Govt will not compromise defence

by Shanika SRIYANANDA

President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the nation at the 60th Anniversary celebrations of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) reiterated that the government would not compromise the country’s defence at any stage and the government was engaged in a mission to develop the country which was destroyed by LTTE terrorists.

At a public rally held in Colombo the President said no one could topple the government by spreading rumours and they have to wait to do so until the next General Election scheduled to be held in 2016 or the Presidential election in 2017.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s schedule this week was very tight with two public rallies being held in support of UPFA candidates contesting the forthcoming Local Government polls. He was the chief guest of the SLAF 60th Anniversary. Meanwhile, the President also met over 7,000 farmers at Temple Trees and also met the Mullaithiuv district citizen representatives to discuss their problems this week.

“There was a time when people feared to refer to Sri Lanka as being a unitary state, but now we have come a long way from that situation. Our government would not allow violence to crop up again and divide this country”, President Mahinda Rajapaksa called upon all Sri Lankans to be united despite differences to develop Sri Lanka economically and socially.

At a ceremony held to commemorate the late H. Sri Nissanka, a member of Sri Lanka’s first Parliament and a founder member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, on February 26, the President said Sri Nissanka, was one of the pillars who was instrumental in forming the SLFP, was not alive to witness the SLFP coming into power because he died before 1956.

“There were forces that were active in order to revert the country’s progress brought together by patriots like S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, Philip Gunawardena, N.M. Perera, H. Sri Nissanka and others. However, Sri Lanka’s progress could not be defeated by any such force”, he said recalling that it was Sri Nissanka’s home where the first round of discussions to form the SLFP were held.

He said though people have ethnic and religious differences, they are all children of Mother Lanka and we should not allow divisions to dominate us as it would hinder us realising our true potential to grow as one country. “Sri Lanka suffered for nearly 30-years, due to division and conflict and we must secure this hard earned peace and harmony and enable all Sri Lankans to enjoy it”, he said, adding it is sad to see that some people who had their education here, act against the interest of the country.

“The time has come to change this situation. Everyone has a responsibility to take the country on the path which these founding fathers laid with so much dedication and sacrifice” he said.

President Rajapaksa inviting patriots to rally round the government to develop Sri Lanka said, “We too would not be deterred by challenges. We cannot allow hard won democracy and people’s rights and freedom to be reversed. Undeterred by challenges we would take this country forward towards permanent peace and prosperity”.

Education

The Swimming, Life Saving and Survival Techniques Training Centre at Dharmapala Vidyalaya, Pannipitiya was opened by President Rajapaksa last Monday.

Calling all students to use their childhood profitably to have a better future, he said there were some who does not even respect the national anthem.

People who love the country will always be rewarded. We should not think of individual dividends, but need to work for the betterment of the country.

When we were fighting for freedom by defeating international conspiracies, we did not consider the size or power of those countries when defeating the world’s ruthless terrorists. We strived for a single goal and it brought us victory after defeating the LTTE.

We have to have confidence to face any challenge. Children must be given confidence and this must be inculcated from childhood. They should pay more attention to overcome challenges as students.

President Rajapaksa said schooling was the most precious period in one’s life and this could never be retrieved.

“Therefore, use this period to improve skills in sports and aesthetics in addition to studying. Use your time in a productive manner to be successful in the future”, he said adding that the most valuable gift that parents can give their children, while giving them a luxury lives is education, which no one can rob.

Maiden political rally in Anuradhapura

The maiden political rally to support UPFA candidates contesting the forthcoming Local Authority Elections was kicked off from Anuradhapura on February 28.

Addressing the gathering President Rajapaksa requested candidates to face the polls as a team to bring a victory to the UPFA but stressed the need of maintaining discipline and democracy during their campaign.

“As we cleaned out ‘border villages’ from the Lankan map, we would do away with ‘difficult villages’ in our endeavour to take Sri Lanka to a new era with prosperity. Let everyone join this endeavour and let the UPFA be victorious at the election”, he said.

Pradeshiya Sabhas are key components of village development and the government has given more power to local bodies. This has resulted in the rapid development at village level using their own expertise.

The intention of the government under the Mahinda Chinthana Idiri Dekma - Mahinda Chinthana Vision Ahead- is to set up resourceful and prosperous villages which could in turn contribute towards the country’s development.

President Rajapaksa said he strongly believed that the UPFA would obtain a landslide victory at the forthcoming LG polls as it has been initiated from historical Anuradhapura.

“I always get the Blessings of Sacred Sri Maha Bodhi before I started my previous election campaigns and we had landslide victories in each of those elections. I am confident that we will obtain a victory at the forthcoming polls”.

The government is targeting a massive development drive in the post conflict era. But the recent floods and landslides damaged the agricultural sector in Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Batticaloa and Vavuniya districts.

Paddy cultivation faces a loss of over Rs. 5,000 million and the government is ready to help the farmers to recover the losses. It will not be a difficult task for us to recover from these damages.

Some people accuse the government for this devastation. Some elements with ulterior political motives are trying to tarnish the government ‘s achievements in its run for speedy development. But we are confident that we can come out of any obstacle and reach our defined targets.

The government has a great trust in the people and if you go to village level, you can observe the efforts taken by the government to develop villages.

They say that we are trying to sell State assets but we are a government that took all the initiatives to protect state assets.

Don’t be misled by these elements. Their tactics reveal their bankruptcy. These elements cannot deter us. We have the courage and determination to overcome challenges as we have shown in the past.

We are committed to uplift the living standards of the people and develop the country. We would make Sri Lanka the ‘Wonder of Asia’.

We are a government that looked into the needs of the villages. We want to create a vibrant village structure to uplift the lives of the villagers. A program to electrify all the houses is going on.

