Thursday, April 4, 2013

This is a death alarm to Tamils freedom for expression. Mawai MP denounces.

Thursday , 04 April 2013

The continuous attack carried out against “Udayan” press is a death alarm to the Sri Lankan Tamils freedom of expression was said by Tamil National Alliance Secretary Mawai Senathiraja.

He said "Udayan" which is one of the media establish the national emotions of Sri Lanka Tamil people, has once again come under violence attack.

The "Udayan" regional office located at Jaffna Kandy main road, Kilinochchi, was attacked by a gang of thugs with batons at around 5.00 am and had absconded after carrying out a worst ruthless attack.

"Udayan" branch Manager including five was severely injured and vehicles and office properties were severely damaged.

Attacks beyond limits are continuing against Tamil medias mainly "Udayan" press expressing the feelings of Tamils. Journalists are killed and are severely attacked and wounded. They are facing death threats.

A dangerous situation of threats to journalists and Medias are continuing. Direct attacks against the Medias have multiplied. Meanwhile the conspirators of the attackers’ against such Tamil Medias are not brought in front of the law. By observing this, transparently we have got two doubts.

Once, such attacks are advanced with the blessing from those in power. Attacks against Medias mainly towards “Udayan” press are continuously carried out and this attack establishes the death alarm for the Sri Lanka Tamils freedom for expression which is much saddening.

At an atmosphere the international society is loudly raising its voices concerning the continuous threats for media freedom in Sri Lanka, such anarchism is beyond limits are permitted to continue, which is a perfect evidence how far this dictatorship rule of this country is moving forward.

By maintaining those engaged in anarchism against the Medias, and instead of providing legal exempt, they should be arrested and produced in front of the law in future, and the President of this country should come forward to grant proper punishment, is an appeal we make.

The international too without expressing eye wash condemn reports continuously against this repression against media, should advance constructive activities and should utilize pressure in a useful manner to punish in the proper manner those engaged in such anarchism, which we appeal.

We insist government should give sufficient protection to media sector including "Udayan" press.

Our party meeting at Kilinochchi was attacked last week and the details and the photographs were published by the "Udayan" press and the conspirators were exposed, and in this backdrop the regional office of that press was targeted for this brutal attack which should be observed.

"Udayan" press attack proves Geneva accusations. UNP strongly condemn.

Thursday , 04 April 2013

The continuous attacks against "Udayan" press and journalists establish the suppression of media freedom in Sri lanka. Geneva accusations pointed out media suppressions are continued which is affirmed.

This ruthless attack is strongly condemned and the conspirators behind these attacks should be produced before law was a request made by United National party the main opposition party in Sri Lanka.

Ajith Perera, parliament member of United National party and opposition whip made this statement at a special media briefing held yesterday at the Colombo CFPS central center.

He said "Udayan" office located at Kilinochchi was attacked yesterday morning. Many in critical condition were admitted to the hospital.

Cowards unable to face democracy are engaged in such attacks. This is not the first time an attack was carried out against “Udayan” organization.

Many attacks have occurred continuously after the end of war. A death attempt was executed against "Udayan" News Editor Guganathan. Many reporters were continuously attacked. Vehicles and press copies were scorched. But so far none was arrested connected with these attacks.

The “Udayan” press office located at Kilinochchi main road was attacked yesterday early morning by unidentified persons. Many were injured and are treated at the Kilinochchi Base Hospital. The properties of the office were smashed and damaged.

Hooligans carried out the attack casually escaped from the locality. Military and police services are operating day and night at the Kilinochchi main center. In this environment, who are the unknown persons carried out the attacks and getting escape?

Where did they come and why, they are not arrested is the question raised.

Journalists from north and east including all areas are facing a variety of threats. Media suppression in Sri Lanka is denied by these activities. However, this allegation is now established by these acts. If government continues to maintain silence in this issue, a situation will arise to face the direct activities of the international society.

Attackers against media organizations and journalists should be arrested. The conspirators of this attack should be identified and brought in front of law. Meanwhile if this situation continues, we cannot live in peace. Government should take responsibility to this impacts and consequences.

