Govt will resist external interference

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

Petroleum Industries Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa said it was rather unfortunate that some outsiders gave timeframes and deadlines to the Government after terrorism was defeated and it had done much for the people especially for those in the North and the East.

The Government has already launched reconciliation. It has rehabilitated ex-LTTE’ers and reintegrated them into mainstream society. Technical and vocational training have also been provided to them. Some ex-female LTTE’ers have been recruited to the Army, the Minister told the Sunday Observer.

“These significant development projects have been launched in the country. Having defeated terrorism, it will take some time to complete everything. Some external forces always try to pressurise us to do certain things. Ultimately we proved to them by defeating the LTTE, the world’s most ruthless terrorist outfit. Therefore, I don’t see any particular reason as to why they are trotting out various issues.”

The Minister said the Government has permitted anyone to come and see for themselves what is happening in Sri Lanka.

There may be political issues and we understand that. The Government is not prepared to bow down to anyone. The Government’s aim is to work towards its final goal and is moving in that direction.

Minister Yapa said reconciliation and rehabilitation are also a part of the whole process and we should let it continue. It takes time to implement certain things. Nevertheless, outsiders don’t seem to understand this issue properly. The Global Tamil Forum is spreading false rumours against the Government. Most of them who levelled baseless allegations against Sri Lanka have not even visited this country.