'No trouble for NGOs'

The Government would not pressurize any INGOs or NGOs functioning in Sri Lanka but only monitor them, National Secretariat for Non Governmental Organization Director General and Media Center for National Security Director General Lakshman Hulugalla said yesterday. He made these observations at a ceremony held to announce the first ever Sri Lankan volunteers selected by the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) to share their skills to fight poverty overseas.

The Director General also stated that there was a fear among the organizations that special laws would be enacted in connection with the NGOs and INGOs but the truth is otherwise and the Government would allow those institutions to operate without giving any pressure on them. He said the Government would monitor where they work, to whom they cater and who are involved with them. He said that there were many NGOs and INGOs operating in the North and East during the last two decades when the forces fought against the terrorism in the country. He said the Government's experience was that some of such institutions performed their duties properly and some did not do so.

The Director General said that there are many organizations coming from various countries and those organizations have to be monitored.

He said Sri Lanka is not a poor country and the literacy level and the education level of the people are very high and the organizations should be very responsible when they work with them.

Eight volunteers from Colombo, Kandy, Batticaloa and Bandarawela districts have been selected to work in China, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Ethiopia by the VSO. One volunteer has left to Papua New Guinea for the service.SM