.

Politicians ignore 'Return Weapons' call

by Shamindra Ferdinando
The government's failure to collect thousands of weapons issued to political parties during the JVP's abortive bid to seize power in late 80s, threatens next Tuesday's Provincial Council poll in five provinces.

The Election Monitoring Committee [EMC] chaired by President Chandrika Kumaratunga on March 25 renewed attempts to recover weapons before Tuesday. "Not a single weapon has been returned," one source said yesterday adding that the EMC, represented by 12 political parties requested the return of all weapons to police stations before the elections day.

Police said that political parties, especially the ruling party and the UNP, had ignored almost all the directives issued by the EMC. Banners, posters and billboards and other propaganda displays have come up again while motorcades continue in Colombo and in most parts of the country.

However, weapons with political parties and the underworld were a direct threat, police officers admit privately.

Police and army officials believe at least 6000 weapons were issued, the majority during late President Ranasinghe Premadasa's administration to face the threat posed by the JVP.

"Except for the JVP, all other party activists received arms," a retired police officer said yesterday.

The UNP and the SLFP had received bulk of these weapons.

The PA government made an effort to recover these weapons soon after it won the August 16, 1994 parliamentary poll. Then Prime Minister Chandrika Kumaratunga in the third week of August ordered the police and service chiefs to recover all weapons before the November 9 presidential poll.

An ambitious police operation was launched but came to an end in September 1995.

According to officials, over 1,700 .38 calibre revolvers, over 1700 twelve bore repeater shot guns and about 2400 12 bore shot guns were released to political parties. Apart from these weapons, at least 2000 other weapons had been issued to persons who faced death threats during the insurgency and close associates of the senior UNP leaders.

Over one thousand weapons had been recovered. However the majority remains with civilians thus creating security problems at every election, sources said.

A senior JVP'er last week told The Sunday Island that the PA and the UNP have used weapons freely against their political opponents. Ajith Kumara, the JVP's Chief Ministerial candidate for the Sabaragamuwa province said that a gang of PA activists armed with one pistol and one grenade attacked JVP'ers at Mawanella last Wednesday. He pointed out that these goons have been given authority to carry weapons.

Kumara, the first suspect in the August 1987 parliament grenade attack case said that the weapons issued by the UNP to political parties against the so called threat by the JVP still remain in the hands of people and now threaten every election.

Police sources said that some weapons had been issued to UNP'ers before the launch of the JVP'ers second abortive insurgency. This came to light in August 1994 when Nittambuwa police recovered two repeater shot guns from persons close to a former cabinet minister representing Gampaha district.

The two weapons bearing serial numbers, 9B 7904 and 35 1B-23 had been issued in 1986 by government's central armoury at Field Force Headquarters.

Greenlight for cops to open fire on armed gangs

The officers-in-charge of the five provinces which will go to polls next Tuesday have been told that policemen deployed for duty at polling booths and elsewhere do not require an order to open fire in the event of violence, The Sunday Island learns.

"There was no need to secure permission to open up on armed gangs engaged in arson, murder or any other serious offence," a police officer said revealing that the IGP last week told the officers-in-charge of the Western Province[North] during a briefing at police headquarters that constables could use force even if senior officers were not available to obtain authority.

"The same message has been given to all divisions," the officer said.

Stuffing of ballot boxes is not an offence serious enough for police to open fire, a senior officer said.

The police has also decided to deploy small contingents of elite Special Task Force [STF] commandoes in support of the effort to hold free and fair elections. "They will be deployed at least 24 hours before polling commences," the officer said adding that armed gangs must make no mistake that Wayamba type actions will not be tolerated.

Police top brass, under-fire for poor performance in Wayamba where thousands of personnel just watched as armed gangs went on the rampage had promised to take whatever action necessary to control outbreak of violence on the election day.

Not a single shot was fired by police in Wayamba.

Police headquarters withdrew about 16,000 personnel from the South, Wayamba and some operational areas to support the existing strength in the five provinces. Altogether 32,500 police personnel will be involved in duties. The police has been directed to call for assistance from the armed forces if they lose control, police headquarters said. [SF]

Poster busting cost a million

by Shamindra Ferdinando
The Elections Department has estimated that Tuesday's poll to elect a new provincial administrations for North five provinces will cost the Department approximately Rs. 250 million, an authoritative department official said yesterday. "We cannot guarantee that expenses will not go beyond estimates," he told The Sunday Island.

The Elections Department believes that of Rs 250 million, the most will be spent in the Western Province comprised Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara districts.

