Lanka issue picking up, a 45-year-old man attempted self-immolation to press the Union government to vote against Sri Lanka United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for war crimes. 

Police said S Mani, 45 from Nallavadu, arrived atthe Cuddalore collectorate in northern Tamil Nadu with a can of kerosene. He doused himself with kerosene and set himself ablaze while raising slogans against the Union government for failing to protect the Sri Lankan Tamils, many of whom were killed in the civil war in the island nation. 

Policemen on duty and passersby rescued him and admitted him in the Cuddalore government general hospital. 

Mani is battling for life after sustaining severe burn injuries in thesuicide bid. 

A few members of pro-Tamil outfits and parties supporting LTTE had committed self-immolation in recent years demanding action againstthe Sri Lankan government for human rights violation during the fag end of the ethnic war between the government and the LTTE.

However, police claimed that Mani could have resorted to the extreme step because his family failed to get the Tsunami relief and rehabilitation package. 

Indian man attempts self-immolation on urging to take legal action against war criminal Rajapaksa

[ Monday, 04 March 2013, 02:06.16 PM GMT +05:30 ]

With heat on the Sri Lanka issue picking up, a 45-year-old man attempted self-immolation to press the Union government to vote against Sri Lanka United Nations Human RightsCouncil (UNHRC) for war crimes.

MDMK chief Vaiko arrested after attempting to lay siege to Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission

Chennai: MDMK Chief Vaiko has been arrested by Chennai Police after he attempted to lay siege on the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission today.  Mr Vaiko, who led several pro-Tamil groups, was protesting against alleged war crimes and human rights violations committed by the Sri Lankan government against Tamil civilians there.

The MDMK chief is demanding that New Delhi should vote against Colombo during the US-sponsored motion at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) later this month. He has also demanded for an international probe to be initiated against the Lankan government on charges of war crimes.

Mr Vaiko is joined by political parties in Tamil Nadu, including the Karunanidhi-led DMK, who have been pressing for India to vote against Sri Lanka at the United Nations forum. They allege that ethnic Tamils in the island nation were subjected to atrocities by Sri Lankan forces during the final phase of the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

In fact, the DMK, in a strong statement in the Rajya Sabha last week, had asked the central government it participates in to decide whether it wanted to be friends with Sri Lanka or then "with your brethren" in south India. DMK is the second-biggest constituent of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre.

External Minister Salman Khurshid had said in Rajya Sabha that while the government shared the concern of the parties from Tamil Nadu, India would not intervene directly in Sri Lanka's sovereign affairs. The minister had said that "accountability must come from within Sri Lanka", but remained evasive on the position New Delhi will take at the UN on a resolution against Colombo.

India had supported the US motion last year and this time the international body would review how much Sri Lanka has implemented recommendations of its lessons learnt and reconciliation commission.

Rights groups say up to 40,000 civilians were killed by security forces in the final months of a no-holds-barred offensive in 2009 that ended Sri Lanka's decades-long fight against Tamil separatists.

Sri Lanka has denied causing the civilian deaths.

