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| Sunday, 31 October 2004 |
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Politics |  |
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Govt. claims baseless, says UNP Deputy Secretary by Rohan Mathes UNP Deputy Secretary-General Tissa Attanayake refutes Government claims of paying colossal salaries to foreign advisors during the UNP regime. Tissa Attanayake in an exclusive interview to the Sunday Observer said that the government was engaged in a 'mud-slinging' campaign against their leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and their party by propagating baseless and distorted news via the media and it is indeed deplorable. "The reality was not as the government claims. I am not aware of the exact figures of the salaries paid to the foreign advisors. Nevertheless, any government would engage foreign advisors for specific tasks. One such crucial task was the 'Re-gaining Sri Lanka' programme which had received international acclaim and massive funding arrangements within a period of four years. We needed special expertise and skills to implement this programme", he said. He explained that donor countries do not just offer aid placed on a platter. They impose certain conditions which have to be adhered by the donee countries if they are to receive the envisaged funding. It was on those conditions that Sri Lanka was pledged with US$ 4.5 billion aid, a great victory achieved in this era, for the re-juvenation of the country. "Complying with these conditions and engaging foreign advisors does not necessarily imply that we don't have our own expertise for the job. That's how it happens and we don't have the strength to resist it", he opined. He categorically denied recent accusations made by the government that foreign advisors were sought at very high remunerations to adjust Ranil Wickremesinghe's hair and advise on his clothing, speech and media among others. "This was an absolute canard", Attanayake quipped. He added that while making these false and baseless accusations, the government was simultaneously requesting the UNP to support and co-operate in their peace efforts and other work programmes, which seemed ridiculous. |
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