Handshake
does not say all
All eyes were on Geneva last week with the Government –LTTE
talks underway there. At the Cabinet press briefing Media Minister
Anura Priyadharshana Yapa was asked how the talks were proceeding
after the first day. “Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva and
Mr. Anton Balasingham shook hands. That is a good sign,” he
said. Handshakes apparently originated as a gesture that the hand
holds no weapon. That may be the reason for the Minister’s
positive spin on the handshake despite the rather uneasy body language
between the two men.
Sure way to endear
President Mahinda Rajapaksa came to a leading boys’
college in Colombo last Wednesday for a meeting organised by the
MEP. His security personnel took over the junior section of the
school and children were asked to stay in their classrooms during
the interval as well, as the security men roamed with sniffer dogs
checking out the premises ahead of the function scheduled for the
afternoon. Some teachers persuaded young children to stay in class
by telling them that if they went out they would be caught by the
security men protecting the President. A sure way to endear the
younger generation towards political leaders.
Spotlight
bad transactions
The Auditor General’s Report on the accounts of the Sri Lanka
Broadcasting Corporation for 2004 has shown some interesting ‘uneconomic
transactions’ by the institution. One is the expenditure of
over Rs. 1.3 million for the repair of a bus which was in use for
22 years and was declared unroadworthly without estimates being
prepared or approved while in another case, 4,000 cassettes were
purchased at the cost of Rs. 172,500, which has been recommended
as unsuitable by the SLBC Superintendent of Engineering (Studios).
One of the Corporation’s mission is to ‘create a knowledgeable
society by providing correct and balanced information.’ A
good place to start would be by accounting for the numerous ‘uneconomic
transactions’ the SLBC has undertaken over the years including
these two.
Unsolved killings
At the Geneva talks, Anton Balasingham inquired from IGP
Chandra Fernando what had happened to the investigation into the
killing of the group’s Batticaloa-Ampara political leader
Kaushalyan. The IGP said many such killings had taken place in the
country and many remain unsolved including that of former Jaffna
Mayor Alfred Duraiappa. At this point Mr. Balasingham reminded the
IGP that the LTTE had already claimed responsibility for that killing
and therefore there was no need for it to be investigated.
Travel BiLs have time only for new group
Tourism Minister Anura Bandaranaike is busy travelling
overseas for tourism-related events so much so that he doesn’t
even have time to meet officials of the two industry associations.
They
have repeatedly requested a meeting to discuss new laws with him
but to no avail. Finally he has found the time but only for a new
industry group representing small and medium scale businesses. Mr.
Bandaranaike is attending the launch of this new group later this
week at the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management,
under the Tourist Board whose chairman Udaya Nanayakkara has also
refused repeated requests to meet the two premier organizations,
but has time for the new group!
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