Highways and Road Development Minister Kabir Hashim speaks at the press briefing at Temple Trees yesterday while Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam looks on – Pic by Sameera Wijesinghe 

• Govt. to propose new committee headed by President and PM to improve coordination on security 
• Proposal to be discussed at Cabinet today, measure to bridge security gaps 
• Five or six key Cabinet ministers to also be members to improve coordination 
• Govt. priority to establish normalcy, return investor confidence 
• People without visas teaching in Muslim schools to be deported 

By Uditha Jayasinghe  

The Government will propose to Cabinet the establishment of a new committee headed by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to improve coordination on security measures, keep more Cabinet members informed of security concerns and improve responses to critical information.    

United National Party (UNP) Chairman and Highways and Road Development Minister Kabir Hashim told reporters at Temple Trees that the proposal would be discussed at the Cabinet meeting today. He also said that if the proposal is approved the Committee would include about five or six of the key Cabinet Ministers to improve ease of information sharing and decision making. 

“There has been a lot of criticism about a lapse in acting on intelligence ahead of these attacks so we are looking at a way to bridge this divide and share important information more seamlessly between the different branches of Government. The committee would be headed by the President and the Prime Minister and important information could be relayed to key ministers so that they can also act in an emergency,” he said.   

Hashim who was addressing media with UNP General Secretary and Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam insisted that the main focus on the Government at this point was to return the country to normalcy and work on putting the economy back on track. 

He dismissed calls for the President and members of the UNP to step down pointing out that it would only increase instability and would not help the country to regain lost international confidence as a safe and stable destination. 

“It is easy to call for resignations and it’s even easy to resign and leave. But the real challenge is to face the criticisms and overcome the problems and fix what went wrong. This is what we are trying to do. The country has to return to normal. We have to find a way to repair the damage done to the economy. We have to show the world that Sri Lanka is still open and it is still safe to come here. We have to restore investor confidence. These are our priorities,” he said. 

Both Hashim and Kariyawasam underscored the importance of politicians on both sides of the political divide working together and called for Opposition support to get the Counter Terrorism Act (CTA) passed in Parliament as soon as possible. They also reiterated that the Government has accepted collective responsibility for the attacks and were working to fix shortcomings. Hashim insisted that the Muslim community should not be isolated in measures taken in response to the Easter Sunday attacks. 

“The Opposition is trying to use this tragic situation to their advantage. Even before the seven day almsgiving is completed Opposition politicians are lining up to come to power by using this event. That is terrible and we ask these politicians to work with us for the benefit of the people,” Kariyawasam said. 

The Education Ministry will work with the Internal Affairs Ministry and the Muslim Affairs Ministry to identify schools where foreigners without valid visa are teaching and have them deported immediately, Kariyawasam said. 

A separate communique was released by the Internal Affairs Ministry later in the day confirming the measure and saying the decision was taken following discussions between the ministers. The Immigration and Emigration Department has been notified to expedite the deportation, the statement by the Internal Affairs Ministry said.    

Praising the work of the security forces Kariyawasam rejected opposition statements that the intelligence agencies had been undermined by the Government. Pointing out that Sri Lanka has about seven different branches of intelligence he said that as many as 1,000 officials are working in intelligence agencies under the military, police, navy and air force. 

He pointed out that only four intelligence officials are being held for criminal activities after extensive investigations were conducted and others connected to the deaths of journalists Pradeep Eknaligoda and Lasantha Wickramatunge were out on bail. 

“There is no truth to the statements that we have undermined intelligence. If we had how can they be working so well now? We must let the security forces continue their excellent work and support them as much as we can.”     

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