House suspended twice

Wednesday, 21 June 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The unruly behaviour of members led the Speaker to suspend the House on two occasions yesterday.

Heated debates on delays in disaster management and the dengue epidemic control prevented the Speaker from executing the day’s agenda.

On the first occasion the Speaker was compelled to suspend sittings with Opposition lawmakers staging a protest demanding solutions to the dengue crisis and delays in addressing the issues of areas recently hit by floods and landslides.

UPFA Joint Opposition group leader Dinesh Gunawardena, making a special statement, said: “The Government ministers had made various statements promising to ease the suffering of people displaced by floods and landslides but people are yet to get what they were promised.

The Government failed to deliver its promises to help them recover. In the meantime, people in the North, North Central and Eastern provinces and Kurunegala District suffer without drinking water and from the drought. Only 30% of tanks have some water but that would not be sufficient for thousands of people. More than 200 people have died while 65,000 others were in hospitals because of the dengue disease which has reached epidemic proportions. Hospitals are closed, unable to accept more patients.”(AH)