INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
All highways initiated by the previous government including the Colombo-Kandy Highway and other stalled highway constructions will be
The government would also take measures to develop all roads in the country, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said in Parliament
yesterday.
The Prime Minister said this in response to a question raised by UNP-MP Lakshman Kiriella who also urged the current
government to complete the balance section of the Colombo-Kandy Expressway.
&The construction of the 40 km section from Meerigama to
Kurunegala is 90% complete and there is only 10% left to be done
Therefore, I urge the Prime Minister to expedite the completion of the remaining 10% of the Colombo-Kandy Expressway
If that is done, the public could use the Katunayake Expressway to get to Meerigama and proceed to Kandy through Kurunegala
Further, they could also get to Kandy via Pasyala, Meerigama, Kurunegala
The time taken to travel to Kandy could be slashed by two hours,& Kiriella said.
In response, Prime Minister Rajapaksa said the
government during the period 2010-2014 planned the Galewela road from Pothuhera to Galagedara.
&The previous government which came to
power in 2015 completed the contract
This expressway was scheduled to be completed in three stages and after the new government came to power, measures were taken to pay the
loans and the construction slowed down
The Central Expressway was planned to be completed under four stages in June 2019
However, the construction had not been completed due to the lack of a clear mechanism and lack of funds.
However, our government will
make every effort to complete the various stages
We are also taking steps to complete the stretch from Potuhera-Galagedara
Our government will also take measures to develop all roads in the country,& the Prime Minister said.
Meanwhile, Chief Government Whip
Minister Johnston Fernando responding to a question raised by JVP-MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake said, &We must see who had pocketed one
billion rupees.
&Therefore, we must investigate who pocketed the money
The proposed six lanes of this expressway had been reduced to four
We must expedite the completion of the Meerigama-Kurunegala expressway and we expect to do this
The previous government was so bent on taking political revenge that as a result all development programmes were stalled.&
COPA, COPE
members appointed
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya yesterday (5) announced the names of the MPs who have been appointed to the Committee on Public
Accounts (COPA) and the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE).
Accordingly, the Speaker said that the appointment of the Chairmen for
these two Committees is yet to be decided at the meeting of the Committees.
The Committee of Selection on January 24, 2020 appointed 16
members to the COPA as per Standing Order 119 (1) of Parliament.
Ministers Pavithradevi Wanniarachchi, Douglas Devananda, Vasudeva
Nanayakkara, Duminda Dissanayake, Rohitha Abeygunawardana, Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Shehan Semasinghe, Chandima Weerakkody and MPs Udaya
Prabhath Gammanpila, Palitha Range Bandara, Niroshan Perera, Seyed Ali Zahir Moulana, Buddhika Pathirana, S
Shritharan, (Dr.) Nalinda Jayathissa and Wijepala Hettiarachchi are the members of the COPA.
The Committee of Selection appointed 16
members to COPE on the same day
They are; Ministers Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, Susil Premajayantha, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Dayasiri Jayasekara, Jayantha Samaraweera and
Mohan Priyadarshana De Silva and MPs Rauff Hakeem, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Harsha De Silva, Ajith P
Perera, Sriyani Wijewickrama, Ranjan Ramanayake, Ashok Abeysinghe, Sunil Handunnetti, Mavai S
Chanaka.
The Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) and the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) will meet tomorrow.
The appointments
of the chairpersons of these two committees will be made on this day
The Committee on Public Enterprises will meet at 2:00 p.m., while the Committee on Public Accounts is scheduled to meet at 2:30
p.m.
‘Estate workers to be paid Rs.1,000 from March 1&
Responding to a question posed by JVP MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake on whether
the estate workers would be paid Rs.1,000 from March 1 as declared by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said
that the plantation companies had agreed to pay the increased wage.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Plantation Industries and Export
Agriculture Minister Ramesh Pathirana, however, made statements in Parliament yesterday on whether the owners of Plantation Companies had
agreed to pay a daily wage of Rs.1,000 for estate sector workers from March 1.
&Estate sector workers will get Rs.1,000 from March 1
The companies have agreed and they will pay,& the Prime Minister said.
Dissanayake said that plantation companies had insisted that they
&That what we heard but you are saying they have agreed?& he asked the Prime Minister.
Minister Pathirana then responded that they had
held three discussions with plantation companies and that a final agreement on the salary had not been made.
&They also raised many
But this is a government policy and we expect to reach a final decision soon,& Pathirana said.
The Prime Minister, meanwhile, stepped in
and insisted that the companies had agreed to pay Rs
1000 from March 1.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa instructed the plantation companies to increase the daily wage of estate workers to Rs
1,000 in January.
All measures to prevent spread of Coronavirus - Pavithra
All necessary steps have been taken to prevent the
Coronavirus from spreading throughout the country, said Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Pavithra Wanniarachchi in Parliament
yesterday.
The Minister urged people not to panic about it.
The Minister was responding to a question raised by Opposition Leader
Sajith Premadasa under Standing Order 27(2).
Premadasa queried as to whether the Government has taken precautions to face any possible
economic crisis which could arise due to the coronavirus epidemic, whether the Government would provide face masks for the public and
appoint a Presidential Task Force to prevent the virus from spreading.
Wannirchchi said that it is not practical to quarantine all
passengers who come from China as they arrive in the country having passed through several other countries.
