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UPFA has not fielded strangers from Colombo for NCPC - Minister Anura Yapa

ANURADHAPURA: More than 80 per cent of the people have endorsed President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s programme of work. The UPFA has not fielded strangers from Colombo as candidates for the North Central Provincial Councils as done by the UNP, Mass Media and Information Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said.

The people in the North Central Province should elect people of their area to their Provincial Council which can be considered as their local village Parliament, he said

The Minister said so addressing activists of UPFA candidate H.B. Semasinghe’s North Central Province election campaign at a meeting at Semasinghe’s Anuradhapura residence on Sunday.

A large number of UNP and JVP members renounced their party membership and joined the SLFP led alliance at this meeting.

Minister Yapa said: “The JVP which joined hands with us to win the last Presidential and North Central Provincial Council elections tried to stab us in the back in the field of politics. Therefore we had to take a bold political decision and dissolve the North Central Provincial Council and call fresh elections”.

The Minister who emphasised that the recent strike launched by the JVP with UNP, TNA and LTTE support was a total failure and said that workers who had confidence in the President and his Government reported to work to prove the JVP guile.

The Minister said the gallant Security Forces were conducting a successful operation in the North taking the LTTE head on in the Wanni. It was a natural phenomenon for the cost of living to increase when there was a war situation in the country. Yapa said the President had rendered a vital service towards the rural sector by launching the Jathika Saviya, Gama Neguma and Maga Neguma projects.

Development activities hitherto restricted to the urban sector had now reached the rural villages due to his farsighted leadership, he said. Minister Yapa said problems and difficulties were common to all countries in the present global context. “But ours was the only country which provided its people with free education upto university level and free health facilities from birth to death.”

The President who was a people friendly leader expected to establish a strong SLFP led council in the North Central Province. People in the area should strengthen the President’s hands by supporting the SLFP led alliance at the forthcoming election, the Minister said. Yapa said there was no cut throat competition among SLFP alliance candidates for preferential votes.

UPFA Chief Ministerial candidate Berty Premalal Dissanayake said the Provincial Council had to be dissolved prematurely due to obstructions placed on its smooth functioning by the JVP in cohorts with the UNP.

Opponents were claiming that the Government was wasting Rs. 400 million on an unnecessary election. But it was mandatory for the North Central Provincial Council to be dissolved next year. If elections were held next year it would cost the exchequer at least Rs. 600 million. Going on this premise they had saved Rs. 200 million for the Government by holding the elections before schedule, he said.

Listing the achievements of the former North Central Provincial Council, he said it had developed education, health, agriculture and all other sectors in an unprecedented manner.

Performance of students at the Year 5, Scholarship and GCE Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations had improved from 55 to 60 per cent. Rs. 101.8 within has been allocated to improve roads in the Anuradhapura East electorate alone. Every Pradeshiya Sabha in the province had been equipped with a rice flour based bakery, Dissanayake said.

Maize had been cultivated on 60,000 acres last year effecting a saving of Rs. 3,660 million for the government on maize imports. The 10,000 tanks programme undertaken by the JVP had been dogged by scandals, he said.

UPFA candidate H.B. Semasinghe and several others also spoke.

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