Thursday Nov 14, 2024
Thursday Nov 14, 2024
Friday, 25 April 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
engineer, R. Yogarajan a civil engineer, Nalin Bandara a well-known civil contractor and a businessman and I a legal officer.
The Mattala Airport and Hambantota Port are the so-called ‘massive development projects’ of the Rajapaksa regime. The Government always invites people to ‘come and see’ the ‘wonders’ that are taking place in the country. So we decided to visit these places. As a responsible Opposition we have a duty to tell the truth to the people in this country. We cannot allow the Government to hoodwink the people forever.
"We are not satisfied about the manner in which the Government is handling this issue. People who attacked us can be easily identified. But not a single arrest has been made so far. They are well-known people. All the media carried video footage and pictures of the Mayor of Hambantota along with some well-known thugs attacking us. These Government-sponsored goons have committed at least five or six criminal offences. The Police must record statements from these people and arrest them. But they have failed to arrest a single criminal involved. There is a serious delay in carrying out investigations. We are not satisfied at all"
We obtained prior permission for our inspection tour. We had obtained approval from Priyankara Jayaratna to visit Mattala Airport and approval from Dr. Priyanth Bandu Wickrama to visit the Hambantota Port. We invited the media to join us.
When we arrived at Mattala there were no protesters. We didn’t notice anything negative. We were inside the airport for almost an hour. When we came out we noticed the protestors. They started attacking us and pelted eggs at our entourage. They were the same team who were at the Hambantota Port. It is evident that the team was politically motivated. Pictures and videos prove they were led by Mayor of Hambantota.
Now the Government is trying to cover up the incident giving various lame excuses. The Government says certain remarks made by us provoked the people to act in that manner. This is a ridiculous accusation. We actually didn’t get an opportunity to make any remarks.
Q: What’s happening to the investigation?
A: We are not satisfied about the manner in which the Government is handling this issue. People who attacked us can be easily identified. But not a single arrest has been made so far. They are well-known people. All the media carried video footage and pictures of the Mayor of Hambantota along with some well-known thugs attacking us. These Government-sponsored goons have committed at least five or six criminal offences. The Police must record statements from these people and arrest them. But they have failed to arrest a single criminal involved. There is a serious delay in carrying out investigations. We are not satisfied at all.
Q: Why did you go to Mattala and Hambantota? What was the motive behind this tour?
A: We have been planning this for the last three to four months. Actually our team intends to carry out a series of such fact-finding missions. We have identified a number of places. This was our initiative step. When our team informed Acting Party Leader Karu Jayasuriya about this, he approved our decision.
"Although we had a negative start we will not stop our work. We will continue with our planned fact-finding missions. In fact we will get the support of experts. We will visit Hambantota again. This is our country. They can’t act as if Hambantota is a different state that does not belong to people in other areas. The most important question is, what are they trying to hide? If these are considered hubs of economic development, why do they get so uneasy when we visit these places?
No one should take this so lightly. This is not a mere attack on the UNP. The rights of lawfully-elected Parliamentarians are in danger. This is an insult to the Legislature. These henchmen didn’t attack a group of UNP Parliamentarians; they attacked the people of this country"
Although we had a negative start we will not stop our work. We will continue with our planned fact-finding missions. In fact we will get the support of experts. We will visit Hambantota again. This is our country. They can’t act as if Hambantota is a different state that does not belong to people in other areas.
The most important question is, what are they trying to hide? If these are considered hubs of economic development, why do they get so uneasy when we visit these places?
Q: What did you observe? What is your final remark?
A: We are yet to finalise the report. MP Eran Wickramaratne is handling the report. We will complete the report and present it to Acting Leader Karu Jayasuriya in a few days’ time. I don’t want to make premature statements about the contents of the report, but everything we observed and 
our findings are all included in this report. All the information will be available to the public soon.
Actually the attack has drawn lot of attention to our mission. Today everyone talks about our mission. We are receiving many suggestions and ideas. In future we will think of some creative way to carry out these fact-finding missions.
Q: Didn’t you realise it was a risk for an UNP entourage to visit Hambantota, the stronghold of the present regime? Were you only trying to gain political mileage?
A: We never expected this type of an outcome. We didn’t know this was going to happen. We never expected the Government to act in such a ridiculous and immature manner. They acted in such a foolish manner. No sane person would act like that in the presence of media.
All this time we have been shouting and saying the Government is stealing and playing out the people’s money. We talked about human rights violations and raised questions about democracy. But most people didn’t believe us. After the attack now people have realised there is actually truth in what we say. Now we have more credibility.
Gaining political mileage was not our main motive. We were there in good faith. But thanks to the Government we have received an enormous response.
Q: Chief Opposition Whip John Amaratunga has said that this will be reported to the International Parliamentary Union (IPU). Why do you want to take an internal matter to international level?
A: Reporting this to the IPU or the Commonwealth will be our last choice. Before that we will be meeting the Speaker. On 25 and 26 April we will raise a privilege issue in Parliament. If we don’t get a positive response, we are compelled to take it to the international level.
No one should take this so lightly. This is not a mere attack on the UNP. The rights of lawfully-elected Parliamentarians are in danger. This is an insult to the Legislature. These henchmen didn’t attack a group of UNP Parliamentarians; they attacked the people of this country.
Why did we have to go Mattala Airport and Hambantota Port? People in this country don’t get the correct information. We need to educate the people. We need to find out what is actually happening to the money that belongs to the people. When we try to do this, this is how the Government reacts. The Police were present when we were attacked, but they did not intervene. We have no confidence in this Government or its investigations. This is why we want to take it to the international level.
Q: NP has said that even under your administration, projects like Mattala Airport and Hambantota Port will not be closed down. If you intend to continue with their work, why do you criticise the development efforts of this Government?
A: They have invested billions of rupees in these projects. It will be a crime to shut down them. We will have to come up with a proper plan to make these ventures more profitable. We have experts in the relevant business fields. With their support we will have to develop plans to make these projects profitable. These are national assets. People in the country are maintaining these places by paying indirect taxes. We will have to protect these places. But that does not mean we accept each and every project this Government is carrying out. They are just showpieces of this extravagant administration.
