Trying
to impress
A senior minister from the hills was on his feet introducing the
Bill for Udarata Development. Having started his speech at a slow
tempo, his speech suddenly became forceful and rather animated.
A curious scribe inquired later from the minister why he had put
on such a performance suddenly. “My wife and daughter were
in the gallery watching,” he had quipped. Now we all know
whom he was trying to impress.
No
hard feelings
The JVP members may have quit the Cabinet but some of their Cabinet
proposals continue to keep getting approved. In the previous week
proposals by two former JVP Ministers namely Lal Kantha and Chandrasena
Wijesinghe were given the green light by the Cabinet and this week
too the same happened. Cabinet had agreed to revise the coastal
zone management plan as had been suggested by former Fisheries Minister
Chandrasena Wijesinghe. As Cabinet spokesman Nimal Siripala De Silva
puts it, “If the proposals are good, even if they come from
the JVP, the Cabinet is willing to approve them.” No hard
feelings it seems after the sudden departure.
Waste
in the State
On the recommendations of the Rupavahini technical committee, Rs.
26 million worth of transmitters were imported from Japan. But they
were left unused for the past one year. The result is that the transmitters
have lost their frequency? This is yet another example of the waste
that goes on in state-run institutions. The unions are now calling
for an inquiry into the matter but the top chair has put a stop
to it.
Answers
there
UNP Kegalle district MP Mano Wijeyaratne wants a Select Committee
of Parliament to look into the alarming increase in traffic accidents.
The Select Committee to be appointed is to investigate the adequacy
of the road network to meet the increasing number of vehicles, whether
there is total disregard of road rules by the users of the road
inclusive of motorists, cyclists, pedestrians and others and whether
there is a failure on the part of the Police to effectively enforce
the rules of the road and punish offenders.It is strange why a Parliamentary
Select Committee is needed to investigate these matters when almost
everyone in the country knows the answer to all these questions.
It’s one big ‘yes’. |