The official said that about Rs. 1 million was spent on the operation to clear the five provinces of posters, banners, billboards and other propaganda displays. The Elections Department was forced to hire workers after police rejected repeated calls to remove propaganda displays.

The Department earlier estimated that January 25 poll in Wayamba would cost approximately Rs 20 million.

The People's Alliance government in its last budget presented in November last year has allocated Rs. 570 million for the elections department.

The August 94 parliamentary poll and the November presidential election the same year had cost a staggering Rs. 691 million ."Our expenses in the August election were higher than the other one," a department official said. Rs 358 million was spent on the parliamentary poll and Rs 333 million for the presidential election, he said.

The next round of parliamentary and presidential polls will cost more, he said pointing out that expenses continue to rise.

Political party sources said that the two main parties, the PA and the UNP spent heavily on the NWP polls campaign and the ongoing campaigns. "Both sides had to bring in thousands of outsiders to NWP for the campaign," sources said adding that transport, food and liquor had cost both parties heavily.

Political sources said that PA and UNP candidates had spent massive sums on poster campaigns. "We are not only talking about printing costs," one candidate said pointing out that they [candidates] have been forced to spend heavily on youth deployed for pasting posters and displaying other propaganda material.

Wayamba was the worst, admits elections chief
Secret plans to counter malpractices

by Franklin. R. Satyapalan
Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake yesterday agreed that the January provincial council election in the Wayamba was the worst the country had known and expressed the hope that Tuesdays elections will be free and fair.

"About 20 percent of the Wayamba election was affected by illegal acts. There was stuffing in 212 polling stations. The poll was annulled in nine stations," he said.

Dissanayake who said that arrangements for the April 6 elections to five PCs were now in place said that he had taken several measures to counter malpractices. He said that it was necessary that these be kept secret for the time being as he did not wish pre-publicity to reduce their efficacy.

The commissioner said that the public too had a duty to assist a free and fair election adding that "lawbreakers should not be made law makers."

"My staff and I cannot ensure the fairness of the election on our own. The security personnel, the political parties and, indeed, civil society as a whole has a definite role to play." he said. "Very often the party hierarchy does not know what is happening in the field.

Dissanayake said that it was high time Sri Lanka reviewed its election laws and followed the practice of other countries in having a standing committee to make electoral reforms as a continuing process. Analysts and observers agreed that the changes necessary included arming the commissioner to annul an election where malpractices had occurred.

He admitted that the highly publicized poster busting exercise was a farce. "The posters were taken off on one day and came up again the next day," he said.

The commissioner said that 30,000 policemen will supplement the regular police in the provinces that are polling with STF and troop back-up. But he agreed that it was not just the number of policemen on duty that mattered but how they did their job.

"The police did not carry out their duties properly in the Wayamba," Dissanayake said.

He said that most local politicians had contacts among lower level policemen whom they used for their own purposes. People at the top often did not know what was happening at ground level.

He expressed disappointment about the lack of sufficient vehicles to do his job properly and said that he received 30% less vehicles than needed. He was particularly anxious to have each polling station serviced with a vehicle to take the ballot boxes away to the counting centres no sooner the polling closed. But this had not been possible and in some places, a single vehicle will service several polling stations.

"Go and vote early. That is the best way of protecting your vote. If you vote at 7 a.m., many malpractices can be eliminated."

The campaign ended at midnight Saturday. No further elections meetings are possible in the 48 hours preceding the poll.

n1
Vasu to sit with opposition?

LSSP's Vasudeva Nanayakkara has informed the party's central committee that he will not remain with the ruling party as the government has failed to keep its promises to the people, a party spokesman said yesterday. The Ratnapura district MP has explained his decision to leave the PA in a letter sent to the central committee, he said adding that Nanayakkara is likely to sit with the opposition.

The MP was not available for comment yesterday.

n
G. C. Wickremasinghe kidnapping: Was he the first one?

by Niresh Eliatamby
Police trying to unravel the mysterious kidnapping of businessman G. C. Wickremasinghe are trying to find out whether other Colombo 7 businessmen were snatched earlier, and freed after paying ransom, police sources said.

Business circles have told police detectives that two other wealthy businessmen had been kidnapped earlier this year, but released after their families paid sums of six million and two million rupees, sources said.

The victims' families had not sought police help, apparently fearing that the victims would be murdered, and even after they were released, the businessmen chose not to call in the authorities, sources said. It is unclear why they did so, but they may have wanted to avoid publicity, or questions about how they earned so much money.

