Vavuniya a hive of activity

By P. Krishnaswamy and Vavuniya Spl.Corr

The Vavuniya city now transformed as a nerve centre of the Northern province is bustling with activities this weekend with the `Uthuru Vasanthaya' development project's mobile services conducted by the Public Administration Ministry, election meetings and crowded sreets, reports said.

The two-day mobile services conducted by over 20 government departments with senior officials and ministry secretaries are being held at the Vavuniya Tamil Central College. Over 5,000 people, a majority of them seeking to obtain or renew NICs, Driving Licences and Passports and Birth Certificates, were present yesterday. Some of them received free pairs of spectacles and various payments due to them. Over 2,000 school children sitting the Year Five scholarship examination turned up to receive their postal Identity Cards.

Minister of Trade and Marketing Development Bandula Gunawardene, Minister of Disaster Relief Rishad Bathuideen and Deputy Minister of Posts and Telecommunication M. S. Sellasamy were also present. With cutouts of candidates contesting the August 8 Vavuniya UC polls displayed prominently in their party offices, many contestants conducted pocket meetings.