Basil on top gear to reawaken East

By Panchamee Hewavissenti

Parliamentarian Basil Rajapaksa said the Government would provide all the necessary basic facilities to the people in the newly liberated areas in the Eastern Province.

Addressing a two day workshop for the stakeholders of the 'Eastern Reawakening' at the BMICH yesterday, the new MP said the Government is equally keen on developing the Eastern Province, just as they liberated the province from the clutches of the LTTE terrorism.

"Under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and due to those brave efforts of our gallant Security Forces, we have liberated the East. But we are equally keen to see the economic and infrastructure development of the East as well".

Under the Eastern Reawakening program, the Government expects develop the Eastern Province to be on par with the Western Province. Parliamentarian Basil Rajapaksa, who has been in the forefront of the North and East development and National Building, has been able to obtain support and assistance of all in finding a better tomorrow for the people affected due to the LTTE terrorism.

Over 300 delegates representing the Presidential Secretariat, government ministries, corporations, statuary boards, NGO, INGOs, civil and voluntary organisations are attending the two-day workshop which ends today. Ministers Ferial Ashraff, Mahinda Samarasinghe, P. Dayaratne, Susantha Punchinilame, Mohammed Faizal Cassim, Abdul Majeed, Rishak Baddurdeen, Hassan Ali and several ministry secretaries too graced the occasion. The secretaries of the Ministries of Tourism, Highways, Power and Energy, Housing and Public Utility, Water Resources, Ports and Aviation briefed the roles of their respective ministries in the 'Eastern Reawakening' program.

The Government is keen to make a major investment to develop the East as the Province has equal populations of all three communities - Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims. MP Rajapaksa said the Government has four prime targets in developing the East maintaining high security to the people, socio economic development of the people, development of infrastructure facilities, health and educational sectors.

He also noted that the government is keen to reinstate democracy after the innocent civilians in the East were rescued. In order to strengthen the security in the area, new police stations and guard points would be established across the Eastern Province. MP Rajapaksa said they would make arrangements to clear all landmines and develop a conducive atmosphere for the farmers to cultivate and make a contribution to the national economy.

As the first step towards restoring democracy in the area, elections to the local government bodies would be held soon. This would be followed by the Provincial Council elections that would enable the people in the area to pick their own representatives.