All the necessary infrastructure facilities have been given to villages. We aim for village development through Pradeshiya Sabbas to boost the village economy.

But there is a segment who do not like to see villages being developed. They want villages to be backward and they don’t want villagers to have a good economy.

As a responsible government we will do our best to uplift the lives of villagers. The UPFA government never gave broken promises. We need the support of everyone to meet the task and emerge from the devastation to get the people back on their feet.

The President as the Commander-in-Chief met the outgoing Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) and the new Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Roshan Goonetileke and also the new SLAF Commander Air Marshal Harsha Abeywickrama at Temple Trees.

President visited kfir crash site

It was just a day more for the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) to celebrate its 60th Anniversary, two of its Kfir fighter jets, which were in a fly past rehearsal for the celebrations, collided in Yakkala.

The news about the crash that killed an experienced fighter pilot - Flight Lieutenant Monath Perera- caused immense grief to the nation. President Mahinda Rajapaksa rushed to the crash site at Nelligahamula, Warana in the Gampaha district.

On Maha Sivarathri Day, in his message President Rajapaksa called for a stronger unity among all Sri Lankans.

He said in the freedom that prevails in Sri Lanka, the common aspiration was for a virtuous society. "May every lamp lit by Hindus to Lord Shiva on this Maha Sivarathri day help dispel the darkness of ignorance and bring the light of stronger unity among all our peoples', he said in his message.

SLAF celebrations

Inaugurating the SLAF's colourful 60th anniversary, President Rajapaksa commended its contribution since 1983 to defeat LTTE terrorism while taking very accurate enemy targets without causing damage to civilians.

"The SLAF had a very difficult task, as the LTTE hideouts were in villages. When the government ordered to maintain a zero casualty policy to protect civilians, the SLAF was fully committed and accurately took on enemy targets while protecting civilians", President Rajapaksa said adding that Sri Lanka's history could have been different, if the SLAF failed in its air offensives.

I am proud to say that the SLAF did not cause much damage compared to the damage caused by other Air Forces in other countries, which have the most sophisticated air equipment and technology.

"Some, who opposed and criticised the humanitarian mission, have again begun criticising the government for having military parades and celebrations to commemorate military victory. They accuse us for exploiting the military victory to gain political mileage. But these are the people who opposed destroying the LTTE and demanded to stop the military push. Now they are on a propaganda campaign, here and abroad, to tarnish the image of the government.

But the government would not allow these critics to let the military victory be erased from the minds of the people.

The three forces, Police and the Civil Defence Force, never caused damage to the lives and properties in the North and East. They made every effort to save lives and to put an end to terrorism. Today they engage in a mission to rebuild the nation and our main goal is to develop Sri Lanka which was devastated by the LTTE.

The SLAF now helps people to resettled in their villages and to start their lives from scratch as the LTTE has destroyed their lives in addition to properties.

President meets Mullaitivu Citizen Front

The representatives of the Citizens Front in Mullaitivu, who met President Rajapaksa on March 3 sought government support to contest the LG polls. He discussed their problems and agreed to look into the suggestions made by the representatives to face the polls.

Govt's intention: uplift the lives of every farmer

The National Farmer's Convention, with a participation of over 7,000 farmers from 25 districts, was held at Temple Trees on March 4.

President Rajapaksa launching the 'Divi Neguma' program said the government's intention was to uplift the living standard of every farmer.

"Some predict of that there would be a world food crisis in 2012 but by that time we would be self-sufficient and the government will continue to help farmers to meet any future challenges

The government encouraged people to eat rice instead of bread. The per capita rice consumption of 98 kgs have been increased to 116 kgs now. I am personally happy that the government brought about this change.

Following the Mahinda Chintana, a 50 kg fertiliser bag was given to farmers at Rs 350. But when I announced this the opposition asked whether we have found an Aladin's lamp. Without having Aladdin's lamp, the fertiliser subsidy which I promised, is being given continuously, allocating millions of rupees, as the government knows that it is an investment.

President Rajapaksa requested people to join the government's mission to be self-sufficient by begin planting in their home gardens.

The government has launched a national program to set up one million domestic economic units to encourage families to cultivate their own vegetable and fruit requirement.

These home gardens will not only fulfil requirements of the family but also help them to be financially sound.UPFA Colombo district meeting

The UPFA Colombo District contestants for the LG polls met the President on Friday. President Rajapaksa said that some claimed that the elections were an opportunity to topple the government but they had to wait some many more years to do so.

"This is the time to join with the government to develop the country", he said.

As the people are with the government, some people were attempting to stop us through western forces. They want to take us before a war tribunal.

There is a procedure to take any legal action if we have committed any crime. But what we want to ask from these parties is what is the crime we have committed?. Is it because we destroyed the ruthless terrorists - the LTTE? Is it that we united a divided country? Is it because we brought an environment where all communities could live together peacefully ? They accuse us that we committed human rights violations, but who committed all this? it is the Opposition that helps to propagate all this. Always give a thought about your motherland.

The government is committed to develop this country and our activities cannot be deterred by spreading rumours.

President Rajapaksa said there were power cuts in most of the Asian countries but Sri Lanka had a smooth power supply as the government commissioned several mega power projects.

"Electricity is vital to develop the country. The government given priority to develop a good road network and we now have highways. This development is not limited to major cities including Colombo but it is extended to all villages. We would solve the water problems in the country soon by constructing drinking water projects in all districts", he said.

A healthy nation is vital for development 'Suwanetha Sinha' Eye Hospital constructed by the Janasarana Foundation at Gothatuwa was opened by the President on Friday.

He said that health and development goes together "If people are healthy, they can contribute more to the development of the country. The government spends a massive amount of money annually on health to have a healthy nation", the President said.