Author: TELO Admin

A Cabinet paper has been directed to the Cabinet of Ministers to double the allowance allocated for school meals.

Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha said the estimates have been submitted to the Treasury to obtain paper required to print textbooks for next year under the Indian loan facility.

Furthermore, the Education Minister said while China has already agreed to provide 50% of school uniforms required for next year he hopes to conduct talks with China to obtain the remaining uniforms quota as well.

Mattala International Airport is losing Rs. 10 million monthly according to Ports, Shipping and Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva.

He said since according to international air travel criteria Sri Lanka needs a second international airport for emergency landings, alternative sources of income should be found while minimising costs of maintaining the airport.

The Minister emphasised that steps should be taken to minimise the loss and maintain the Mattala International Airport as a productive airport with a minimum number of employees.

Nimal made this observation while participating in an inspection tour and a staff meeting at the Mattala International Airport on Saturday.

He pointed out that there are many problems and issues inherent in this airport.

Mattala…

Responding to a question raised by journalists, the Minister said that the Mattala Airport would never be sold.

He said if a good investor comes, the government intends to enter into a collective agreement with the investor as a joint venture to turn Mattala Airport into a profitable airport restructuring the airport administration.

“Today, the Mattala Airport is being maintained with the money earned by Katunayake Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) and the loan of $ 210 million obtained from China for the construction of this airport is to be repaid in instalments,” the Minister said.

Therefore, alternative proposals are being considered to increase the revenue of the Mattala Airport, the Minister said.

He said airlines have been invited to use the airport as a parking space and aircraft maintenance yard, but due to the current social situation in the country and the fuel and dollar crisis, investors and airlines are reluctant to do so.

Minister said it is not easy to attract investors, but the chairman of the Airport and Aviation Services, retired Major General G. A. Chandrasiri is making a great effort.

In addition, the Minister asked the officials to submit to him within two weeks the project proposals related to the use of the roof of the Mattala Airport for solar power generation.

It was revealed that 545 employees have been deployed at this airport where no flights arrive and some of these employees use a daily bus to transport them from Colombo to Mattala.

The Minister warned that if employees do not act with dedication and commitment at this juncture, unless tough management and management decisions are taken, the Mattala Airport is likely to collapse. Therefore, the Minister asked the officials to submit a report on the salaries and allowances of the top management and the staff management and restructuring plan within a month.

After considering the points made by the employees and the trade union officials, the Minister instructed the officials to construct a building on the premises of the airport within two months to accommodate about 200 employees essential to the operation of the airport.

The Minister also hoped that if a good image of the country is built and foreign tourist arrivals increase, it will be able to recover the airport from this loss-making situation.

“The airport is built on an elephant habitat. Therefore, the measures taken so far to prevent the frequent elephant entrances and attacks on the airport premises have failed,” he said.

The Minister instructed the officials to discuss the measures proposed by the Minister of Wildlife to cultivate elephant repelling sesame and hemp in the area between the airstrip security fence and the forest conservation boundary under the patronage of Minister Amaraweera within the next two weeks and take immediate steps to implement those measures.

Local Tamils and TELO and TNA Vannei MP Vinokarathalingam, local council politicians thwarted an attempt by Sinhala Buddhist monks and the Sri Lankan army to install a Buddha statue on a native Tamil temple site.

Sinhala Buddhist monks and the Sri Lankan army had planned a Buddhist dedication ceremony to consecrate a Buddha statue at the site of a native Tamil temple despite an order by Mullaitivu Magistrate’s Court decreeing that no changes could be made to the site.

However, Sinhala Buddhist monks, aided by the state’s archaeology department, have continued their attempts to seize the ancient Tamil temple site in Mullaitivu. The archaeology department have used the guise of ‘excavation’ work to assist Sinhala Buddhist monks to erect a Buddhist shrine.

The Army had been working together on the arrangements for the special service, especially for the past several days.

Today, however, the Army, without military uniforms, dressed in civilian clothes and engaged in worship services.

Director General of the Department of Archeology Anura Manathunga visited the area and told protesters that he was “carrying out reconstruction work to preserve the fossils found in the Kurunthurmalai area and that he had not built any new buildings there” while also rejecting claims that his department was working with the monks and the military.

Three of the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) were arrested during the protest and were held in a police vehicle throughout the demonstration.

The Tamil homeland has been subjected to decades of Sinhalisation but since the end of the armed conflict, there has been a rise in the establishment of Buddhist temples and Sinhala settlements through the appropriation of Tamil land. The government has used it’s departments such as the archaeological and land survery departments to alter the demographics of the North-East.

The next peoples’ uprising would be far worse than violent incidents reported after the May 9 SLPP goon attack on GotaGoHome protesters on Galle Face, NFF leader Wimal Weerawansa told Parliament on Thursday.

Participating in an adjournment debate on the prevailing situation in the country, Weerawansa said: “Next time there will be more bloodshed, damage and destruction. It seems that the government is playing with the issues rather than coming up with a plan to resolve the crisis. I do not see the President having any idea of the seriousness of the threat.

“I also do not know whether the Prime Minister has understood the crisis that is brewing. This country is fast sliding into a humanitarian disaster. May 9 will only be a rehearsal for the next round. There will be worse bloodshed and losses..

“Next time they will not be selective. They will attack anyone who is rich because people have no food. There is another great danger because it seems that the day is not far off when we will be unable to feed our security forces.

“Last time the attackers set only the politicians’ houses on fire. Next time they would target affluent and rich families too. They will attack everyone using luxury vehicles and those living in luxury homes. That is the inevitable future if the government keeps playing games with the crises,” Weerawansa said.