LG polls on March 17

Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake yesterday announced that the Local Government election would be held on March 17 to elect 3,931 members for 301 Local Government bodies islandwide.

Over 20,000 candidates will vie for 301 slots in four Municipal Councils, 39 Urban Councils and 258 Pradeshiya Sabahas while over 12 million voters will be eligible to cast their ballot.

Acceptance of nominations from recognized political parties ended at noon yesterday without any major incident while acceptance of deposits from the independent groups conducted at noon Wednesday.

A number of nomination lists from many recognized political parties and independent groups were rejected by the Returning Officers and Assistant Elections Commissioners due to various discrepancies in the nomination lists.

Several nomination lists of UPFA and UNP were rejected as the names of the candidates were not attested by a Justice of the Peace or Commissioner of Oaths.

In the Colombo District, nomination list submitted by the UNP for Homagama PS was rejected while the JHU list for the Maharagama PS was also not accepted due to errors in the nomination papers.

The UNP also raised objections against the UPFA nomination list for the Maharagama Urban Council without success.

UNP nomination lists for Baddegama PS, Eravur UC and Warakapola PS were rejected while UPFA nomination lists for 16 Local Government bodies in the Jaffna District, Akmeemana, Siyabalanduwa, Moneragala and Polgahawela, Yatinuwara, Wigamuwa and Pallepola PSs failed to pass muster.

The nomination lists by the UNP and the UPFA for the Embilipitiya PS were rejected by the District Returning Officer.

The TNA nomination lists for Poonekery and Pachchiyapalli PSs in the Kilinochchi District also failed to go through. The JVP nomination list for Wilgamuwa and Nattandiya PSs and the SLMC list for Ukuwela PS also failed to receive endorsement. In the Ratnapura District the UNP list for Weligepola PS had been rejected. The nomination lists submitted by the SLMC for Akurana PS in the Kandy District also suffered the same fate.

No official declaration with regard to the acceptance of nominations was made by the Elections Department at the time of going to press.

The first nomination list was presented by Janasetha Peramuna led by Ven Battaramulle Seelarathna Thera for the Kesbewa and Homagama PSs.

The Elections Commissioner last week turned down all application for the registration of new political parties on the grounds that these parties have not met the criteria laid down by the Department.

Elections will also be held in the newly established Local Government bodies. Kaduwela, Dambulla, Akkaraipattu and Bandarawela Urban Councils which were elevated to the status of Municipal Councils while Eravur PS became an UC. New Pradeshiya Sabhas were created in Narammala, Irakkamam and Lunugala.

පුංචි ඡන්දයට සන්ධානය සූදානම් පොදු එකඟතාවකට පැමිණි බව අගමැති කියයි

ඉදිරි පළාත් පාලන මැතිවරණයේදී පොදු එකඟතාවයකින් තරඟ කිරීමට එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානයට අයත් සියලු පක්ෂ ඊයේ (23) තීරණය කළ බව අගමැති දි.මු.ජයරත්න මහතා පැවැසීය.

එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානයේ පක්ෂ නායක හමුව අගමැති දි.මු.ජයරත්න මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ දී ඊයේ (23) පැවැති අතර එහිදී මෙම එකඟතාවයට පැමිණ තිබේ.

පළාත් පාලන ආයතන 301 ක් සඳහා මැතිවරණ කොමසාරිස්වරයා පසුගිය (20) දා සිට නාම යෝජනා කැඳවා තිබුණි.

එම ආයතන 301 සඳහා ම එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය කරඟ කරයි. ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය ඇතුළු එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානයෙන් මෙවර පළාත් පාලන මැතිවරණය සඳහා තරුණ අපේක්ෂකයන් සඳහා වැඩි ඉඩ කඩක් ලබා දී තිබේ.