But it is not clear whether those kidnappings were carried out by the gang responsible for the G. C. Wickremasinghe drama. Police have not ruled out the possibility that he was snatched on the instructions of business rivals, rather than a genuine gang of kidnappers.

Wickremasinghe, a Director of the giant Aitken Spence group, who was formerly its Chairman, was kidnapped on Tuesday morning at the Horton Place-Kynsey Road junction, by a gang wearing police uniforms.

He was freed only after his family paid up 20 million rupees as ransom. It was the largest ransom payment in Sri Lanka's history.

Monitors undeterred by threats & intimidation

The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) yesterday said that its resolve to defend democratic principles remained unshaken despite being blasted, threatened and intimidated for focusing public attention on breach of election laws.

Yesterday's Daily News quoted President Chandrika Kumaratunga calling CMEV "a catspaw of foreign espionage".

The three groups of election monitors, The People's Alliance for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), the Movement for Free and Fair Elections (MFFE) and the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) yesterday reiterated their commitment to monitoring the April 6 provincial council elections.

The statement signed by Messrs. Godfrey Gunatilleke (Chairman PAFFREL), Wimal Fernando (Secretary, (MFFE) and Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, (CMEV) said : "We believe that the participation of citizens in monitoring elections is an essential part of the democratic process and have engaged in election monitoring at the national and local levels during previous elections in Sri Lanka. In the process we have always made it clear that our primary concern is for the safeguarding of democratic freedoms in our country.

We have been at the receiving end of criticism for bringing to the attention of the public the various violations of elections laws that have tragically become an integral part of the dominant political culture. Sadly, some of this criticism has taken the form of threats and intimidation directed at CMEV. Our resolve to defend democratic principles remains unshaken.

We call upon all members of the public to extend to us their fullest support to strengthen and protect the integrity of the electoral process and democratic governance Sri Lanka".

For better supervision of funding, plans, expenditure
All NGOs to be registered under one authority

by Suresh P. Perera
The government has called upon all international and national level foreign funded voluntary social services organisations and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to declare their sources of funding, annual expenditure and amounts of money brought into the country annually, following a top-level decision to re-register these organisations under one institution, authoritative sources said.

These organisations will be re-registered with the clearance from the Ministries of Defence, Foreign Affairs, Plan Implementation and the respective line Ministry at the National Secretariat for NGOs under the Social Services Ministry, Secretary to the President, K. Balapatabendi has informed relevant senior government officials.

This move is viewed by NGO circles as an attempt by the government to place these organisations under a strictly supervised framework and keep tab on their finances, sources of funding and nature of activities they are engaged in.

There are a number of voluntary social services organisations and NGOs operating in Sri Lanka making useful contributions towards development, relief, rehabilitation and related activities. At present they are registered at different institutions under various laws and as a result, it has become difficult to obtain information on their activities.

Therefore, it has become necessary to re-register all of them under one institution to keep proper records of the work done by them, for better co-ordination and co-operation between the government and these organisations, Balapatabendi says in a circular to ministry secretaries, chief and district secretaries, government agents and heads of departments.

The organisations concerned should forward proposed action plans when applying for re-registration, indicating type of activities, operational localities, target groups, number of employees, sources of funding, annual expenditure, amounts of money which will be brought into the country annually etc., in the format provided by the Registrar of National Secretariat for NGOs in the Social Services Ministry, according to the circular.

All such organisations operating in more than one administrative district should also be re-registered at the National Secretariat. They also must forward the required information for the re-registration in the format provided by the registrar of the secretariat, it said.

At the district level, other than NGOs registered at the National Secretariat, the district secretary/government agent will re-register all the other voluntary social services organisations/NGOs operating within the respective district, it added.

A district co-ordinating committee for NGOs will be established in each district. It will consist of district secretary/government agent as chairman and will have as members, head of district planning secretariat, provincial secretary in charge of the subject of social services, a representative of the chief secretary of the province, and a social services officer nominated by the chief secretary.

At the divisional level, other than the NGOs registered by the National Secretariat for NGOs at national level and by the district secretary at the district level, the divisional secretary will register all the NGOs within his division. The Registrar of Voluntary Social Services Organisations will appoint the district co-ordination committee in terms of the Voluntary Social Services Organisations (Registration and Supervision) Act No. 31 of 1980 as amended by Act No. 08 of 1998, Balapatabendi stated.

