President has planned projects for people's benefit - Amunugama

THE government will go ahead firmly even though the JVP left the alliance. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has planned several projects, which the people will be able to sense shortly, Finance and Planning Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama said.

"The JVP is not our foe but a friend in our struggles and I expect their support would be given in the future. Even the Tamil Congress helps us and we will protect the masses with the help of those parties," he told a rally in Kandy.

Dr. Amunugama said: "We provided a huge relief package to the people and there would be another pay hike in the next budget as well. the donor conference agreed to provide Rs. 2.2 billion due to the President's special commitment.

The North and East were the most affected by the tsunami and we have to rebuild houses schools and other infrastructure in those areas. It is for this we want to establish the P-TOMS, and if we never do that those people will curse the Sinhalese for ever.

Many of them were discontented with the Sinhalese after the 1983 incidents. If we never help them at this hour, they will become angry with us. That is why the President is so keen to implement the Joint Mechanism which would unite the Sinhalese, Muslims and Tamils. These funds are foreign donations and if the Joint Mechanism is not carried out, they would fund the LTTE directly.

If anybody is trying to stop this by putting forward chauvinism and religious fundamentalism, the people would beat them up. The JVP says they never betray their party policies and we also say that we too never betray SLFP policies."

Tamils benefit from P-TOMS: Douglas

EPDP leader and Agricultural Marketing Development and Hindu Affairs Minister Douglas Devananda said the Tamils will benefit by the President's P-TOMS program.

"Our party supports it completely. The President is capable to solve this problem. The Tamils will benefit by this and not the LTTE," he said.

Constitutional Affairs and National Integration Minister D. E. W. Gunasekera former MP Ven. Baddegama Samitha Thera, Post and Telecommunications and Upcountry Development Minister D. M. Jayaratne, Ports and Civil Aviation Deputy Minister Dilan Perera and several others also spoke.