Militarizing schools and dismantling civil society

By Ranga Jayasuriya-2013-03-04 Military is like cholesterol. You need to maintain its correct levels. If you enlarge its role over the desired limit, that would be deleterious to the public. And if you relegate it, again, you would soon be heading towards a far worse mess. As far as the latter scenario is concerned, Sri Lanka itself has its fair share of bitter experience. During the first two decades of Independence, Sri Lanka relegated the role of the military, turning it more or less into a ceremonial army. That was not the most ideal period for complacency, especially when communism was gradually bringing down a large swathe of the world under its iron curtain. We learned the lesson the hard way, when a Lumumba University dropout, who was armed with mob oratorical skills and a megalomaniac grand plan, and hundreds of despondent local youth to boot, launched a revolt to topple the popularly elected left-leaning government in 1971. It took only locally made galkatas and a consignment of arms alleged to have been sent by the psychopathic late 'Great Leader' of North Korea, for Rohana Wijeweera and his ragtag guerrillas to lay siege to an entire nation. The country was saved from a Cambodian-style killing fields or a Soviet gulag archipelago, one of which would have been an inevitability had the JVP succeeded in its 1971 uprising, thanks to the timely military support from India, the US and the Soviet Union and, of course, excessive use of force by ill- trained and ill-prepared military and police personnel. But we did not learn the lesson and thought we were immune from internal troubles until another megalomaniac hailing from the North took the nation to ransom. Velupillai Prabhakaran's ragtag LTTE in the early 80s grew into a ruthless semi-conventional army by the early 90s. However, the freedom of action the LTTE enjoyed was largely due to the fact that all we had at the time in the name of military was a ceremonial army. Responsibility of a government Thomas Hobbes famously described that life without a government would be 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.' That is self explanatory in some of the wretched parts of the world, ranging from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Mali, where weak governments which fail to provide security for its citizenry have created hellholes on the earth. The key responsibility of the government is to provide security for its citizens. Machiavelli was the first to advocate that the states maintain professional armies instead of relying on mercenaries in order to achieve this purpose. And in the modern day militaries, the military leadership is subordinate to their political, often elected superiors. Hence, the army or the military is an organ of the State and not vice versa. But, if an army has a country, as some critics say, tongue in cheek, in reference to the enlarged role in the country's affairs of the Pakistani military that would be a cause for concern. And, when the military expands its tentacles, it does so gradually, often with the tacit, sometimes, active complicity of the civilian rulers. At the creation of Pakistan, the new State had two institutions which functioned in tandem: A civilian bureaucracy and a professional military. However, by the end of the 50s, the military had emerged the only institution within the Pakistani State after the bureaucracy gradually subordinated itself to the military. The existential threat from India, which ranked at the top of Pakistan's strategic culture made it easier for the army to consolidate its hold. Since its independence, Pakistan has been through repeated military coups and military governments, and until the advent of another military dictator, Gen. Pervez Musharaff, who however, had a liberal bent, Pakistan did not have an organized civil society. This rather long introduction is to set the tone for a discourse on the recent government decision to absorb another batch of school principals into the Cadet Corps. Letters have been sent to 4,000 principals of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service to attend interviews for recruitment to the Sri Lanka Cadet Corps. The interviews would be held on 4, 5 and 6 March. The principals will be commissioned in the ranks of Lieutenant, Captain and Major, after completing a training programme running into 45 days. This would result in more than 50% of the 9,662 schools islandwide, being brought under the military. Inculcate 'discipline' This is dangerous business. It clearly smacks of militarization of civilian life. Students of Pakistani history would recall how the militarization of the country was fast tracked after the civilian bureaucracy, the remnant of the British Raj, subordinated itself to the military. The argument in favour of this initiative is that it would inculcate 'discipline' among the principals. This very argument gives the impression that other agencies are incapable of inculcating 'discipline' into themselves. It alludes to some unexplained special merit in the military and its superiority over the other agencies and organs of the State, which therefore should take a subordinate role. Looking back at the history of countries where the military had claimed disproportionate influence over the country's affairs, from Suharto's Indonesia to Zia-Ul-Haq's Pakistan, the military expanded its tentacles at the behest of civilian leaders. Both Sukarno, Suharto's predecessor, and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, enlarged the role of the military, in order to address personal political concerns, before they became the victims of the strongmen they nurtured. The path the Rajapaksa regime is taking has stark similarities to those countries. And the current regime does so at the expense of the other organs of the State, such as bureaucracy, judiciary and other independent institutions. Second, what benefits would the schools have by having a military officer at its helm? Schools are meant to be bastions of learning. They are meant to provide a solid foundation for future professional, academic, entrepreneurial and intellectual pursuits of their students. When they are turned into military bastions with military men at the helm, the whole notion of education is disfigured. What can the government therefore do to improve the standard of our public schools? Sri Lankan public schools and their principals have refused to change, despite schools and curriculums of many of our Asian counterparts having changed. For a fraction of expenses that the government plans to spend on training principals by the cadet corps, the government can bring down a group of principals from British public or government schools, or for that matter, experienced professionals from Singapore, to train our principals on the best practices in school education. Limitations of the military The Cadet Corps has neither the expertise, nor the intellectual vigour to embark on an initiative of that magnitude. It is interesting to note that even the best military academies in the world, such as West Point or US Naval Post Graduate School have a much larger civilian academic staff. That is in recognition on the part of the advanced militaries and their military planners, the limitations of the military boundaries in certain areas where its expertise is minimal. However, Sri Lanka appears to have taken a different trajectory. One would only hope that it would not be a course that the nation will live to regret, one day in the future. (Correction: In reference to my story " Unfulfilled promises: Govt. falls way short of implementing LLRC recommendations," which appeared in Ceylon Today, dated 3 March (Page 6), Military Spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said that the Army Court of Inquiry had not denied the occurrence of collateral damages and that it has only cleared the military of allegations of shelling civilians. He said the Army Commander will submit the report to the Defence Secretary in due course, and it would include his own observations and recommendations. My reference to the denial of collateral damages by the Court of Inquiry was based on the Army's insistence of its 'zero casualty policy' and the absence of a convincing explanation in the report for the large scale civilian casualties. Any misunderstanding on the issue is regretted.)

Golden Key Cases: Govt Looking To Settle Depositors – Reward For Supporting Illegal Impeachment

By Colombo Telegraph -March 4, 2013 

The fundamental rights cases filed after the Golden Key fiasco were listed today (04.03.2013) before de facto Chief Justice Mohan Pieris, Justice P. A. Ratnayake and Justice Eva Wanasundera.

Pix by Athula Devapriya shows protestors camped outside the CJ Shirani’s residence during the time of impeachment

Viraj Dayaratne, Deputy Solicitor General appearing for the Central Bank and Dr. Zafarullah, counsel appearing for aome depositors informed court that the government is now in the process of working out a repayment plan which is to be implemented soon.

