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'Air
time for head of State a must' The decision
follows the refusal by Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation to give
air time to the President to address the nation on the date requested
by the President. Mr. Pieris
told The Sunday Times that the President has the right to request
for time to address the nation. "Although
the President was finally given time we have decided that hereafter
if the Head of State wishes to address the nation we will insist
she be given time. It was six months ago that the President last
addressed the nation, yet they could not give her time promptly'
he said. The President addressed the nation on Friday. PA
to discuss peace draft on Tuesday PA sources
said the draft propsoed that the PA should refrain from getting
involved in any protest campaigns against the peace process and
the ban on the LTTE should be lifted only after the talks began. The Sunday
Times learns that President Kumaratunga had made certain changes
to the draft when it was presented to her a few weeks ago. MEP Leader
Dinesh Gunewardena said though the draft would be discussed at Tuesday's
meeting, no final decision would be arrived at. The decision
to take a common stand on the peace process came after PA members
agreed that there was a need to adopt a positive approach to it.
To achieve this a committee headed by Lakshman Kadirgamar, Dinesh
Gunawardena, Raja Collure and Tissa Vitharana was appointed to formulate
the common stand. Meanwhile,
the JVP which has contradictory views on the peace process is planning
to formulate an MoU with the PA to defeat the Government. After a four hour meeting with President Kumaratunga on Friday afternoon the JVP decided to work with the PA to achieve the goal of defeating the Government. The JVP and the PA are to hold a second round of talks this week. VAT
a forerunner, warns LSSP "The LSSP
warns the people that the VAT with its broad and deepened impact
is the first indication we have of the UNP government being forced
to carry out in full the IMF agenda. "Privatisation of public enterprises and services, and the deregulation of the finance sector are part of that agenda. The increase in food prices resulting from VAT has to be viewed in the general context of other pressures too on the cost of living. Inflation and slide down of the rupee in its value will have additional impact. The failure of successive governments to adequately protect our rice cancels off the VAT exemption given to rice and paddy. "What we
are faced with is the whole restructuring agenda of the IMF. The
VAT as one item in it is bound to cause grave hardships to the people.
The Hartal of August 12, 1953 which we are just commemorating is
a reminder to us that these are not burdens the people will carry
without protest," he said. Mr. Weerakoon
also stated that the government's publicised position that the VAT
includes the Defence Levy has no meaning. Part of the peace dividend
is that we are free of the Defence Levy. The fact is that there
can be no Defence Levy in the present situation. The VAT is for
all purposes an enhanced tax imposed over and above the GST limits.
It was a measure that was proposed to the PA government too by the
IMF. But that government had the good sense to resist it, he said. The LSSP leader expressed regret that the Opposition allowed the VAT bill to be carried through Parliament without debate. "A parliamentary debate is the means by which the public could be enabled to understand the meaning and impact of especially a revenue measure such as the imposition of the Value Added Tax," he said. Boozers
barred The decision was taken following complaints received from police and public that some inquirers were often examine to be conducting inquiries under the influence of liquor and thus fail to do their job fairly and properly, it said. "Therefore persons taking liquor will not be enlisted as inquirers into sudden death in the future and if such an officer is caught he will be dismissed from his job," the ministry said.
There are 269
complaints against the LTTE while 111 have been lodged against the
security forces, Economics Reforms Minister Milinda Moragoda told
Parliament. Of these, 44
complaints are against the LTTE for forcible recruitment, 55 for
harassment and 15 for robbery/theft. The most number of complaints
against the security forces have been for harassment numbering 29,
11 for imposing restrictions on fishing and 19 against occupation
of civilian land and property, the minister told the House. He also said that there were 41 cease-fire monitors drawn from Scandinavian countries working here at the present time as well as 12 local monitors. He said there was no plan to increase the number of local monitors although the SLMM was free to do so. In response to a question raised by JVP MP Bimal Ratnayake the minister told the House that all expenses incurred by the monitors for travel as well as accommodation were being borne by Norway and not by the Government.
The LTTE, the
PLOTE and the TELO have issued statements denouncing the attack
carried out by a ten-member unidentified gang which ransacked the
office and set fire to it. The protest
was launched by the East Lanka Journalists' Association supported
by the All Ceylon Tamil Teachers' Union, the Kattankudy Peoples
Organisation and the Auto Union. In its statement
the LTTE's Ampara - Batticaloa political wing denouncing the attack
stated that as the attack on "Thinakathir" had occurred
during an atmosphere of peace, it was distressing. It expressed
dismay that this incident amounts to a threat by some sinister elements
against independent media persons. The gang in
civilian attire had come in a blue Hi-ace van armed with poles and
sticks. Except for two, the gang members had masked their faces
and wore black clothes. They forcibly
entered the newspaper office around 11 p.m., tied up and blindfolded
the staff and took away office equipment including five computers,
three printers, computer back up systems, a telephone, a colour
television set, a tape-recorder and a 5 KV generator. After the ransacking, they had set documents and other property on fire. This daring
attack has been carried out in the high security zone where there
were three police stations. On receipt
of information, senior Police as well as Army officials rushed to
the scene and conducted investigations. LTTE leaders too visited
the scene and assessed the situation. "Thinakathir" based in Batticaloa commenced its publication on January 1, 1998 as a weekly and emerged as a daily newspaper on April 14, 2000. In an earlier attack on this office on December 26 last year two journalists were wounded.
Constitutional
Council Secretary Dhammika Kitulgoda told The Sunday Times that
the final nominations would be send to the President to formally
approve the appointments. The Sunday Times learns that though the President has to approve the appointments there is no time frame provided in the 17th Amendment for the President to give her approval. 30-minute
gale in Puttalam More than 200 roof sheets of the Puttlam railway station were blown off while its quarters were also affected as heavy winds continued for 30 minutes, Station Master R. A. Muthubanda said. |
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