මෙවර පළාත් පාලන මැතිවරණය සඳහා අපේක්ෂකත්වය ලබා ගැනීමට අති විශාල පිරිසක් ඉදිරිපත් වී සිටීම සුවිශේෂී ලක්ෂණයකි.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයෙන් අපේක්ෂකත්වය ඉල්ලා අයදුම්පත් දස දහසකට වැඩි ප්‍රමාණයක් පක්ෂ මූලස්ථානයට ලැබී තිබූ අතර ඒ අය අතුරින් සමාජ පිළිගැනීමක් ඇති, බුද්ධිමත්, විනය විරෝධී චෝදනා නොමැති සුදුස්සන්ට පමණක් අපේක්ෂකත්වය ලබා දෙන ලෙස ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා නාම යෝජනා මණ්ඩවලට උපදෙස් ලබා දී තිබිණි.

දැනට පාර්ලිමේන්තුව හෝ පළාත් සභාව නියෝජනය කරන අයගේ සමීපතම ඡාතීන්ට පළාත් පාලන මැතිවරණයේ දී නාමයෝජනා ලබා නොදීමට ද නාම යෝජනා පිළිබඳ ජාතික කමිටුව තීරණය කර තිබේ. පළාත් පාලන මැතිවරණයේ කටයුතු මෙහෙයවීම සඳහා එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය විසින් ජාතික මෙහෙයුම් කමිටුවක්ද පත්කර තිබේ.

ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ නායකත්වයෙන් යුතු එම කමිටුවට අගමැති දි.මු. ජයරත්න, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂ මහ ලේකම් මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන, එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානයේ මහ ලේකම් සුසිල් ප්‍රේමජයන්ත, නිමල් සිරිපාල ද සිල්වා, විමල් වීරවංශ, ඩලස් අලහප්පෙරුම යන ඇමැතිවරු ඊට අයත් වෙති.

එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය විසින් ජාතික මැතිවරණ මෙහෙයුම් කමිටුවට අමතරව නාම යෝජනා ජාතික කමිටුවක් පත්කර තිබේ. දිස්ත්‍රික් මට්ටමින්ද, පළාත් මට්ටමින්ද නාමයෝජනා කමිටු පත්කර තිබූ අතර ඒ සියලු කමිටුවල වාර්තා සළකා බැලීම අගමැති දි.මු. ජයරත්න මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් ඊයේ (23) පැවැති රැස්වීමේදී සිදු කෙරිණි.

President tells media : Help build amity

*Development major challenge before country

*Communal amity essential for development

It is the duty of the media to help build amity among all communities and not contribute to fostering hatred among people, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the Heads and Editors of the Private and State Media at Temple Trees yesterday.

Responding to a question as to what he considered the major challenge in the New Year, President Rajapaksa said it was development, adding that unity and communal amity were essential to proceed with the tasks of development.

Stressing that the media had every right to criticize the Government, which right would always be protected, the President appealed to the media to play an active role in fostering unity among all communities. “Please take every action necessary to heal the wounds of the past,” he said. He made a special appeal to the Tamil media not to encourage efforts to create hatred among the Tamil people against the Sinhalese. Do not promote thinking and ideologies that promote hatred. The suffering caused through 30 years is enough and we must strengthen the process of healing, he said, posing the question “Where would continued hatred lead us to?”

The development work that has been launched was the answer to those who sought to spread the message of communal hatred and may even be trying to revive the forces of division that had been defeated, he said. President Rajapaksa emphasized that having defeated the separatist expectations of Prabhakaran, he was not prepared to give in to the same demand if made by any others.

The Government had invested considerable funds for development in the North, to restore the livelihoods of the people and these efforts should not be negated. All this expense was needed to rebuild what had been destroyed by the forces of terror. As an example he said how the Kilinochchi Hospital that had been built with ADB funding had been destroyed by the LTTE, as it had destroyed the railway, communications facilities, water towers and other common amenities.

The Government had already spent Rs 2.5 billion on restoration and development work in Kilinochchi town alone, that had a population of 27,000 families.

This should open the eyes of those who claimed that nothing was being done for the Tamil people of the North.

President Rajapaksa said that the people in the southern villages also felt the pain of all the years when terrorism was threatening the nation. They felt this pain as much as the Tamil people and were keen to be rid of the hatred of that period, to live in peace and harmony with the Tamil people. He also decried efforts by some sections of the media to exaggerate some of the problems of the country that were not unusual in a post-conflict situation anywhere.