The Evil That Rulers Do…

By Tisaranee Gunasekara -April 4, 2013

“A state of permanent war….where violence pervades all spheres of life, where the rich flourish and the poor live in misery; a state that will be deserted by the best of its children? - Yuri Avnery (Countercurrents)

Last week, the Cimmerian darkness enveloping Sri Lanka was breached by a spark of resistance. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) decided to invite the lawful Chief Justice of the country, rather than the usurper, to grace its annual convocation.

In a country becoming habituated into fear and submission, the principled decision by the BASL – and its new president – was both rare and laudable. It demonstrated that courage is not dead in Sri Lanka. More pertinently it reminded the rest of society of the necessity – and the possibility – of resisting the Rajapaksa plague.

The Rajapaksas, shocked by this unexpected sign of independent life in the legal community, are resorting to their usual tactic of demonisation. A group of tamed SLFP lawyers accused the BASL and its new President of being LTTE proxies. Somehow the charge lacked vigour and credibility, probably because the Tiger has been dead, manifestly and uninterruptedly, for almost 4 years.

Therein stems the Siblings’ desperate need for a new enemy, an enemy terrifying enough to frighten the absolute majority of Sinhalese into mute compliance.

The Rajapaksas would be particularly loath to let the legal community find its feet, its voice and its path again.
The moment Shirani Bandaranaike arrived at the BASL convocation, the Attorney General reportedly left it. Had the AG’s Department retained its relative autonomy, perhaps the AG could have acted with greater courage. But one of the first moves of the Rajapaksas, after their 2010 electoral triumph, was to place the AG’s Department under presidential control. Today the AG is nothing but a Presidential-cipher. His job is to persecute Rajapaksa opponents and protect Rajapaksa acolytes. The decision to release Minister Mervyn Silva’s errant son and the politically-connected suspects of Kahawatte serial killings is evidential of this altered role of the AG.

SLFP lawyers accused the BASL and its new President of being LTTE proxies.

The attackers of the Pepiliyana branch of ‘Fashion Bug’ have been released, as were those who attacked the Jaffna TNA meeting. This week the ‘Uthayan’ newspaper was attacked again. Even if the police manage to catch the culprits, the AG will not press charges.

The Rajapaksas need to be able to break, bend, circumvent, ignore and create laws in order to enhance their power, riches and wellbeing.

According to media reports, Shashindra Rajapaksa, the son of Speaker Rajapaksa, will continue as the Basnayake Nilame of the Katharagama Devalaya, sans an election, thanks to the special gazette No. 1807/39, issued on March 15th by his Uncles’ government. “The gazette….has exempted Ruhunu Katharagama Devale….from clause 12 (a) of Buddhist Viharas and Devalagam Temporalities Act which states that the period a person could hold the post of Basnayake Nilame could be extended only by two years” (Lanka – 23.3.2012). Without that Avuncular intervention, Mr. Rajapaksa would have had to face an election in order to retain his post; now he need not. Incidentally, according to the normal law Mr. Rajapaksa cannot be Chief Minister and Basnayake Nilame, simultaneously. But his Uncles’ government nullified that legal bar via another gazette (1614/30 of August 14th, 2009).

The Rajapaksas do not care about the people, the law or even supposedly hallowed traditions. Their sole concern is to rule supreme and rule eternally.

The anti-Muslim hysteria orchestrated by the BBS fits in perfectly with the Rajapaksa agenda. Not only will the Muslim bogey enable the Siblings to silence Southern dissent and justify even the most appalling acts of repression and deeds of injustice. It may also enable them to worm their way into Indian/Western good books.Gotabhaya and Basil Rajapaksa have chosen to retain their US citizenship; they have families and properties in the US. Thus an escalation of Western animosity towards Colombo can hurt them, personally. With the Rajapaksas, anti-imperialism is just a convenient banner and not a genuine conviction. If the West can be persuaded to overlook the Siblings’ misrule and other crimes, Colombo will be perfectly happy to fall in line with Washington and London.