&We check the body
temperature of all passengers and note down the contact details of them
After that they are frequently monitored by the Health Officials.
The students who arrived from Wuhan Province in China are in good
health as of now.
The Department of Immigration and Emigration has informed Chinese workers in Sri Lanka to stay at their workstations
They have been informed to wear face masks
However, it is not necessary for all the citizens to wear face masks at this point,& she added.
&Moreover, the Health Minister noted that
it is not necessary to restrict commercial goods imported from China as the virus cannot be transmitted through such them
However, it is true that the tourism industry would be affected to a certain extent due to the Coronavirus epidemic
But we are taking measured to attract tourists based on the instructions given by the President,& she said.
Govt
ready to debate NFH takeover issue - Minister
Health Minister Pavithra Wanniaarachchi said the government is ready for a debate in
Parliament concerning the procedure followed by the previous government when taking over the Dr
Neville Fernando Hospital (NFH) in Malabe.
The Health Minister made this observation when JVP MP Bimal Rathnayake raised concerns on
government move to present a supplementary allocation for the NFH
Rathnayake questioned how the government is presenting a supplementary allocation to a private institution.
In reply, Health Minister
Wanniaarachchi said that the procedure followed by the previous government when taking over the NFH is unclear.
&We have requested for
this supplementary allocation since we don&t want to close down this institution
NFH is a well-equipped hospital
It provides services both privately and publicly
We took over the government while the process of taking over the NFH was incomplete
So I appointed a committee to provide me recommendations as to what we should do right now, until we properly inquire into this matter
The Committee I appointed recommended us a supplementary allocation.& Minister Wanniaarachchi said.
MP Rathnayake pointed out that
whatever the legal or any other matter concerning the NFH, the government is not permitted to allocate money to a private institution
When the Opposition continued to question the move, Minister Wanniaarachchi pointed out that the move for the supplementary allocation is a
temporary one and that the government cannot just close down the hospital
&We need this allocation to pay salaries of the hospital staff
If you want a debate on this, we are ready
There is no corruption on the government part
This is a matter regarding this hospital, not us,& she furthered.
UNP MP Lakshman Kiriella raising a point of order on the same subject
observed that NFH has not yet being taken over by the government
In reply, Minister Wanniaarachchi quipped off-mike, &Were you all sleeping for the last five years?&
Former Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne, contradicting Kiriella view, said the NFH was taken over by the government
&I agree with our Health Minister
NFH was taken over by the government and operates as both a private and public entity
Not only we got a Cabinet decision on this, we also had the Salaries and Cadre Commission approve the salaries that should be paid to its
The General Treasury allotted money for that directly.Until now, the NFH has provided services free to 166,000 citizens in this
country.
How can a private hospital make such a move?& Senaratne asked.
Minister Wimal Weerawansa said that there have been serious
irregularities in the procedure followed by the previous government when taking over the NFH.
&Former President Maithripala Sirisena
appointed a Presidential Commission to inquire into Yahapalana government corruptions
According to the findings of this Commission, there have been serious irregularities concerning this process
It suggests that the process of taking over have not been legally completed
So are we to believe what the Commission says or the former Minister who is responsible to this issue says?& Weerawansa
questioned.
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said the matter can be further addressed at the Party Leaders& meeting.
Amaraweera proposes fully
fledged public transportation system
A fully fledged public transportation system is the only sustainable solution to the traffic
congestion in Colombo and the suburbs, Minister of Transport Service Management Mahinda Amaraweera yesterday said
The government has an extensive plan to attract the general public to the public transportation service instead of private transportation
methods, Minister Amaraweera also said.
Accordingly, the government is planning to encourage the luxury bus service and introduce a more
efficient train service, the Minister also said.
Minister Amaraweera made these observations opening the debate on the regulations under
the Motor Traffic Act relating to Signs, Signals, Symbols and Road Markings and published in the Gazette Extraordinary No
2128/9 of 2019, June.
Minister Amaraweera further said, &We will strengthen our public transportation system step by step with short,
medium and long term plans
The only way to reduce the wastage of funds and time due to traffic congestion is to make the public transportation service attractive
For that, we need to improve its service
We also need to provide good facilities to drivers and conductors
Their lodging facilities are worse than prisons
Thus, the government will take swift measures to provide the necessary facilities to both private and SLTB bus employees.&
Minister
Amaraweera said that the government is looking into the possibility of establishing a common schedule for both private and SLTB
buses.
Minister Amaraweera also said the government is planning to introduce an E-Ticketing system for rail transport
He said that they are looking forward to introducing the same system for buses as well.
&Such a move will enable us to eliminate all
sorts of corruption related to the issuing of tickets
It would become a win-win situation for the passengers as well as the bus owners,& the Minister furthered.
The government is also
planning to use the rail service for transportation of goods
&Many vehicles that operate transport goods
If we can use the train service, we will burn less fuel and waste no money for transportation purposes.&
Rathnapriya, sworn as
MP
Saman Rathnapriya Silva was sworn in as a Member of Parliament by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya
UNP General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam had informed the Elections Commission to appoint Rathnapriya for the vacant seat following the
resignation of the UNP MP Jayampathi Wickramaratne
A special gazette notification was issued to appoint him on January 27, 2020 by the Election Commission
Ratnapriya Silva is a trade unionist, holds a Nursing Diploma and is a past pupil of Revatha Central College, Balapitiya.
