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| Monday, 12 April 2004 |
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Politics | |
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| Prime Minister in Address to the Nation A lasting peace with dignity to all Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, in an Address to the Nation last night, emphasised that the Freedom Alliance Government accepts the challenge of granting the just rights of the minority communities, while ensuring a lasting peace with dignity to all citizens. The Prime Minister, while thanking the masses for reposing faith in the Freedom Alliance, appealed to the Nation to join hands with the Government to strengthen its forward march. "As a son of 'Ruhuna', the South of Sri Lanka, I shall dedicate myself to respect the public opinion of appointing me as their Prime Minister and serve the people of the Thrisinhalaya to ensure their welfare without discrimination," the Premier pledged. He also thanked all political parties who contributed towards this political change. He made special reference to the People's Liberation Front (JVP) as the youthful group whose pioneering was well manifested in the results of the last General Election. The dedication of the JVP to form the United People's Freedom Alliance was par excellence, said the Prime Minister. "The people gave us a clear mandate to extricate the country from the present abyss. The path ahead of us is extremely rough. We have to traverse it and rebuild the country. We have to initiate immediate discussion with all parties concerned and work out a durable peace envisaging the just rights of the minority communities and the dignity of all people," he said. The Prime Minister said that to establish a strong national economy political stability in the country was essential, and that arrangements are in place to strengthen the indigenous entrepreneurs under a national economic policy, by providing them financial facilities such as bank loans to improve their enterprises. "With the improvement of local industries, a large number of new factories will come into existence to generate employment opportunities. The garment industry and tourism are two major avenues of earning foreign exchange. Foreign investors have to be encouraged to utilize modern technology and expand large scale ventures to get the maximum benefits of development to the masses. "At the moment we do not have a proper methodology to get the youths' participation in the national development process. This causes unrest among the young generation. We have to build a young generation who will take pride in contributing their valuable talents to the development process of the Nation," he said. "The easing of the burden of the cost of living is another aim of the new Government. The people today, are badly in need of relief. The majority of our working population are on the verge of starvation, fighting hard to make ends meet. Bringing down the prices of essential consumer commodities is one of the immediate responsibilities of the new Government. We have to reform the Public Service to make it more efficient and effective in the development process. I assure the public servant a better deal commensurate with his labour," he said. The Prime Minister said the people in the agricultural sector, as well as those in the fishery industry are assured of a easier and trouble free life in their occupation with a better standard of living. The health and sanitation of the working class will also be improved, he said. Referring to the educational field, the Prime Minister stated that the Government will continue its educational reforms initiated in 1994 to improve the free education policy and that teachers will be recognised with dignity and students will be provided facilities to study foreign languages including English, while taking steps to set up several new universities. A project consisting 200,000 houses will be inaugurated and housing loan facilities on easy terms will be provided to solve the housing problem. Steps will be taken to open new roads and transport facilities will be improved to provide a systematic service to the public, the Prime Minister pledged. |
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