• Special legal aid for women, children
• L. H. Plantations refutes charges
• Three transformers blasted in city
• Vehicle of journalist fired at Anamaduwa
• Maligawa repairs over by August
• Kelaniya perahera this week
• It's onions from India once again
• In bad taste
• Alumni meets
• Dissidents move to sue or sack Srimani
• LTTE fundraisers hauled up in German court
• Negligence factor in star's death
• Only for bosses, not for others
• Wayamba Elections
• We will record a historic victory - From the Blue Corner
• Since you'll lose, get a good night's rest at least - From the Green Corner
• Missing money and political mysteries
• It's an Indian trap: Gamini
• Gonibillas and arakku appudis - News Makers
• Wayamba: case for independent polls commission
• Lift censorship on media: Article XIX
• What ails Third World economies - inside the glass house

Special legal aid for women, children

By Our Legal Correspondent 

An agreement for this was signed yesterday by the commission's chairman Hemantha Warnakulasuriya with the Canadian International Development Agency. 

The Sri Lanka Government has made a commitment to the United Nation's Convention for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. The Ministry of Women's Affairs put forward a national plan of action later in keeping with the UN Convention. The national plan formulates strategies to address and alleviate problems of women. One of these strategies is the creation of a special mechanism to provide free legal advise for human rights litigation.

The women have particular need for legal remedies in major spheres of the law, fundamental rights as well as civil and criminal matters. Gender is one of the grounds on which a citizen cannot be discriminated. It appears that there are major issues of gender discrimination, for instance in the field of employment, at recruitment and dismissal and also inequity in salary scales, the commission chairman said. 

The newly set up women and children's bureau would create an atmosphere where women and children would have ready access to justice, he assured.

Though in the case of violence against women such as physical and sexual abuse and sexual harassment, prosecution must ultimately be by the State, yet it is possible that women are unaware of their legal rights and availability of remedies, they may be reluctant to take steps to initiate legal action, or in some cases the authorities do not consider these issues to be of high priority and do not encourage prosecution. 

In certain cases of domestic violence, police officers prefer not to become involved in what are perceived to be domestic' issues, Mr. Warnakulasuriya said.

L. H. Plantations refutes charges

In a statement, L. H. Plantations says:

"Recently , government controlled newspapers reported that President Chandrika Kumaratunga stated at an election rally for the PA candidate in Wayamba the following:

"My family lands were given to the government in 1972. Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike herself wrote the deed. We gave these lands to the people. But the UNP led by JR robbed those lands. Ranil Wickremesinghe formed a company called Kurunegala Plantations Company (sic) taking over our land under the UNP government. I will go before the Supreme Court and get back these lands and distribute them among the people. They sold the country's assets for a song. A factory worth Rs. 200 million was sold for Rs. 100 million. (The Daily News, "Lanka Gets Unprecedented Foreign Aid-President" page 2, January 14th , 1999)

"The substance of these allegations by President Kumaratunga and others has been repeated many times in the state media and at public gatherings in various forms since March 1998 up to today.

"We are, once again, compelled to refer our readers to a company reply given on March 20, 1998 in The Sunday Times to these recurrent allegations. In this, we had pointed out numerous factual inaccuracies and wrongful inferences.

"We again wish to point out on behalf of L.H. Plantations (Pvt) Ltd, the managing agent of the government-owned Kurunegala Plantations, the following pertinent points:

1) The family lands belonging to President Kumaratunga at Attanagalle as well as those of many other Sri Lankan citizens were vested with the Land Reform Commission during the Bandaranaike government soon after the Land Reform Act No.1 of 1972 was passed by Parliament. They were subsequently donated by the commission to the JEDB and other co-operative societies in 1992, in line with the then government's World Bank approved privatization process, some of these (comprising mainly coconut land) were vested in Kurunegala Plantations Ltd, and Chilaw Plantations Ltd. Both companies are 100% state owned.

L.H. Plantations (Pvt) Ltd subsequently won the management rights to Kurunegala Plantations Ltd, in a competitive process with the concurrence of the government and the World Bank. More recently, under the current government A.S. Jayawardene, Governor of the Central Bank, investigated the selection process for all managing agents and in the absence of any adverse comments, it is reasonably assumed that there were no irregularities to report. Thus, it may also be correctly assumed that L.H. Plantations (Pvt ) Ltd, happened to find President Kumaratunga's family lands amounting to about 724 acres within its management assortment of about 16,190 acres. Neither Ranil Wickremesinghe, the leader of the UNP, nor any member of his family nor any member of the board of L.H. Plantations (Pvt) Ltd, had any part to play in this eventual outcome.

2) It is incorrect therefore to state that Mr. Wickremesinghe formed Kurunegala Plantations Ltd. or imply that he directly or indirectly owned any lands connected with this entity. All government controlled plantations companies (for tea, rubber and coconut sectors) were formed by state authorities and not by any individual or individual directive. Furthermore, Kurunegala Plantations Ltd, has enjoyed a Directorate made up solely of state appointed persons (its current Directors are Dixon Nilaweera, Faiz Mohideen, and T.P.G.N Leelaratne). Mr. Wickremesinghe, his family or any directors of the said company owns no shares and has no operational dealings with L.H. Plantations (Pvt) Ltd, the managing agent, which was entrusted only with managing (not owning) state lands for the collective national good.

3) It may also be noted that L.H. PLantations (Pvt) Ltd, neither owns nor manages any factory property (let alone one worth Rs. 200m).

Three transformers blasted in city

By Nilika de Silva

According to police sources the blasts went off between 4.30 and 4.45 a.m. in Jampettah Street, Wasala Road and Ginthupitiya. 

