UPFA will turn a new leaf in Colombo

Uditha Kumarasinghe

COLOMBO: UPFA's Colombo Mayoral candidate Vasudeva Nanayakkara yesterday declared that the UPFA Government under the vision of a new Sri Lanka will able to turn a new leaf in the history of Colombo Municipal Council (CMC).

The Government through the concept of a new Sri Lanka will change the traditional right-wing politics of the CMC which has cut down on public welfare measures to a large extent, he told a news conference at SLFP headquarters yesterday.

Problems created within the CMC under the prolonged UNP administration has turned into a crisis situation. Problems in relation to garbage, shanties and drainage in Colombo are the outcome of the long-term administration of the CMC.

"During the past so many years, the CMC has drastically reduced the funds allocated for common amenities.

At present the CMC has Rs. 1500 million in fixed deposits. Under new Sri Lanka, the Government intends to increase the public welfare schemes by changing the right-wing political tradition of the CMC, he said.

Nanayakkara said he is confident that people in Colombo city will give a huge mandate to the UPFA in the upcoming Local Government polls due to positive measures taken by President Mahinda Rajapakse to restore peace and find a lasting solution to country's ethnic problem.

He said as a whole Government employees cannot go against Government policies. Because if they don't vote for the betel leaf, right wing forces will be strengthened. They have so many experiences on how the former UNP Government halted recruitment to the State sector.

The UPFA Government has made large recruitements to the State sector while increasing the salaries of State sector employees to a large extent, he said.