Perhaps the Siblings look at Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Mali and Uganda and think that turning Sri Lanka into a ‘frontline-state’ against ‘Global Islamic terrorism’ is the way to win Western favour, while pursuing the path of Familial Rule and Dynastic Succession with total impunity. Perhaps they are looking beyond an Obama administration to a Republican Washington with Islamophobes controlling all the levers of power and influence. Perhaps they are hoping for a BJP-led government in Delhi, with an arch-fanatic like Narendra Mohi as the PM. Currently CM Modi is persona-non-grata in the US due to his supposed role in 2002 Gujarat Riots. But a Republican Congressional delegation recently visited Gujarat, lauded Mr. Modi and invited him to visit Washington. Do the Rajapaksas think that in a few years there will be a Republican-BJP axis and that they can find their niche in this Islamophobic alliance?
A pipe-dream? Indubitably; but pipe-dreams can be perused, often at uncountable cost.

Towards a Wasteland

Religious extremism was a key reason for the downfall of the mighty Spanish empire.
When Louis XIV of France revoked the Edict of Nantes, Huguenots departed for more tolerant lands. Most of the Huguenots were skilled craftsmen (especially weavers). There was a direct correlation between this mass emigration and the subsequent economic blossoming of countries such as England and Netherlands which welcomed the Huguenots and benefited from their skill and know-how.

BBS’s Rabble-Rouser-in-Chief, Rev. Galagoda-Atte Gnanasara Thero wants to build an army of Sinhala-Buddhist vigilantes. In his infamous Maharagama speech he said, “There are goni billas everywhere; bearded men everywhere…. Today, after this Maharagama meeting, every adult, every youth, including monks should become unofficial cops…. Because of this democratic nonsense the nation is being destroyed…. From today we must become the unofficial policemen of the nation…” Using words, images and figures to compel a nation to go out of its mind and then inducing that psychotic-nation to attack a minority is not new in history. The Nazis, for instance, were masters at it. As Reinhard Heydrich pointed out, “Today the German population forces the Jew to behave himself. The control of the Jew through the watchful eye of the whole population is better….”i

Vigilantes are mobs; mobs lack pity, decency, humanity and basic intelligence. The BBS way will pave the way to another Black July.

Last week, a member of the Maharagama UC abused a 12 year old girl. That is not a rumour but a fact. No monks demonstrated against the child-abuser; no mobs attacked him, even though the victim was a Sinhala-Buddhist child. Clearly the BBS policy is that crime is a crime only if the perpetrator is Muslim/Tamil/Christian and the victim is a Sinhala-Buddhist.

The public threatening of Cricket Board officials/cricketers by a BBS-offshoot indicates that the current pandemic of fanaticism will not spare even those Sinhala-Buddhists who refuse to abide by the BBS dictats.
The activities of these ‘Mara Sena’ (Forces of Death) might help the Rajapaksas stay in power forever; but they will make Sri Lanka an unliveable land for more of its people.

Liberals Call for Boycott of Sri Lankan CHOGM

POSTED ON APRIL 3, 2013

TORONTO– Liberal Leader Bob Rae made the following statement today on the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka:

“The situation on the ground in Sri Lanka is showing no signs of improvement, and the Rajapaksa regime’s disrespect for human rights and democracy continues unabated. No serious effort has been made by that government to reconcile with all actors in Sri Lankan society.

There is neither truth nor reconciliation after the end of the civil war. Ethnic and religious discrimination is growing, not decreasing. Attacks on journalists and opposition politicians are getting worse and more lethal. The abuse of the rule of law is increasing; the impeachment of the country’s Supreme Court Chief Justice was a deep abuse of power.

The situation has escalated to such a degree that Canada can no longer in good conscience attend the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo. The Sri Lankan regime has not earned the right to host this international summit, and we urge other states to boycott the meeting and push for a change of venue.

The Commonwealth is too important to allow its business to be disrupted by a single rogue member’s violation of the association’s beliefs and values. Canada must work with other member states to create stronger mechanisms to deal with governments failing to uphold the Commonwealth’s shared commitment to democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”

Ban on Lankan players in TN won’t be enough - GTF

… wants GoSL treated like Apartheid regime

by Shamindra Ferdinando-April 3, 2013

The UK-based Global Tamil Forum (GTF) yesterday said that banning of Sri Lankan national cricketers from playing in Tamil Nadu, in the IPL series, wouldn’t be enough to convince the Sri Lankan government to address accountability issues.

The GTF said that tougher action was needed to pressure the authoritarian government to fulfill its international obligations.