The government did not step in to help the depositors for the past so many years despite the Central Bank having failed to properly regulate the deposit taking institutions of the Ceylinco group being a factor in the tragic collapse that saw many old and sick people lose all they had in savings. Several people died without means of treatment and some even committed suicide. Many others were unable to provide education to their children. Despite many appeals by such affected depositors, the Rajapaksa regime was unmoved until the controversial impeachment of Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake gave the depositors an opportunity to make themselves useful to the regime.

The Colombo Telegraph learns from reliable sources that the Rajapaksa regime entered into a secret pact with depositors’ associations that if they supported the regime by endorsing the controversial impeachment and demonstrating against Bandaranayake, they would be given relief. The desperate depositors jumped at the opportunity to get some relief.

However, several depositors expressed disgust at the fact that the government never showed genuine concern for their plight. “If the rulers didn’t want to oust Shirani Bandaranayake they would not have done anything for us”, said one depositor contacted by The Colombo Telegraph.”Is this democracy?” he questioned.

The Supreme Court presided over by de facto CJ Mohan Pieris directed for the case to be taken up on 02.04.2013 to consider the position. Pieris had earlier appeared in the case as Attorney General and on behalf of the Central Bank.

The cases were previously taken up after Pieris started exercising the functions of Chief Justice, before a bench which referred the cases to him, to decide on an appropriate bench to hear the matter.

Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake (now prevented from exercising her functions by the Rajapaksa regime after an impeachment process declared unconstitutional and void by rulings of the Supreme Court and Appeal Court) had taken over the hearing of the case from a bench presided over by Justice Shiranee Tilakawardane after many allegations that the Watawala Committee appointed by the court to facilitate repayments to depositors had been playing out the depositors and wrongfully alienating assets at much less than market value under cover of protection given by a Supreme Court directive that the Committee would be immune from liability. According to several legal experts contacted by The Colombo Telegraph, such immunity is controversial and not in keeping with the Rule of Law, since no-one should be above the law. Only the President they said is granted constitutional immunity from prosecution, and that too only while he holds office as President.

Anyhow, a large number of depositors now look forward to some promised relief.

Earlier, soon after the collapse of Golden Key, the directors of the Ceylinco group offered to work out a repayment plan. However, Mohan Pieris (then Attorney General) who appeared on behalf of the Central Bank in the Supreme Court, directed his subordinate State Counsel to make applications in cases filed in various Magistrate’s Courts against the directors, to have them remanded. This was done, and thereafter, Romesh De Silva, PC appearing for Ceylinco Group Chairman Lalith Kotelawela and Faisz Musthapha PC appearing for some other key directors told court that with the remanding of directors various factors spun out of control, making it impossible for the chairman and directors to work out a bailout plan.

In the meantime, The Colombo Telegraph is reliably informed that certain members of the Rajapaksa regime have been eyeing certain valuble assets of the Ceylinco Group.

In this situation, it remains to be seen as to how transparently Golden Key/Ceylinco assets are dealt with, and whether the depositors’ best interests are truly served as promised.

Sirisena notable absentee, Basil does the honours

Opening of Ragama hospital theatre complex

March 3, 2013, 9:38 pm 

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Eyebrows have been raised over the absence of Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena at the opening ceremony of a new theatre complex at the Ragama hospital on Saturday.

In the absence of Minister Sirisena, Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa did the honours in the presence of Deputy Health Minister Lalith Dissanayaka, Social Services Minister Felix Perera and Health Secretary Dr. Nihal Jayathilaka.

It led to speculation that it was part of the rift developing between the two powerful men in the SLFP over the impending premiership stakes.

When The Island contacted Maithripala Sirisena in this regard, he however maintained that his absence was due to a prior engagement in his electorate, Polonnaruwa, fixed more than two months back and therefore he had invited Minister Rajapaksa and others to do the honours in his absence.

Minister Sirisena said that Minister Basil Rajapaksa was a tower of strength to the government. Rajapaksa had stated that the Health Ministry had made steady progress and there was a conspiracy to sabotage the public health sector but the government was ready to face any challenge posed by its opponents, Minister Sirisena said.

China refuses US$500Mn loan for SL

MONDAY, 04 MARCH 2013 

China has refused a loan of US$500 million sought by the Sri Lankan Government to buy petroleum products and stressed that China would only approve only project loans, informed sources said yesterday

A Finance Ministry official said the loan which was being negotiated last year had not materialised because China was only prepared to grant project loans for which interest rates were relatively high.  

China had become Sri Lanka’s biggest lender. The country had obtained US$3.1 billion in loans and export credit to Sri Lanka about 18 months ago. The government had obtained Chinese loans, at interest rates varying from 2.9 per cent to 8.25 per cent, for major development projects such as the building of the Hambantota Port, the Mattala Airport, the Moragahakanda Irrigation Scheme and the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant.  Meanwhile the country’s total debt burden has increased to Rs.6,610 billion with 52 per cent of it being from domestic borrowings. (Kelum Bandara )