President tells people of Kilinochchi:
HSZs to go in due course
*Right to freedom, democracy has been protected
*No one will be allowed to destroy peoples’ rights
Dharma SRI ABEYRATNE in Kilinochchi
The remaining High Security Zones will be removed in due course,
President Mahinda Rajapaksa said, while stressing that the rights of the
people have been safeguarded by the government. No one will be allowed
to violate these rights again, he said.
President Rajapaksa was addressing a large gathering at Kilinochchi
in Jaffna last afternoon. In line with the event, a foundation stone was
also laid for a sports complex under the patronage of the President. The
complete sports complex will comprise facilities for numerous sports
events including cricket and 25 other indoor games. The government will
invest Rs 325 million in the sports complex which will have a nearly
10,000 seating capacity.
The President further said that the rights of the Northern people had
been violated for over three decades due to terrorism. The right to
freedom and democracy has been protected.
No one will be allowed to destroy those rights, the President
stressed. The President said that the government has taken measures to
uplift the facilities for sports for the people in the North and East.
Due to terrorism these people could not have any facility to sharpen
their sporting abilities for over three decades. But after establishing
such a sports complex and providing facilities for sports, the youth of
Kilinochchi will be as world famous as Muttaiah Muralitharan.
He said that almost all ex-combatants who were rehabilitated have
become useful persons in society. Of these persons, a considerable
number of youths are engaged in foreign employment. The President added
that the government has implemented a mechanism to address the issues of
widows.
‘These widows and their children are well looked after. In addition,
the elderly people will also be looked after through a mechanism which
will be introduced soon.
“Qualified graduates will be absorbed to the teacher service aiming
to solve the teacher shortage.”
“The government will implement Compassionate Justice for ex-LTTE
combatants who have been rehabilitated,” President Rajapaksa said.
“We are the sons and daughters of the same country. The country
belongs to all of us.
We all have to live in this country peacefully with dignity”, the
President added. He further said that the people of the North can now
elect their leaders in a democratic way. During the 30-year terror
period, people were not able to experience democracy.
As a result of the war, the country has gone backwards by 30 years.
The government and the people are duty-bound to drive the country
forward. As a people-friendly government, this government is engaged in
serving and developing the entire country. “It is our duty to bring the
country back to its past glory, it was lagging for 30 years due to
terrorism,” the President noted. |