Ten years experience necessary to be a principal, says Appeal Court

by V. Varathasuntharam
Court of Appeal last week held that it was manifest that the education ordinance requiring the Principal of a school to have ten years teaching experience applies to S. Thomas College, Mount Lavinia.

The Court also issued an interim injunction restraining the Board of Governors from permitting Eskith Fernando from assuming or functioning in the office of the warden.

The Bench comprised Justice Hector Yapa and Justice U. de. Z. Gunawardana.

This was an appeal against the order of Colombo District Court by five old boys through Paul Ratnayaka Associates.

The Order delivered by Justice Gunawardana with Justice Yapa agreeing stated as follows:.

The regulations made under the Education Ordinance had introduced the requirement that for one to be appointed as the principal of a schoo, ten years teaching experience was essential. It is to be observed that the 17th defendant-respondent's appointment as the Warden of S. Thomas, is impugned solely on the ground that he lacks 10 years teaching experience.

It is mainfest that the Ordinance was intended to apply to unaided schools as well - S. Thomas, being one such school.

It is instructive to remember that the object of the Education Ordinance was, as stated in the said Ordinance itself, to make "better provision for education" in this country and none can doubt that the regulation requiring 10 years' teaching experience in the case of a principal of a school was aimed at improving academic standards and enhancing the quality of education imparted in schools.

It can never be doubted that, as a general rule, that it is more beneficial from the stand-point of any school, to have as its head or principal someone whose knowledge is not only academic but also experiential i.e. based on the experience that he had garnered as a teacher.

Experience acquired by repeated exercise in any art or pursuit is not only a sure means of improving one's skill in any field but also of acquiring the quality of sagacity which is perhaps, a product of the amalgam of knowledge and experience. And so it would be in this case of a principal of a school who would then be an asset to the school and an ideally perfect beacon to the pupils who would then, perhaps even wonder how "one small head could carry all he knew." Not only would they wonder but the wonder would grow as the experience continues to grow.

The defendants-respondents stated in their objections, that Mr. J. B. Gunasegaram and Mr. N. Y. Casiechetty who were appointed did not have ten years teaching experience, but they had some teaching experience.

Mr. Gunasegaram had been in the academic field as a lecturer and Mr. Casiechetty had been the deputy - head master of S. Thomas' preparatory school prior to his being appointed its head.

There is the real prospect of irreparable injury being caused to the students, "Irreparable injury", usually, means such injury or damage as cannot adequately be compensated by damages.

There are certain things which if lost for the moment can never be atoned for; nor ever recovered and one such thing, I take it, is the education of children. They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

It is a privilege, if one may call it so, that a Judge enjoys in a trial Court, to say after hearing the other party: "the matter does not appear to me now as it appears to have appeared to me then". But in these two applications, before us, there is no room for the Judge to say that - as all the relevant evidence is already before that Court - and that too, virtually in the form admissions.

D. S. Wijesinghe P.C., with Ronald Perera instructed by Paul Ratnayaka Associates appeared for the petitioner old students.

Faiz Musthapaha P.C., with N. Mahendran appeared for the Plaintff Petitioner, parent.

Romesh de Silva PC with H. Amarsekera for the 1st, 13th, 15th & 16th Defendant-Respondents.

Nigel Hatch with S. D. Yogendra instructed by Mather & Ramanathan for 14th Defendant - Respondents.

K. N. Choksy P.C. with Gomin Dayasiri and M. Jinadasa for the 17th defendant - Respondent.

Senior journalist, husband harassed by two cops

A senior female journalist working for a national independent newspaper has complained to police headquarters that she was harassed by two policemen attached to the Bambalapitiya vice squad unit, while on her way to work last Sunday.

She had been travelling in a three-wheeler taxi with her husband, a foreign news editor of a Lake House newspaper when the two uniformed men on a motor cycle had overtaken their vehicle and ordered it to halt at Wellawatte junction.

One of the cops, eyeing her suspiciously, had asked her husband who she was. On being told that she is his wife, he had looked hard at her and pointed his finger at her husband and barked, 'who is this man?' The female scribe had politely told the two policemen that they are referring to her husband and to put it in a nutshell, they are legally married and hence husband and wife, who are both journalists on their way to work. They had produced their media accreditation cards issued by the Government Information Department so that their credentials could be established. She had even offered her hand bag to be checked, if all this is done in the interest of national security.

The two policemen had then turned abusive and accused the female journalist of being a 'LTTE suicide bomber'. They had threatened to take the duo to the police station and 'deal with them'. It was a 'bomber' like you who carried out the Mt. Lavinia blast, they had charged amidst a vituperative eruption which left the two members of the Fourth Estate badly shaken.