There was turbulence in all post-conflict societies and Sri Lanka had already achieved much in just one and half years after the defeat of terrorism. The Government was aware of these problems, such as criminal activity, which were being addressed. He regretted the efforts by some to use this situation to show Sri Lanka as a failed state and impose burdens on the people through this means.

The Government could be attacked as in any democracy, but the people must not be attacked or made to suffer through such action, carried out with the expectation of lowering the image of Sri Lanka in the world, the President said.

Tourist arrivals in 2010 registers a 46.1% increase

Tourist arrivals has registered a 46.1% increase amounting to 654,476 arrivals last year exceeding the target set for the year of 600,000 tourists by over 50,000 arrivals. In the month of December alone the number of tourists arrived amounted to 84,627, which is an increase of 48.8% compared to the same period last year.

In the year 2009 the number of tourists arrived in the country amounted to only 447,890 tourists. With the relaxation of warning by many European countries following the vanquishing of terrorism, there has been an upsurge in the tourist arrivals in the country particularly, from the Western nations.

Last year 40,216 tourists have arrived from North America representing 21,213 from Canada and 19,093 from the United States. This was a 61.2% increased compared to 2009.

Arrivals from the Western European countries registered an upsurge of 51% compared to year 2009 and the number of tourists arrived amounted to 256,861. Majority of them amounting to 105,496 have arrived from the United Kingdom followed by 45,727 from Germany. There was a significant increase in the tourists arriving from France which amounted to 31,285 tourists.

Arrivals from the Eastern Europe amounted to 35,517 tourists of which 13,278 tourists were from Russia. Arrivals from Eastern Europe also registered a 35% increase compared to the arrivals in 2009.

Sri Lanka’s tourist industry has also consolidated its penetration to the African continent and there was a 49% increase in arrivals from this continent with majority of them being from South Africa. The number of Middle East tourists increased by 58.1% compared to the year 2009 amounting to 37,540 arrivals last year.

Arrivals from East Asia have also taken an upward trend with a 41.6% increase compared to the year 2009. Majority of East Asian tourists were from Japan amounting to 14,352 tourists followed by Malaysia numbering 13,367 tourists. There were 10,430 tourists from China and the number of Singaporeans arrived amounted to 11,875.

The number of South Asian tourists arrived amounted to 175,694 with majority of them being from India. The number of Indian tourists amounted to 126,882 followed by 35,791 tourists from Maldives and 9,148 tourists from Pakistan.

Countries in Australasia have also found Sri Lanka as a popular tourist venue and the number of Australasian tourists arrived amounted to 37,290 and 33,456 of them were from Australia. The number of New Zealanders arrived amounted to 3,487 tourists.

Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority says that around four million tourists, equivalent to 20% of the countries population, would visit Sri Lanka in 2012. (niz)

Government carries out round the clock relief operation by deploying over 28000 service personnel

Four Helicopters and 28 Boats deployed

Government has put in place a round the clock service to provide water, food and shelter on a priority basis to all flood victims with the participation of tri services personnel. More than 28,000 Tri services and Police personnel have been deployed in all affected districts with boats and helicopters at their disposals.

Director General of Government Information Prof Ariyarathna Athugala says that Rs 49 million has been disbursed to Government Agents of the Batticaloa, Trincomalee , Ampara and Polonnaruwa districts. Batticaloa being the worst hit district has been provided 25 million. All district secretaries and divisional secretaries have been given the authority to provide cooked meals to 195,000 people staying at 493 Welfare centres in all affected districts.

Further, Sri Lanka Army operates Four Helicopters from Ratmalana Air Port to continuously transport cooked meals from Colombo directly to welfare centres which are marooned by flood water. In addition to it Sri Lanka Navy has also deployed Naval Boats to take cooked meals to the centres from respective Kachcheries as well in addition to rescue operations carried out by it.

Meanwhile Disaster Management Centre has mobilized all its resources that are in the non affected districts to assist the ongoing operation. Water Pumps and water purification tanks have also been sent to Batticaloa and Ampara district. Three water purification tanks with the capacity of 5000 liters each will be used to provide drinking water facilities.

Following the request made by the government for public assistance several International Non- Government Organizations and local and foreign Non- Government Organizations have come forward to assist the affected people. As the government has given top priority to provide relief to affected people by mobilizing all relevant resources there is no shortage of food or shelter to any affected people. The Health authorities have also mobilized medical officers and allied staff inclusive of Public Health inspectors to affected areas.