Informed sources said in each of these instances the bomb had been placed in the very same point in the transformer. The number of transformers blasted upto now is over a hundred.

Ms. S. Thenmoli a resident in Ginthupitiya said the glass frames on the windows of her house, located opposite the transformer, had been shattered. 

Yet a statue, a glass case less than three feet away from the wall enclosing the transformer was untouched although the wall itself had broken down.

Anton Bastianpillai, employed at J.L. Morrisons, lives opposite the blasted transformer on Jampettah Street. When asked who they suspected, he said "It is very difficult to say. We have been living here for the past 50 years peacefully, when I came here I was a baby."

On Wasala Road the transformer was in the garden of a Child Care Home.

Vehicle of journalist fired at Anamaduwa

By M. Ismeth

The incident took place on Thursday when the journalists — Amal Jayasinghe and Sena Vidanagama of AFP, Hindu correspondent Priyantha Walpola, K.J.M.Varma of the Press Trust of India and Chulawansa Sirilal, a free lance journalist — were on their way to Chilaw to cover a PA meeting. after reporting the UNP meeting. According to Mr.Varma, around 6. 15 p.m. the journalists heard something like a gun shot which they thought was a tyre burst.

When they stopped to check the tyres, they heard a second gun shot. Fearing that the shots were being fired at them, the journalists got into the vehicle and sped off, Mr. Varma said adding that "fortunately, no one was injured. It was quite scary. We did not know from where the shots were fired," he said. The incident took place on a desolate stretch about 20 kilometres from Anamaduwa near Wendakaduwa.

1st anniversary of Dalada Maligawa bombing

Maligawa repairs over by August

By Shane Seneviratne

He said the work is progressing slowly largely because of steps taken to preserve the old paintings that resurfaced after the bomb blast, he said.

Almost Rs 50 million had been collected for the Maligawa Fund ,of which Rs. 21 million has already been released to the State Engineering corporation to carry out reconstruction work, Mr. Wijeyeratne said.

Another Rs.50 million collected by the Buddha Sasana Ministry for reconstruction work is still to be used, he said.

Rs. 20 million was allocated from the President's Fund towards the reconstruction of the four devales and St Paul's Cathedral which were also damaged. 

Kelaniya perahera this week

The perahera will begin with the relics casket being handed over to Chief Basnayake Nilame Shalitha Wijesundera.

End of tears -

It's onions from India once again

On Thursday, the Indian Cabinet Committee (CCP) on Prices withdrew the ban on the export of Bangalore Rose and Krishnapuram varieties of onion, reports said.

The CCP also lifted the ban on the export of potatoes, while predicting a good harvest of potatoes, oil seeds, onions and wheat.

In bad taste

The Sunday Times reporters were also served with the two illegal dishes at Rs. 200 each.

Wildlife officials have raided several markets and restaurants that have been selling the meat of wild boar and deer which are protected species. 

Alumni meets

Dissidents move to sue or sack Srimani

By Chamintha Thilakerathne

"She has pushed us against the wall and she leaves us with no option but to sue her or to take a working committee decision to sack her for the exploitation of leadership and insult of senior party members', said Mr. Karunanayake who was the party's vice president.

He said Ms. Athulathmudali had continued to treat M.S. Nanayakkara, the Party Secretary as a non-member when court had accepted him as the secretary last Wednesday.

LTTE fundraisers hauled up in German court

According to the German newspaper 'General Anzeiger' the trial against what it called 'the alleged ring leaders' of the LTTE in Germany began under strict security.

The newspaper said, 'the eleven Tamils are supposed to have collected money, by force, from fellow countrymen, between 1985 and 1990 in North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin, in order to buy weapons for the LTTE in Sri Lanka.' 

This was stated by the Public Prosecutor in his accusation before the District Court of Dusseldorf. 

Negligence factor in star's death

By Faraza Farook and Nilika de Silva

According to the details given in the bedhead ticket, Mr. Rodrigo had not received proper treatment for injuries for at least five hours after admission.

Accident Service Director Dr. Hector Weerasinghe denying this said, "there was no room for negligence." He said the actor had been attended on by OPD doctors, ward doctors and consultant orthopaedic surgeons from the time of admission.

The JMO's report submitted to the coroner stated that death was due to septicaemia caused by infected wounds.

"When infection enters the blood stream, antibiotic treatment is given. From day one we have given him powerful antibiotics," Dr. Weerasinghe said.

He said that Mr. Rodrigo sustained multiple fractures of his lower limb and upper arm but had no head injury. "Outsiders see the problem differently because he was conscious throughout. Rarely are there complications which can prove fatal which are due to initial injuries," he said. 

Although the bedhead ticket records that death was due to a road accident, the Assistant Judicial Medical Officer Dr. S.B. Dassanayake said he could not confirm this. 

He said that it is possible that the injuries could have been caused by some other means. However, he said, "none of these is fatal injuries nor are they injuries which would have caused death under natural circumstances".

According to medical documents produced by Dr. Dassanayake, the patient had been in pain from the time of admission. The House Officer had prescribed medication. But whether it had been followed is not stated clearly.

Only for bosses, not for others

By Chamintha Thilakarathna

Angered by this move, the powerful Ceylon Bank Employees' Union has issued a 14-day deadline for trade union action if the arrears is not paid to all employees. 

General Managers, Deputy General Managers, Assistant General Managers and Grades I, II officials received the arrears. 

In the Bank of Ceylon, however, the situation was different and all employees irrespective of ranks or place were paid the arrears.

More News/Comment

Return to News/Comment Contents