Though taken aback by the behaviour of these law enforcement officers in broad daylight, she had insisted that they first check their identity cards without resorting to wild allegations which cause deep embarrassment and humiliation in public. At that point, they had glanced at the media cards and dismissed them as 'trash which anybody can produce', the journalist says in her complaint.

She had also told the uniformed men that she and her husband are prepared to come to the police station so that their identities can be verified by a senior officer, without being subject to abusive language, baseless allegations and degrading behaviour. At this juncture, she had taken out her pen and jotted down the number of one of the cops, who immediately backed out and patted her hubby on his shoulder with a request to 'forget the whole episode'. But it was not so with the other policeman who took the precaution of covering the number on his uniform, but continued his vitriolic explosion in a manner which defied belief, according to the complaint.

A headquarters-based senior police official expressed regret at the disgraceful behaviour of the two police personnel concerned. 'They are under investigation and disciplinary action will follow', he assured.

An officer of the Bambalapitiya vice squad said police headquarters has called for an inquiry into the incident and the two men involved had been identified. The regimental number 16118 listed in the complaint, is that of a PC attached to the unit, he admitted.

In the current context, the bulk of the complaints against harassment by police or security personnel are made by Tamil civilians, but in this case the two journalists were Muslims.- (Suresh)

Kandalama hosts handicapped children

A group of 22 blind boys and girls from the Ratmalana School for the Blind were guests of the Kandalama Hotel early last week for a day's outing and lunch.

The Guest Relations Officer, Ms. Sanjevani Gamage, who was their hostess for the day, described to them the scenic setting of the hotel overlooking the Kandalama Wewa and described the various steps taken to safeguard the environment from pollution and preserve the natural beauty of the surroundings.

The leader of the group, Mr. Priantha, said that explanation by word was sufficient for them to appreciate what nature had provided and their handicap does not prevent them from promoting environmental issues.

Groups of school children are also taken around the hotel and the gardens which has a well maintained eco-park. They are shown the various safeguards adopted to prevent pollution.

The scheme that always interests them is the careful collection in separate bins hundreds of used tooth-paste tubes, disposable razors, pieces of left-over soap and polythene shower-caps provided to guests and discarded. Other bins collect plastic water containers and caps and crown corks off aerated soft-drink and beer bottles for environment-friendly disposal.

Says General Manager Amal Nanayakkara: "They are amused and amazed by our sewerage treatment plant that prevents any waste matter seeping underground.

The liquid waste is silted into fertiliser and ends up as purified water with which I wash my face. They appreciate the effort and chemistry of the scheme."

GST a success, says Inland Revenue

One year after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced on April 1, 1998, the Inland Revenue Department claimed successful implementation and a much higher revenue collection than the previous yield on Business Turnover Tax (BTT). But an official spokesman declined to reveal the figures just yet.

Although the enforcing agency was confronted with pressure from various quarters for GST waivers ranging from the mayors demanding that crematorium services and parking fees be exempted and hard-pressed textile manufacturers looking for relief on imported raw material, the inland revenue authorities have by and large succeeded in protecting the revenue base.

Officials attributed the success of implementation ("we had less teething problems than most countries") to widening the tax base and better compliance. It hopes that GST this year will yield a fourth of government's revenue.

The IMF wants GST exemptions minimised and collection procedures improved, inland revenue sources said. (LS)

Row over delivery of Telecom directories

by Lishanthie Siriwardena
Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) was forced to obtain the services of a private courier service amidst hostile reactions by postal workers who did not want to deliver the new telephone directories at the rate of five rupees per directory, a SLT official said.

At one mail exchange 1600 directories each costing to Rs. 340, were burnt by angry postal workers demanding a better rate, the official claimed. The postal unions told us that they will not deliver the directories in the mail room. As a result, a private courier was entrusted the task of delivering directories in all areas covered by Colombo 1 to 15, the official said.

'We pay the postal department Rs. 30 per directory, but the postal worker who delivers it to the customer gets only Rs. 5 for each directory. At one point we even offered to increase the amount paid to the postal worker who delivers it, by one rupee, but they were demanding eight rupees to deliver each directory. As there are so many others involved in the process of unloading and storage, the person who delivers it gets only five rupees, the SLT official explained.

The directories have been delivered by the private courier in Colombo. In other areas, the task has still not been completed by the postal department, he said.

