Harison's hopes shattered

A question raised by UNP parliamentarian P. Harison with Power and Energy Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi on the vehicle fleet of her ministry eventually led to a heated exchange of words on the floor of the House when the MP simultaneously queried on the Norochcholai power plant breakdowns. Despite the MP's question being irrelevant, the Minister gave him a comprehensive reply on the total number of power sector breakdowns reported during the UNP regime.

One figure got mixed up when Minister Wanniarachchi was answering the MP's question. The Minister however, rectified the error and apologised to the the House for it. She told the House in lighter vein that she had obtained a distinction in mathematics at the G.C.E. (Ordinary Level) examination. MP Harison who distorted the vehicle issue to gain political mileage posed another supplementary question to the Minister on the recent breakdown of the Norochcholai power plant.

The MP queried whether the Minister would accept that since its inception, 25 breakdowns have been reported from the Norochcholai power plant.

The Minister said that she would admit it but could give a comprehensive reply to the MP on the total number of breakdowns during the UNP time. Although MP Harison raised the question on Norochcholai to make a big hue and cry in Parliament, his hopes were shattered by the reply given by the Minister. She said after the Victoria project was commissioned by the then UNP Government, over 50 breakdowns had been reported during its first two years of operation while Kothmale had been shut down for 19 months. The Minister told the MP that breakdowns occur at power stations due to various technical faults but resume operations after rectifying them. She said the estimated value of the total units of power generated by Norochcholai to date amounts to Rs.65 billion while the total estimated cost of the Norochcholai project was Rs.42 billion.

The MP who was not very happy over the Minister's reply said he did not agree with the comments made by the Minister. MP Harison later said he would resign from his MP post, if the Minister could prove what she said before the House was correct. The Minister accepting the challenge said that she bears out this information with full responsibility. Later an uproar was created when UNP MP Mangala Samaraweera attempted to interrupt the Minister. The Minister who gave a sharp reply to Samaraweera said she always stood by the President and the Government.

The Government and the Opposition members on Wednesday unanimously approved three regulations pertaining to printing pictorial warnings on cigarette packets. These regulations were presented in Parliament by Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena under the provisions of the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol Act.

The Minister opening the debate said that smoking has killed about 20,000 persons year in Sri Lanka. He told the House that over 100 countries in the world, have printed pictorial warnings on cigarette packets. Over 20 percent of beds in the hospitals were occupied by patients suffering from various diseases due to alcohol and tobacco consumption.

UPFA Parliamentarian Dr. Rohana Pushpakumara who joined the debate said that the government always prefers a healthy nation to the tax revenue from cigarettes. The regulations that are debated today will not only benefit us but also generations to come. DNA MP Vijitha Herath said that pictorial warnings could surely discourage smokers, but we should not think that this alone will make the country free of smoking. We should bring in more laws to discourage promotion, marketing and manufacture of cigarettes. UPFA MP Shantha Bandara told the House that no new bar licences have been issued since President Mahinda Rajapaksa assumed office. He also said that pictorial warnings will discourage smokers.

Some heated words were exchanged between the Government and the Opposition members over expenses relating to President Mahinda Rajapaksa's foreign trips. The dispute arose when the government refused to submit such information in reply to a question raised by UNP MP Tissa Attanayake. MP Attanayake had inquired from the External Affairs Minister about the number of the President's foreign trips from 2005 up to date, the names of the countries, amount of funds spent on each of those trips, the number of persons who accompanied the President and the benefits enjoyed or expected to be enjoyed by the country in such visits. Chief Government Whip and Water Supply and Drainage Minister Dinesh Gunawardena on behalf of the External Affairs Minister said that the government would not answer the question quoting the Standing Orders that barred discussing the conduct of the President in Parliament. The Minister said that according to Section 78 of the Standing Orders, the President's conduct could not be debated in the House. If the Opposition needs to discuss it, then they should present it in the form of a substantive motion.

However, the Opposition members did not accept the reply given by Minister Gunawardena. This led to a series of arguments between the Government and the Opposition members. Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said that according to Section 42 of the Constitution, the President was responsible to Parliament. He said they are not asking anything about the conduct of the President. The question seeks only details and statistics pertaining to his visits abroad. Wickremesinghe said that he did not see any Standing Orders which prevent such information being given. DNA MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake said this particular question had been asked twice in the House but the government kept on asking for more time.

UPFA MP A.H.M. Azwer said that the Opposition could cite anything from the Constitution. But the parliamentary procedure is governed by the Standing Orders. Therefore, we should stick to the Standing Orders which state that the matters relating to the President could not be discussed. Citing an example Azwer said the then UNP Minister Ranjan Wijeratne on many occasions refused to answer similar questions. The Opposition Leader said they have raised similar questions with regard to the foreign trips of former Presidents Chandrika Kumaratunga and Ranasinghe Premadasa and the then governments gave the desired information. After considering the opinions expressed by Government and Opposition members, the Speaker gave a ruling that there was nothing wrong in giving information pertaining to the foreign visits of the President and the Opposition could raise this question again so that the government could answer it.

The issue of the acquisition of private lands in Colombo for the Government's city development projects turned into a main topic due to the special statement made by DNA MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Prime Minister D.M.Jayaratne said the people who would be evicted in the process of developing the Colombo city would either be given houses or compensated under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act. Responding to a series of questions raised by the MP the Premier said the number of the less-privileged peoples' houses has increased as a result of continuous encroaching on the state lands or erecting unauthorized structures in private lands. These lands with commercial value are acquired to build new housing schemes with more facilities for the dwellers and also to be used in urban development projects. MP Dissanayake said the lands acquired after demolishing houses and business places in Colombo had not been in keeping with the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act. He said people are being evicted and their houses and business places in the Colombo city are demolished. This has resulted in destroying their livelihoods as well as what they have built and earned during their life time.