Responding to a query by The Island, GTF spokesman Suren Surendiran said that the group appreciated a range of measures taken by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa as well as other political parties and civil society organizations to push the Sri Lankan government. Surendiran commended the role played by the Tamil Nadu student movement in propagating their cause.

GTF leader Fr. S.J. Emmanuel with TNA leader R. Sampanthan taken in the House of Commons recently.

Surendiran admitted that the decision taken by the Tamil Nadu State Assembly had caused some dissatisfaction among some sections.

But the issue was whether even the banning of cricketers in part of India was enough to influence President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s thinking.

Asked what really the GTF, as the most influential Diaspora grouping, expected the international community to do, Surendiran referred to action taken by the international community to bring the then white South African government to its knees. Surendiran recalled what he called collective action; including banning of all white South African sports teams from international sports events. The GTF official said until the ban imposed on South African sports, the white South African population didn’t realize or publicly acknowledge the injustices imposed on the Black people of South Africa.

The GTF would campaign relentlessly until CM Jayalalithaa offered Chennai as an alternative venue for the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka later this year. When pointed out that India had rejected a resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu State Assembly against Sri Lanka, Surendiran said that the GTF would campaign until Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced his decision not to attend the CHOGM.

The resolution sought a separate Eelam for Sri Lankan Tamils and said Sri Lanka should not be treated as a friendly country by India.

Surendiran said that the international community couldn’t ignore the combined force of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Diaspora, the TNA and Tamil Nadu. The international opinion could be influenced through a sustained campaign, he said, indicating that the recent GTF/TNA initiative in South Africa, ahead of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions, highlighted the growing cooperation among various parties fighting for a common cause. High level TNA representation at the third anniversary celebrations of the GTF in the British parliament recently underscored the importance of their relationship, Surendiran said.

Surendiran asserted that most Asian and African countries in the Commonwealth could be influenced by India in the backdrop of the Queen and Prime Ministers of UK and Canada boycotting CHIGM 2013.

Surendiran alleged that the Rajapaksa brothers couldn’t carry on as if nothing was wrong when many countries, including India, wanted an independent investigation into accountability issues.

India should step up pressure on Sri Lanka by imposing travel restrictions on Sri Lankan political, military and administrative officials. "The fact that India has voted in favour on these ‘soft’ resolutions for the second year running gives India the opportunity and moral high ground to demand that the Government of Sri Lanka act accordingly," Surendiran said.

Exclusive: Corrupt Interdicted District Judges Reinstated

By Colombo Telegraph -April 4, 2013

Aravinda Perera, former District Judge of Colombo who had been interdicted by the previous Judicial Service Commission (JSC) was reinstated as a Supernumerary District Judge Colombo with immediate effect, the Colombo Telegraph learns.

Judge Aravinda Perera

Aravinda Perera was interdicted for financial misconduct and being in CRIB for not settling series of loans. His interdiction was believed to be one of the reasons for the failed attempts by the President to summon the JSC headed by Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayaka.

District Judge Perera and Matara District Judge Tilina Gamage are close associates of Namal Rajapaksa, the son of the President. District Judge Gamage, is another judge with political connections (and financial allegations) is also transferred as Magistrate Fort, which is a key station, where most of the sensitive cases are heard.

“The massage is clear. Be with the regime, you are fully protected.” a senior President’s Counsel told Colombo Telegraph on condition of anonymity.

India should have sought Sri Lanka's suspension from Commonwealth: BJP

By PTI | 3 Apr, 2013,

CHENNAI: Expressing support to the cause of protecting Sri Lankan Tamils, BJP today said India should have demanded Sri Lanka's suspension from the Commonwealth for alleged human rights violations and urged the country not to participate in the next CHOGM.

"India should have taken the initiative to bring to the notice of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group over the violation of human rights and sought the suspension of Sri Lanka," senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said, addressing a party meeting here.

Accusing the Centre of "inept" handling of the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, he said "India did nothing of that kind (to seek the suspension of Sri Lanka)."

He alleged that without the complicity of the Indian government, the "genocide" of Tamils in the island nation would not have occurred.

Echoing the sentiments of political parties in Tamil Nadu which have been demanding that India boycott the upcoming CHOGM to be held in Sri Lanka in November, he said he was also not in favour of the country's participation.