The Postal workers in the Mt. Lavinia and Nugegoda areas are finding excuses not to deliver the new directories, according to the SLT.

First it was the polling cards and now the holidays. The present delay in certain areas is due to the intervening holidays according to the postal department, the official said.

Earlier it said the delay was due to the distribution of polling cards by postmen.

SLT handed over the task of distributing this year's new rescoped telephone directories back to the Postal Department after a private courier failed to perform the task effectively last year. The contract of delivering directories was taken away from the Postal Department last year due to internal difficulties in the department, but this year also the situation had not improved, as experienced by SLT, the official added.

CMEV refutes D. M. Jayaratne's charges

The Center for Monitoring Election Violence on Friday [2] condemned the General Secretary of the PA and Minister D.M.Jayaratne's claim that the Center was functioning as part of the UNP.

In a statement signed by Messrs P.Saravanamuttu, Waruna Karunathilake and Dr. Arjuna Parakrama, it said that the minister during a PA rally held at Kandy last Thursday had urged party supporters to chase its representatives on election day.

The minister has alleged that the center was receiving funds in US dollars and Sterling pounds but never reveals the source. In view of this the minister has urged supporters to chase polls observers sent by it when they see them.

The center has accused Jayaratne of seeking to inspire people against them in view of their impartial inquiries into reports of poll violence. The minister was also accused of making an attempt to break the independent election monitoring process.

The statement reminded that the minister was named as a person responsible for Wayamba violence. Although he has threatened to take legal action against the center, no steps have been taken upto now in that direction.

It has also claimed that the minister was using state controlled media to attack it. Although he had alleged it had links with the UNP, no evidence has been produced to support the accusation.

The ongoing campaign has been described as an effort to the inspire violence against center's poll observers.

The PA has been also accused of giving threatening calls to offices of the Center in several areas.

Two policemen beheaded

Terrorists had beheaded two policemen who were killed in an attack north of Kovitkulam in the Murunkan area on Friday morning, police said yesterday.

They were among eight personnel who died when terrorists exploded two claymore mines around 7.30 am and then engaged the route road clearing patrol with small arms. Police reinforcements had found bodies of four personnel including those who have been beheaded. However bodies of four others had not been found.

Two personnel were wounded in the attack, the most serious terrorist strike on the Vavuniya-Mannar main road since the completion of the first two phases of operation 'battle cry' which brought a large area in the Mannar district under government control.

The military said that terrorists had stepped up attacks on their positions in the Mannar district, the scene of current increased armed forces activity.

In separate incidents also in the Wanni region, troops last Friday killed at least five terrorists. Of them, two died when troops operating west of Periyamadu attacked a terrorist vehicle carrying fuel and food items in the afternoon. [SF]

Swimming pool re-opened at Mayfield Lane

The Mayfield Lane swimming pool, built in 1955 at the request of the Member for Kotahena East, Anthony Marcellus, and which had been closed for some time, has been completely renovated and is now open to the public.

This is the only swimming pool in Colombo maintained by the Colombo Municipal Council, and was re-opened on March 9 by Colombo Mayor Karu Jayasuriya.

The pool was originally built when Dr. N. M. Perera was Mayor of Colombo. Later, as a result of poor maintenance, the pool went into disuse and was closed.

In January 1997, Anthony Marcellus persuaded a former Deputy Mayor Harris Wickramatunge to have the pool restored. The then Mayor of Colombo thereupon directed that it be done, but nothing happened.

Under the present mayor Karu Jayasuriya renovation began and completed by March 9. Several members of the public have asked that the pool be named "Anthony Marcellus swimming pool and community centre." (HDB)

Avurudu Pola to help Chitra Lane school

An Avurudhu Pola will be held today in Colombo to raise funds for the Chitra Lane school for the special child.

This event will be held from 9.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. at the Jayewardene Cultural Centre, 191, Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo 7 (near the Town Hall), the organisers said.

Appealing to the public to support a good cause, they said that items on offer include clothing, factory garments, "London Fog" winter wear, potted plants, ferns, cakes, short eats, lamprai etc.

Other items that will be on offer include a variety of soya products, artificial flowers and nearly new articles at bargain prices.

Solutions are what's needed, not fault finding says Ranil

"I don't want to engage in narrow politics of fault finding, abuse and recrimination. What is necessary today is to find solutions for the complex problems the country is facing through consensus and broad understanding," UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told an election meeting at Gampaha in support of party candidates in the district.

