News
Ponnambalam’s TNPF comes out opposing Provincial Councils
By Dinasena Rathugamage
The Tamil National People’s Front, on Saturday, expressed its opposition to the provincial council system which is being promoted by many other Tamil political parties.
Addressing the media in Jaffna, TNPF leader MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam said that the Provincial Councils could neither solve the national problem nor were suitable for a country the size of Sri Lanka.
MP Ponnambalam said that he would campaign against the Provincial council system in and out of parliament.
The MP said the provincial council system had been implemented only to suit India and that system did not help solve the national problem as that had been envisaged by the then Indian government; it had not benefited the Tamils of Sri Lanka. The provincial council system had inherent problems within itself to weaken the power bases and those problems surfaced in certain situations.
Ponnambalam said that the majority would never permit anyone to devolve powers to the provinces under the provincial council system. No government in the South would ever think of going against the Buddhist forces led by the members of Maha Sangha and, therefore, the provincial council system would never become a successful administrative system, the MP said adding that the most practical solution should be one that was acceptable to all communities in the country.
His party TNPF had submitted a set of proposals to the government in response to its calling for suggestions for a new Constitution and among those proposals the TNPF stated its standpoint that the provincial council system had become a failure in Sri Lanka, the MP said.
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution forwarded by the Minister Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation to appoint R. A. Chandana Saman Ranaweera Arachchi a special grade officer of Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS) as the Commissioner
General of Lands.
Approval was granted at the cabinet meeting held on 05-08-2024 to resettle the unauthorized residents in the railway reserve from the Maligawatte Loco junction to Padukka railway station under the Colombo Suburban Railway Project.
Accordingly, resettlements in 694 housing units which were purchased from housing complexes owned by the Urban Development Authority have already been completed and further, 144 housing units are due
to be received from the Urban development Authority. In addition, a housing complex consisting of 120 housing units is being constructed on land in Kottawa, Malapalla area which is owned by the Railway Department for the resettlement of unauthorized residents in Maharagama, Homagama, Padukka area where there are no housing
schemes of the Urban Development Authority, and the constructions of that housing scheme is being completed at present.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Transport, Highways, Port, and Civil Aviation to transfer the land located in Kottawa, Marapalla, belonging to the Sri Lanka Railway Department, and the housing complex within the said land to the National Housing Development Authority as a free grant in terms of the provisions of Section 6(1) of the Government Land Ordinance and to implement the said program of providing the relevant deeds to the selected beneficiaries in such a way as not to burden them financially.
The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation to appoint Dr. Mrs. E. R. S. P. Edirimanne serving as a special grade officer in Sri Lanka Agriculture Service in the post of Additional Secretary (Agri Technology) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation as the Commissioner General of Agriculture,
R A Chandana Saman Ranaweera Arachchi appointed as Commissioner General of Lands
Resettlement of unauthorized residents in Kelaniveli Railway Reserves
Dr. Mrs. E. R. S. P. Edirimanne appointed Commissioner General of Agriculture
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