|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 28 July 2002 |
 |
|
 |
News |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Peace talks 'definitely' in August - Jayalath J. by Deepal Warnakulasuriya The peace talks will definitely take place next month and the date will be decided soon by the Sri Lanka Government and the LTTE leadership. The government's process for peace had already been appreciated and welcomed by the international community, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Refugees Minister Dr. Jayalath Jayawardana told the 'Sunday Observer'. The Minister said that the most important thing for the peace process was good understanding on both sides. "The government is very vigilant on the matter and everything is done to keep it on the right track. The conflict is more than two decades old and, in such a situation if someone asks to solve it within two or three months, it is only a joke. The path for the peace is slow but steady," the Minister added. The Minister refuted the allegations made against the government that the security forces' camps and sub-divisions were being removed. "According to the MoU, we have to vacate religious places and schools and, in the process, we are reestablishing all our camps and sub-divisions in suitable alternative places," the Minister said. He said that there was no threat to the nation as some arms dealers and certain others had claimed. Minister Jayawardana said that with the experience of working with the people in the North and East, he had realised that the ethnic problem needed a political solution. "Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has also realised this fact. Therefore, the government will take all necessary steps to solve the problem at the political level". The Ministry of Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Refugees is not a traditional ministry. It was set up to pave the way for a political solution to the conflict. The Ministry now faces the challenge of the era of building the peace bridge with love and affection for each other," Minister Jayawardana added. "During the last six months, not a single coffin had come to the South bearing victims of the ongoing conflict. It is a good beginning for the peace process. The people in the South can go to Jaffna or Kilinochchi. They can freely worship at religious places in the North and East. The people in the North and East can visit the South. These are the results of the government's peace process," he said. The Minister invited the general public to participate in the trade exhibition due to be held in Jaffna on August 3, 4 and 5, at which more than 100 business companies from the South will participate. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
