Daya Gamage, the eastern provincial councillor and national organizer of the UNP, today (Oct. 01) pledged to do his utmost towards ensuring the rights of the province’s people, while adhering to the policies of his party.After taking oaths, along with other UNP councillors, before the provincial governor in Trincomalee, Mr. Gamage said that as the national organizer of the UNP, he would also organize the party to enable it to form a government within the next one-and-a-half years.The former opposition leader of the EPC said he would have given an example to the central government and the entire country by allocating six per cent for education, had the UNP been elected to power at the recent PC polls.Anyway, I will continue to do everything at my disposal to develop education on behalf of the children, who are the future of the country, said Mr. Gamage.Also, he said, he would continue his programme to develop the economy of the Ampara district to make it second only to Colombo.Mr. Gamage said, he was sorry that unlike in previous years, he was unable to hold a special programme for children on international children’s day today, as he was preoccupied with the swearing in and other related activities.Speaking further, he noted that 62.3 per cent of the votes were cast against the ruling party at the EPC polls, and said the provincial council had not been formed as per the people’s mandate.Also, the SLMC which had asked the people at the election platform to vote against the government, had now betrayed them and joined the government for money and other privileges, he charged.Although provincial councils were set up mainly with the objective of resolving the issues of the Tamil people, he said the EPC is today having an opposition led by the TNA.Furthermore, the government had slapped the eastern Tamils on the face by not giving any ministerial position to former chief minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan or former agriculture minister Nawaratneraja, Mr. Gamage added.