It was a pity that the president has wasted several long years talking of the past and abusing others in the most derogatory language instead of getting on with the job of properly running the country. Responsible leaders the worldover spend their first two years in office devising policies and plans for the next five or ten years and then get on with the job of implementing them in the interest of the country. But not so this president.

Sri Lanka's economy was something like a sinking ship and the Chandrika government can be compared to the ill-fated "Titanic" . That ship was presented to the world as the finest and safest. But a collision with an iceberg proved that it was otherwise. Similarly, Chandrika's PA came to power giving the people thousand and one promises. But all that she has done is ruin the economy and heap suffering on the people.

"Has she ever spoken about future plans for the country? Has she got any idea of how to solve the ever increasing unemployment problem? All she has done is wasted valuable time finding fault with the previous UNP government", he said.

Wickremesinghe said that the economy had been sustained in recent years by strong tea prices due to Russian buying. But now the picture has changed and the government that remained complacent during the good times without looking for alternative markets has landed the tea economy in big trouble. The smallholders were the worst affected as a result.

He predicted that the fall in world oil prices and the resulting downturn in the Middle East will cost people of this country foreign jobs. That will mean less foreign exchange remittances for the country. What plans did the government have to face this situation?

The Gampaha District had benefited from industries located there during the UNP time when several factories were opened. Today people are seeing the closure of factories. There was deterioration all around us and a culture of election rigging, violence and thuggery has emerged under the Chandrika government.

The disaster has even spread to cricket and people saw what happened at the recent Cricket Board elections. He was sad to see what the UNP had done to develop the game and uplift Sri Lanka's cricket to world standards ruined by the PA.

Wickremesinghe said that it was his desire to create a society free from such evils, a society that respects human values and one where the rule of law prevails and the democratic way of life is fostered. His vision was for a society in which the people of the country, and in particular its youth, will have an abundance of opportunities to choose from, to earn a decent living.

Ven. Dr. Madagama Vajiragnana felicitated at London Buddhist vihara

From Sujeeva Nivunhella - Our London Correspondent
At a reception held recently at the London Buddhist Vihara in Chiswick, West London in honour of Most Ven. Dr. Medagama Vajiragnana, the Abbot of the Vihara and Sangha Nayake of Great Britain.

Ven. Dr. Vajiragnana had returned from Myanmar (Burma) where the government and people had conferred on him the title of "Aggamaha Saddhamma Jotikadhaja" (The Greatest Banner of the Dhamma).

This is the highest honour that can be given to a monk for his missionary work and was awarded to Ven. Vajiragnana in recognition of his lifetime's devotion to spreading the Buddha Dhamma and establishment of world peace.

The reception was attended by 14 monks, including Ven. Pandith Horana Pannasekera Maha Thera, Ven. Dr. Rewatha Dhamma Maha Thera, Ven. Sumedho Maha Thera and Ven. Galayaye Piyadassi, members of the diplomatic corps and other well wishers.

The programme started with the administration of the five precepts, which were followed by recital of the Jayamangala Gatha by some of the Vihara's students and chanting of Paritta by the assembled monks.

A speech of welcome was given by Dr. G. Subesinghe in which he said how proud the entire Sri Lankan community felt that Ven. Vajiragnana had been honoured in this way, and he offered warm congratulations on behalf of everyone, hoping that he would be able to continue his work for many more years to come.

Mr. Hla Pe Than, Acting Ambassador of the Union of Myanmar, then spoke in praise of the excellent work done by Ven. Vajiragnana and he said how pleased the government and people of Myanmar had been that Ven. Vajiragnana had agreed to accept the honour.

Mrs. Chitranganee Wagiswara, Acting High Commissioner of Sri Lanka, also praised Ven. Vajiragnana's unswerving dedication and said how pleased she too was by the bestowal of this prestigious title.

Ven. Sumedho, the Abbot of Amaravati Monastery, talked of the importance of spreading the Dhamma to the West and how Ven. Vajiragnana had done so much to further this endeavour.

The last speaker was Ven. Rewatha Dhamma, from Birmingham Buddhist Vihara, who paid tribute to Ven. Vajiragnana as a close friend of over 40 years standing and whose untiring efforts were justly recognised by this award.

An address was then given by Ven. Vajiragnana himself, in which he explained the long standing, historical links between Sri Lanka and Myanmar, which had been to the mutual enrichment of both countries. He then gave a most interesting description of his visit, saying how welcome he had been made and how well he had been looked after.

