UPFA has not fielded strangers from Colombo for NCPC - Minister
Anura Yapa
Nuwan KODIKARA and Chitraratne KALUARACHCHI
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. |