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Through thick
and thin
Where loyalties are concerned, there is one person who will stand
by President Chandrika Kumaratunga, come what may. It is none other
than Mangala Samaraweera who was heard saying at the SLFP's central
committee meeting last week that he would stay in politics only
as long as the President was there and would quit the day she does
so. Later in the week at a press briefing, Mr.Samaraweera dismissed
newspaper reports that he was plotting a coup against the President
saying that not even 'sakra deviyo' could drive a wedge between
the two of them.
Prone
to assaults
Getting beaten up seems to be catching up among this particular
minister's employees. Last week one of his coordinating secretaries
received a thundering slap from his own driver following an argument
between them. The incident had taken place right outside the Ministry
premises in Colombo and there was certainly no shortage of curious
onlookers.
Name
board too needs treatment
It seems not only the health sector employees are the ones
in want of better treatment. The name board at the entrance to the
country's main hospital too needs a face-lift. When journalists
went to report on the striking workers there last week, a security
guard at the hospital had been heard saying, "They must first
give some medicine to correct this name board before trying to fix
other problems." It's unlikely the Health Minister will be
listening, with all the upheavals in this sector.
Amorous
PC gets his deserts
An amorous police guard of Rehabilitation Minister Jayalath
Jayawardena was dealt a serious blow recently, which he is unlikely
to forget in a hurry. The incident happened after the much-married
man started paying nocturnal visits to the home of a girl he had
befriended while she was employed at the Ministry. However, his
visits soon became a nuisance to the other family members who plotted
a way to stop him.
They had hired
a man to beat him up when he was sneaking in one night, which he
had done with precision by dealing a huge blow on the head with
a wooden pole. The man was subsequently hospitalised and seen walking
round with a bandage around his head. As for the family members,
they had lodged a complaint with the Talangama police that they
had assaulted the man fearing he was a burglar trying to break into
their home at night. It's unlikely this bodyguard will be paying
nocturnal visits anytime soon |
