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DateLine Wednesday, 30 January 2008

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Government Gazette

Boon for North, East

The Government is to embark on a massive development plan for the North and the East with the aim bringing normality to the lives of the people who were living in want under the dominance of the LTTE.

According to our lead story yesterday the Government has identified several priority areas unique to the people of the North and the East including the development of agriculture and irrigation facilities.

It is to be an integrated programme designed to bring the fruits of development to the people who had undergone severe hardship and privation due to the loss of their livelihoods for nearly two decades.

With the rapid resettlement of the IDPs now being carried out, the Government no doubt will have a Herculean task to identify and sort out the priorities of the people who had been uprooted from their former lives and habitats for a long period.

The Government no doubt would have drawn up a comprehensive plan to address the needs of the people and involve them in the development drive.

With Local Government Elections too in the offing it is obvious that the Government wants to put in place all the necessary state structures to ensure a smooth return to civilian life in liberated areas.

Frequent visits by Public Administration Minister Karu Jayasuriya and Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa to the East to ensure that civilian administration functions without a hitch are a great boon to the people who were denied the services of the State apparatus while the LTTE dominated these areas.

As we have repeatedly mentioned in these columns development activities in the North and the East should be complemented by more people-to-people contact to remove the sense of isolation that had been the lot of these people for over two decades.

There is a need for more social and cultural interaction to help enable these communities to integrate with the national mainstream. Steps should also be taken to speedily link the economies of the North and East with the national economy so that the fruits could be shared on an equitable basis by all communities.

Appropriately the ‘Awakening’ programme has been brought under the Ministry of Nation Building for it symbolises a rebuilding of a sorts after the fractious segregation of communities.

It could herald a new beginning where all communities could live in amity and brotherhood as children of one nation united in a common bond.


A screen legend

Yesterday we carried a front page picture accompanied by a report on a felicitation accorded to the Queen of Sinhala Cinema Malini Fonseka by the Sri Lankan community in Los Angeles.

Among those present at the reception hosted by the Sri Lanka’s Consul General Jaliya Wickramasuriya were well known local film personalities of yesteryear.

There was a time when the Sinhala cinema was enjoying a golden era and Malani unquestionably played a dominant role in that success story.

There would no doubt have been a reminiscence of those halcyon days among those gathered not least about the colourful characters that strode the Sinhala cinema.

Malini of course made waves as the leading lady in the Sinhala cinema. Her prowess is yet to be matched on the silver screen.

Hers was a rare talent that had no equal though attempts are now being made to emulate the screen goddess through cheap imitators passing out as ‘stars’ in remakes of old films that featured the legend.

Malini of course is no stranger to international recognition having won many an award for her sterling performances.

She was of course fortunate to have starred in an era that coincided with the emergence a set of young directors who experimented with progressive themes and cast her in roles that won for her wide accolades.

This is also not the first time that Malini had been feted by the Lankan community overseas. The meeting in LA no doubt would have evoked nostalgic memories among those present of a time and age when the Sinhala cinema was the mainstay in the country’s entertainment scene.

There would also have been regret and recriminations at the current state of the Sinhala cinema which has taken a nosedive almost into oblivion with many cinema halls rapidly being pulled down and converted into commercial enterprises.

It is in this context that Malani stands out as a symbol representing the grandeur of the Sinhala cinema that is still being yearned for by fans of a bygone era.

The Government should do much more to reward and appreciate the contribution made by cinematic artistes of the past. It is a sad indictment on the Sinhala cinema that had chalked up 60 years that we do not even have a proper film archives.

As a result the present generation of filmgoers have been deprived the opportunity to savour a vital aspect of our cinematic heritage and those masterpieces that were essentially a part of a vibrant Sinhala cinema in those relaxed and spacious days.

Bruce Fein: Staunch opponent of Tigers in 2004, zealous defender in 2008

Do you not know that the Tigers were once a banned organisation in Sri Lanka and in order to facilitate peace talks it lifted the ban? Not only did it lift the ban it even went for talks with “the deadliest terrorist organisation in the world” (FBI) without insisting on the primary condition of laying down arms before opening negotiations.

Full Story

Debate

Help bring a feasible solution

Sri Lanka being an island situated in the Indian Ocean comparatively is not that large in extent. It is only 25,000 square miles or 65610 sq.km. Soil erosion taking place naturally by the seaside, and the land slides taking place almost annually in the hill country cause further shrinking.

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