"The government of India should tell the Commonwealth Secretary General that it would not be possible for India to attend it in Sri Lanka. If India says we are not going to Sri Lanka, there will be no CHOGM. Will Prime Minister Manmohan Singh show this courage?" he said.

Making his party's stand clear on the country not attending CHOGM in Sri Lanka, the former External Affairs Minister said "I say, 'No' with a capital N and O."

He advocated that India should press for action against Sri Lanka in the Commonwealth as it enjoyed a strong say in the body. "There is no Commonwealth without India. India is the pivot of Commonwealth."

BJP may change stance on Tamil Eelam, hints Sinha

Chennai, dhns: April 3, 2013

Senior BJP leader and former union minister Yashwant Sinha on Wednesday night warned Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksha that the latter’s policies of continued “oppression” against the Tamils there could open the floodgates to Tamil Eelam.

“So far, the BJP’s position to resolve the much-prolonged Tamils ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka has been for a negotiated settlement within the territorial Integrity of Sri Lanka,” Sinha said, addressing a special meeting on the ‘Island-Tamils crisis’ in Chennai, organised by the BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit.

But recent history has shown that the more the rulers of a country decide to suppress an already heavily discriminated section of its people, the more independent minded they become,” Sinha said, citing recent examples of separation of East Timor, and North and South Sudan becoming two countries among others.

Stating that he was sending out a message to Rajapaksha from Chennai, Sinha stressed that rulers trying to suppress people’s movements does not work for all times. “If people rise there is no stopping,” Sinha said.

JVP looking for missing members

By Chrishanthi Christopher-2013-04-04

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) established a special committee yesterday to collect details of its members who had gone missing between the years, 1987-90, in the Matale District and requested the families to come forward with the information, in order to identify the perpetrators.

A team, under the leadership of a former JVP Provincial Council member, Gamagedera Dissanayake, has been appointed to liaise with the families that had lost relatives during the 87-90 uprising.

"We will be conducting house-to-house visits and making inquiries to collect details of those who had gone missing, with the aim of proving that the skeletal remains found in a mass grave in Matale, belong to our members during the uprising," JVP Parliamentarian, Vijitha Herath, said.

The JVP called on the government to set up a special judicial court to investigate the discovery of skeletal remains in the mass grave, and said it would produce all evidence collected to prove the skeletons belong to JVP members.

The special court, it said, should investigate the crime and have all stakeholders who were holding authority at that time, interrogated.

"In the event the government sets up the Court, the evidence collected will be produced before them to strengthen the case and help them find out who is responsible for these heinous crimes," Herath said.

He also demanded a free and fair trial, and claimed it has been proven that the skeletons belong to the JVP members, killed during the insurgency. He said, the inquiry should involve all stakeholders, including the army, police and the government that was in power at the time of the crime.

"We have called on the Ministry of Justice to set up a court to investigate, and call the Army Commander, the police and the political party that was in power at that time and to inquire and investigate the mass killings," he said.

2013-04-04

Govt. turns to India for KKS Port project loan

THURSDAY, 04 APRIL 2013

The government will raise a loan of USD 44.3 million from India for the development of the Kankesanturai Port for commercial operations, Daily Mirror learns.

The port, located in the northern-most part of the country, could not be operated fully for decades due to damages sustained during the war.

There were also wrecks of vessels destroyed due to bomb attacks at the time. After the war was over in May, 2009, India pledged to assist in the restoration of the port for commercial activities which was agreed upon during President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to India in June 2010.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and an Agreement to formalise this commitment were signed on July 21, 2011 between India and Sri Lanka.
The Indian High Commission said the Kankesanturai Harbour project would be aided by a mix of grant funding and concessional credit from the Indian Government. India initially committed approximately USD 20 million for three initial elements, consisting of the preliminary hydrographic survey, geotechnical investigations and the detailed project report preparation and wreck removal and salvage.

Besides, Dredging Corporation of India Ltd would undertake the second phase of dredging today.

Additionally, the Indian Government would provide additional grant funding for the dredging of the harbour and concessional credit for the rehabilitation of the breakwater and construction of a new pier and attendant port facilities.