Make electricity affordable - President

The Power and Energy Ministry is bound to provide electricity to the people at affordable rates and it should strive to give more prominence to what people actually need than think about profits, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka at the progress review meeting. Picture by Sudath Silva

The President was speaking at the progress review meeting of the Power and Energy Ministry.

“Electricity is an integral part of the people’s day-to-day life and it is an indispensable factor for the country’s development endeavour,” the President added. He added that the Power and Energy Ministry should carry out their duties more effectively and in a people-friendly manner.

The President said the Government drew up plans for the fulfillment of the country’s power and energy requirements soon after it came into power in 2005.

He said that his Government succeeded in re-starting a number of mega power generation projects which had been abandoned by previous governments to solve the country’s power crisis. “We should fulfil what is expected of us by the people. The Ministry officials should take every possible effort to fulfil what the people want regardless of their political, racial or religious affiliations,” he added.

President Rajapaksa said the Ministry officials should play a pioneering role in the country’s development. He said the Government liberated the country from the clutches of terrorists and a massive development drive is under way.

The President referring to the soaring fuel prices in the world market said that the Government is in the process of planning a mechanism which will help maintain fuel prices at concessionary rate.

He lauded the Ministry’s efforts in restoration of power supply in the Eastern Province soon after it was liberated from the terrorists’ clutches. President Rajapaksa added that the Power and Energy Ministry has faced unprecedented challenges.

He said the Ministry was able to win many such challenges due to the dynamic leadership of Minister Ranawaka and its dedicated workforce.

Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said the Ministry is economically stable. The CEB has become an institution which do not record operational losses under the able leadership of Power and Energy Minister.

Matara-Colombo Expressway for public use soon

President calls for speedy completion

The Matara-Colombo Expressway is nearing completion and one section of this, from Makumbura to Pinnaduwa, will be opened to public by June this year.

The entire project is 126 kilometres long and stretches from Makumbura in Kottawa to Godagama in the southern province.

The project funded by Asian Development Bank and Japan Bank for International Cooperation will have 11 entry and exit ramps. The total estimated cost of the project is Rs.85 billion.

Nearly 30 percent of the Katunayake- Colombo expressway is also complete and it is possible to complete the entire expressway by the end of 2012, the Highway Ministry officials said at a meeting presided over by President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday (6 Jan).

President Rajapaksa said the government had made the biggest allocation of Rs. 102 billion to the Highways Ministry in the past with the intention of providing an efficient and systematic road network and thereby enhancing the quality of life. The President added the maintenance of a proper road network is most essential to carry out the development program in an efficient manner to deliver the fruits of development to the people.

The meeting focused on the activities of the ministry during the past six years and its future plans.

Informing of the progress on various highway projects currently undertaken, the Ministry officials told the President about 855 kilometers of roads had been developed under the "Maga Neguma" project last year surpassing the expected target.

President instructed the officials to expedite work on roads near the three Cricket World Cup venues to cater to the large numbers of local and foreign fans expected for the event.

The Katunayake expressway is expected to be ready by the end of 2012.

Development challenges bigger

• Complete day’s work without delay

• Set example to rest of public sector

The challenge of development is much bigger than the challenges faced when defeating terrorism, and the staff of the Presidential Secretariat is well prepared to overcome these challenges, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The President addressing Presidential Secretariat staff marking the first working day of the public sector yesterday said that this staff is fortunate to be working at the Secretariat and hoped that they will set an example to the rest of the public sector.

He advised the staff and the entire public sector to complete the day’s work without delay and to be committed to serve the people. President Rajapaksa added that they need to ask themselves whether they carried out a service worthy of their salary.

Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga speaking on the occasion said that the Presidential Secretariat should live up to its position in the public sector and be efficient.

He pointed out that out of the 365 days, 122 are holidays with an additional 45 days. He advised his staff to make the best of the remaining working days to provide an excellent service to the public.

Weeratunge read out the pledge of the public service for 2011 themed, ‘Commit towards servicing the public with Metta’.

War heroes who lost their lives were also remembered.