Chief Government Whip and highways Minister Johnston Fernando says the government is confident that teachers will return to work on Thursday (21), despite the JVP’s efforts to sabotage the reopening of schools. The JVP has denied the allegation.

Speaking to journalists after a meeting at the Kurunegala District Secretariat on Monday to review arrangements in place for the first stage of reopening of schools shut down following the pandemic outbreak, the Minister said: “Ours is a history with teachers giving high priority to children’s education. Even during the times of JVP terror during the 1987-89 period, teachers reported for work while the JVP threatened to kill them if they did so. Some teachers and principals were shot dead by JVP death squads and some of the victims were beheaded to scare others. We hope that teachers will defy threats from the JVP and report to work on 21 Oct.”

Asked whether any disciplinary action would be taken against those who would not report to work on that day, the minister said that such actions were regular administrative procedures. “It is expected that those who draw salaries as public servants should report to work when they are asked to. Those procedures are outlined in the Establishment Code. This is the usual procedure applicable to all public servants. Responding to a query from a journalist about the soaring prices of essential commodities, the Minister said: “As I have said in many other forums, this is a temporary outcome triggered by the pandemic-related developments. In the face of the pandemic, our first priority, as a government, was to save lives. Some limits had been imposed to achieve that goal. Such limits resulted in queues and price increases. Now the situation is changing fast and an unreeling effect is seen. Limits have been removed and queues are decreasing so that the prices will settle soon. I assure you that the situation will reach its normalcy in a few weeks. Shortages are temporary, even in the UK there is a similar situation in fuel distribution. The Opposition’s attempts to capitalise on those temporary crises will not be successful. For example, UNP’s trade union leaders said that there would be fuel shortages. That created panic among the public and people rushed to fuel stations to get fuel. That created queues but soon people understood that there is no fuel shortage and queues no longer are there near fuel stations. The Opposition could resort to such tactics but we as a government would not let people suffer,” Minister Fernando said.

Asked to comment on statements by political leaders of a possible election and whether the government politicians were in a position to visit their electorates to get votes, the Minister said: “We have no problem in going to our electorates. The Opposition seems to think that we cannot. It’s their wishful thinking but not the reality. They thought the same soon after the COVID-19 outbreak. They even predicted that we would not be able to hold elections stating it would take at least three days for people to cast votes if a one meter gap was maintained between two persons in the polling booths. At the end we held the election and people gave us two-third powers. We should hold elections on time. It is the Yahapalana method of governance to delay elections. We will not delay elections because we have not been permanently marred with crimes such as the Treasury bond scams.”

Asked to comment on the possibility of the SLFP, which is an allied party of the government, going solo in politics, the minister said: “You should ask them about it.”Responding to a question whether the government does not need the SLFP support, the Minister said: “We have not told anyone that we do not need support. Yet, if anyone thinks of taking an independent stance, it is up to them to decide. We cannot make decisions for other parties. There is no point in asking us about the affairs of their party, you should ask them.”

Asked to comment on the Opposition Leader’s statement that the incumbent government which came to power promising to create a land of prosperity has created a wasteland, the minister said: “We accepted a wasteland. During the last months of the Yahapalana government they could not even get the Municipal workers to remove garbage that piled up along the road sides. We cleared them all within 48 hours of assuming office. Opposition Leader Premadasa has forgotten who imported garbage to this country.”Commenting on the fertiliser issue, the minister said that the government had recognised it as a very sensitive issue. “We have also identified who is behind the protesting farmers. The farmers are being instigated and led to the road by the JVP that set hundreds of agrarian centres on fire during the period of 1989-90. The SJB and UNP too are running after them. All those three parties had in their manifestos that the country should go for organic fertiliser. Now we have started it and they are trying to find fault with it,” the Minister said.Wayamba Province Governor Raja Collure, Chairman of the Kurungegala District Development Committee Gunapala Ratnasekera, Kuruegala District Secretary R.M.R. Ratnayake, provincial education ministry officials, education zonal and divisional officials and the police attended the meeting that focused on health and hygienic measures to be taken in view of reopening of schools.