An official of the Ports Development Ministry said the loan would be raised for the rehabilitation of the breakwater and the construction of a pier and other attendant facilities. India has given a USD 850 line of credit for the reconstruction of northern railway lines.

“We have decided to get this loan. The interest rate is being negotiated. We believe it will be a concessionary loan,” he said.

The Indian authorities have already completed wreck removal. Once it is commissioned, Sri Lanka already has one port constructed with financial assistance from China in Hambantota. (Kelum Bandara)

A Gota Loyalist To Be Appointed As The VC Of University Of Colombo – University Teachers To Take Union Action

By Colombo Telegraph -April 4, 2013

Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) University teachers’ Union is said to have lobbied the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Gotabaya Rajapaksa to get a candidate of their choice appointed to the post of Vice Chancellor, University of Colombo and got an assurance that their wish will be granted. Hence, it is expected that any time soon the President will sign the letter of appointment for this candidate. It is said that if thePresident accedes to the demand of Gotabaya Rajapaksa the person thus appointed will be the one who got the lowest number of votes from the Governing Council of the University of Colombo when they voted for the three candidates who have applied for the post.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa | Photo Business Today

One of the candidates Kumara Hirimburegama is the husband of the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo and the present Chairman of the University Grants Commission. Controversy surrounded the nomination of this candidate for the post by the University Council as critics pointed out an apparent conflict of interest as it is the UGC Chairman who has to recommend a suitable candidate from among those who are nominated by the University Council for the President to make the appointment. Observing the public discussion on the issue the government authorities at the highest level is said to have expressed their displeasure over this nomination.

It is then, that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party University teachers’ union is said to have approached Gotabaya Rajapaksa to lobby his support to get the second candidate Prathiba Mahanamahewa of their choice appointed for the post. Leaders of the SLFP teachers’ union have informed the members of their union that Gotabaya Rajapaksa had agreed to make sure that their wish would be granted.

In the voting that took place at the University Council, the order in which the candidates got the votes is as follows; Professor Lakshman Dissanayake 15 votes, Dr. Kumara Hirimburegama 13 votes, Dr. Prathibha Mahanamahewa 08 votes.

However, Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri, President of the University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) , and the Head, Department of History, University of Colombo and a member of the Arts Faculty Teachers’ Association, Colombo University (AFTA-CU) has informed the membership of both the AFTA-CU and the FUTA that in the eventuality of a candidate lesser qualified for the post from among the three candidates nominated are appointed to the post he would propose to take strong trade union action.

In a note issued to members of FUTA and AFTA-CU Dr. Devasiri has informed them that he has made up his mind to prepare himself for the worst, in which case members of FUTA and AFTA-CU have to say clearly that they are not going to tolerate politically manipulated appointments. Dr. Devasiri adds that he is convinced now who will be appointed for the post: “ When the appointment is made which is probably a matter of few days, we can give two weeks to rectify the mistake and during that time a non-cooperation campaign will be launched. After too weeks if nothing happens, there is no other alternative than going for a continuous strike.” Taking the position that this is a decisive moment in the life of his union activity at the University of Colombo Dr. Devasiri observes that given that the whole Sri Lanka is looking at Colombo University teachers it is a god given opportunity for them to show the world that they are not a bunch of spineless fools.

40 die daily due to shortage of medicines – SPC

THURSDAY, 04 APRIL 2013

A senior official of the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC) confirmed that there was a severe shortage of medicines in hospitals throughout the island due to the Treasury not issuing sufficient funds for the Corporation. As a result at least 40 patients die in hospitals without getting medicines for their sicknesses. Annually Rs.125 billion is allocated for health and out of it Rs.25 billion is set apart to buy medicine.

However, a senior official of the supplies section said at least Rs.38 billion is needed to buy medicines needed for country's hospitals. He said shortage of medicines in hospitals has severely inconvenienced patients as well as medical staffs. It has been revealed that there is a shortage of 17 very important drugs in cancer hospital. Normally, the Bank of Ceylon and People's Bank provided loans for the Corporation when it needed but so far the Treasury has not given any instructions to do so this year.

Rein in cost of living

People protest in the Embilipitiya Town urging the government to rein in the increasing cost of living, electricity bills, transport, and other goods and services. Pix by Rupasena