Ven. Vajiragnana said: "My personal observation during the week-long visit to this beautiful country was that the large number of ordinary people I met during my travels to various parts of the country are extremely dedicated Buddhists with the utmost regard and respect for their religion, while all the religious places I visited were well maintained and cared for, and life appeared orderly with an absence of crime. The organisation was impeccable and I express my very sincere thanks to the government and people of Myanmar for giving me this honour and for all their kindness and hospitality."

The reception ended with a vote of thanks given by Mrs. Ari Dissanayake.

K. H. J. Wijayadasa speaks to retired public servants
What you must do in the face of electoral fiddles

Mr. K. H. J. Wijayadasa, former Secretary to the President told a recent meeting of the newly constituted Civil Rights Movement of Retired Public Servants that there were various practical measures that organised community groups could undertake to prevent election malpractices.

"If you go to your polling booth and find that your vote had already been cast by somebody else, don't just turn back. You have the right to ask for a tendered ballot paper from the officials on duty", he said. He said that these tendered ballots were replicas of normal ballot papers but printed on different coloured paper. Casting such votes was the exercise of a legitimate right under protest.

Wijayadasa explained that even if a poll card is snatched by thugs when a voter is on his way to the polling station or earlier, he had every right to go to the polling station and demand his vote.

A polling card is not a must. Carry your identity card if you have one to easily identify yourself. You can get your ballot paper without a polling card", he said.

Wijayadasa who was addressing a large gathering of retired public servants said that they had duties and responsibilities as senior citizens and could make a substantial contribution to society even during retirement.

The electoral system enjoyed by Sri Lanka since independence was one of the best models that could be thought of. It provided many safeguards of the rights of individual voters and the system itself.

Sadly, the entire process has been unscrupulously subverted and many people have forgotten the safeguards that are available to them. Under normal circumstances, the rate of impersonation was low and people were not too bothered when it did happen. But the Wayamba experience was an eye opener to everybody about the possibility of organised rigging that could be unscrupulously used to subvert the popular will.

He said that once this happens, it is very difficult to reverse the process as illegitimately elected persons will hang on to power at all costs.

"Pajero Intercoolers and Double Cabs are much more important to them than the popular vote", Wijayadasa said. "We can only rely on the legal system of the country for redress".

While the political parties must go about their business of soliciting the people's support for their policies and programs, they as elder citizens had both a right and a duty by society to educate people on how they should overcome any attempt to subvert a lawful election. "We should do that even by word of mouth", he said.

Remarking on the incidence of a large number of spoilt votes, he said that this was a recent phenomenon and not a healthy sign in a living democracy. Spoilt votes either reflected ignorance or the disillusionment of the people with the system. It could also be both.

This was an area where retired public servants could help the public. Under the provincial councils election law, the casting of preference votes could lead to confusion resulting in a large number of spoilt votes. People must be taught that under this law, they could not cast all three of their preferential votes for a single candidate and they must express three different preferences of candidates from the party of their choice.

This is not the case in a national election and the people must be educated about these intricacies. Retired public servants had a duty to do this.

Wijayadasa who has served as GA at Polonnaruwa and Kegalle and had several years of experience serving as a returning officer, counting officer and in many other capacities relating to elections outlined some of the practical measures that can be organised by community groups at village and urban levels to combat election malpractices.

People in the villages should organise themselves as vigilantes and do foot patrols from the day before polling. They should be watchful for thugs who might have come to the villages and chase them away or bring their presence to the notice of the police. The clergy of various religions could take the lead in this matter and help positively to arrest the dangerous trend of election violence and malpractice.

Government too had a responsibility to take practical measures to deal with this situation. Law enforcement authorities should prevent politicians other than candidates from visiting polling stations while the voting is going on. The candidate is allowed a limited number of visits (to polling stations) according to the election law.

"It is not the inadequacy of the election law but the ineffectiveness of the implementing authorities that has created the bad situation here", he said.

Wijayadasa said that public servants on election duty had an enormous responsibility of fighting the dangerous development of rigged elections that threatened the very existence of the country as a democracy.

Elections officials must make journal entries and reports tallying the ballot paper received, used and returned. Factual documentation will help subsequent legal action if aggrieved parties initiate such action where malpractices had occurred.

"The time has come for us to decide whether we are going to surrender our rights in the face of organised thuggery or stand in unison to safeguard our democratic system in the interest of the future generation", he said.

| PROVINCIAL | POLITICS | EDITORIAL | DEFENCE | FEATURES | LEISURE | BUSINESS | SPORTS |ADS |