Lanka News – Lanka Gazette – Sri Lanka News Portal

* Laud President‘s dynamic leadership

* Call for stronger cooperation

The Cabinet decided to implement number of development programmes in Matara, inclusive of the construction of a convention hall, on a proposal by the President as defence and urban development minister.

The Matara Municipal Council area has been declared as an Urban Development Area under the Urban Development Authority. The development of Nilwala Riverside Park and the development of Urban Forest will also be carried out at Rs 108 million. Around

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Nobody can say that the government does not have a proposal to be presented to the proposed Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to find a solution to the ethnic issue. The government‘s proposal will be presented to the PSC. President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that he will abide by the final decision taken by the PSC, Environment Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said.

Addressing the weekly Cabinet press briefing at the Government Information Department Auditorium yesterday, Minister Yapa said that any SLFP MP can have his or her opinion on the ethnic issue, LLRC recommendations, etc but it is not the opinion of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

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“Sri Lanka is not going to make decisions to make NGOs and other countries happy; what is best for our country and our people will be decided by the people of Sri Lanka” Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, Karunathilaka Amunugama told Daily News. He said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has made this clear on many occassions in the past.

Referring to criticisms by Western countries, INGOs and the Tamil National Alliance that the LLRC does not adequately address accountability issues, Amunugama said most of these agencies and countries had drafted their statements even before the LLRC report was published. “We know that we can’t make them happy no matter what we do. We can’t help that,” he said.

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* ‘Parliament’s decision on these matters is my decision’

* ‘No need for intermediaries’

“I will be asking all relevant political parties to come together in the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) process in an effort to iron out differences of opinion among them with regard to the issues facing our communities and to speed- up the normalization process in the country. All these parties and other relevant sections are obliged to put the interests of Sri Lanka above their self-interest,” President Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday at his monthly breakfast meeting with newspaper Editors at Temple Trees.

The issues confronting us in this context should be resolved democratically, through the PSC process.

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‘Whatever the obstacles, we shall not delay opportunities for economic development‘, President Mahinda Rajapaksa asserted yesterday.

The President noted the above at a ceremony held in Moneragala where land deeds were handed over to more than 10,000 landless families in the Uva Wellassa area, thereby granting legal ownership of the lands they were residing in.

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* LLRC recommendations very encouraging * EU welcomes PSC, Trilingual Policy

The European Parliament Members (MEPs) have generally agreed that Sri Lanka needs Europe’s constructive support and encouragement, rather than constant harassment in overcoming problems and building a more prosperous and secure future for all Sri Lankans.

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The Cabinet agreed to host the United Nations World Youth Conference in 2014. This is on a proposal by Youth Affairs and Skills Development Dullas Alahapperurna.

The Cabinet also gave its approval to obtain official UN endorsement and to use other diplomatic missions abroad to implement the global process for this conference.

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“The government has made a good start to implementing the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). Within the next two months, the process of implementing the LLRC recommendations will get fully underway,” External Affairs Minister Prof G L Peiris said.

He said the government will not present the LLRC report to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) as it was a report commissioned by the President to investigate internal issues. Prof Peiris said so at yesterday’s joint press conference with his Indonesian counterpart Dr. Marty Natalegawa.

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President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second year after being re-elected for a second term in office has been the most significant in terms of economic progress in the country.

During the year, Sri Lanka’s per capita income rose over US $ 2,000, placing Sri Lanka in the mid-income level country status for the first time in its history.

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