Voters will endorse this ‘performing government’ - Minister

The government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa is a performing government. It embarked on a massive development drive in all three provinces where elections are held, especially in the Eastern Province, after eradicating terrorism. Therefore, there is no need for voters to change the provincial administration. The voters are sensible and they know that they cannot get anything done by changing the administration at this stage, said Irrigation and Water Resources Management Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva during an interview with the Daily News.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q: Can the UPFA win all three Provincial Councils (PCs) at the upcoming elections?

A: The government is confident in recording a major victory in all three PCs. This is because the government embarked upon a massive development drive in all three provinces, especially in the Eastern Province after eradicating terrorism and completing the humanitarian operation. Therefore, we are confident about the voters' satisfaction and there is no need for the voters of these three provinces to change the provincial administration because the provincial administrations are fully supported by the government. The voters are sensible and they know that they cannot get anything done by changing the administration at this stage.

The main Opposition, the United National Party (UNP) and other parties are divided and have weakened. People cannot expect anything from such a weak Opposition.

Q: The PCs accuse the government of not granting adequate funds and the public accuses the PCs of not carrying out development work. Please comment.

A: Every year the PCs are given a certain amount of funds by the Finance Commission. For example, the government provides the bulk of the finances required for projects,such as, provincial hospitals, schools and many other development and welfare work. Some PCs have their own earnings from taxes etc and the PCs carry out a lot of work using the funds earned by them as well as through funds allocated for them by the central government. Sometimes, the PCs say the funds are not sufficient, but, the central government has undertaken a lot of development work such as carpeting provincial roads.

The Economic Development Ministry has fully undertaken this task and allocated several millions of rupees for each province. Thus, development work is carried out in the provinces. In most of the provinces, 70 to 80 per cent of bus routes are carpeted. Apart from that, massive water projects and other development projects are carried out by the central government. This too will have an impact on this election because the people recognize the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa as a performing government. Issues related to the development of rural and urban masses is fully addressed and there has never been an era when such vast development was carried out.

Q: How do you see the behaviour of the Opposition at this juncture?

A: When the UNP and the JVP cannot be united, how can they think of forming a common Opposition? There are more divisions within the Opposition parties which create a negative impression on the voters. Therefore, it is not the government that weakens the Opposition but the Opposition itself.

The SLFP was also in the Opposition. We also had some divisions within the party. But we all got together and formed a strong coalition and defeated a government which had five sixth majority. We too welcome a strong Opposition because we are a democratic government and we need a strong Opposition for good democratic practice. But it is unfortunate that the Opposition has not taken this issue seriously. More MPs in the Opposition want to join the government.

Q: The Opposition makes certain allegations against the government regarding law and order. Comment.

A: I explained in Parliament that there is no such crime wave in the country. According to statistics of the last 10 years, there was no such crime wave although there were some incidents which occurred recently which were sensitive in nature that the media highlighted. But we should not forget that the Police apprehended the accused.

Q: Some media reports accuse you of not granting relief to farmers affected by the drought. Comment.

A: We explained on several occasions that nobody can hold the government responsible for the drought which was created due to climatic change. Only the Mahaweli system - H, Girithale and some parts of Polonnaruwa and Kurunegala were badly affected by the drought. If there was sufficient rain in the Polgolla and Kothmale catchments, we would not have experienced such a situation. We informed officials to advise farmers not to cultivate the usual area of land as water in the tanks were at a lower level than usual.

Despite our instructions, some farmers, thinking that rains would come, cultivated the usual area of land and faced difficulties. Water is not a commodity which a government can purchase and distribute through canals to paddy fields. But the government took several steps to offer relief measures, especially giving farmer organisations enormous amount of money to repair canals etc.

The government has promised that seed paddy and other assistance for cultivation would be offered to farmers during the next season.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced this repeatedly especially during the last progress review meeting held in Kurunegala. The total cultivation area affected by the drought is about 10 percent of the total cultivated lands in the area. We have managed to provide water to 90 percent of farm lands in this country,although certain sections of the media and the Opposition is trying to highlight that all farmers are affected by the drought. Through a good water management system, we were able to save some of the paddy lands even in Girithale and Polonnaruwa.

During last month, we commenced a massive rehabilitation programme covering canals and irrigation systems and we will continue the project until the rains come and tanks get filled up. Sensible farmers in this country are aware of the measures taken by the government to ensure that relief is provided to affected farmers.

Q: The next UNHRC sessions are scheduled for September. What will be Sri Lanka's response?

A: The government is ready to meet any challenges and the implementation of the LLRC recommendations has already commenced. The compilation of a good report and an action plan is undertaken. I am sure we will have no problem in defending ourselves at any international forum.

Q: How do you see the role of the media in development?

A: There had been a recent trend to defame the government, the leader etc. It is an unfortunate situation. The media must be responsible. One reason for this situation is lack of checks and balance. I am not talking about the entire media, because some media institutions, websites etc act responsibly.

The Criminal Defamation Law was repealed by the UPFA government. It was done in the hope that the media would act responsibly. But it is regrettable to see the manner in which some media institutions are behaving. We cannot teach the media about media ethics. Media institutions should do it themselves.