President ready to resolve issues of people in the North

President Maithripala Sirisena said the government is ready to hear the voice of the people and protect their rights and his administration has already taken measures to resolve the issues of people living in the Northern Province.

The President said that special attention has been drawn on improving education, health, and livelihoods of the people in the north.

The President was speaking at a special event held in line with the National Kidney Disease Prevention Program at the Bo Gas Wewa Madya Maha Vidyalaya in the Vavuniya District on Sunday (June 12).

Speaking further, the President said the resettlement programs for the people still displaced after the end of the war are also in progress. He noted that as a result of country’s positive foreign policy, the international community has extended their support in different perspectives.

President Sirisena declared open a water scheme that will provide clean drinking water to 1500 families in the area. The water filtration system was constructed in the premises of the Bo Gas Wewa army camp for the use of people. He also distributed water filters to 100 families affected by the kidney disease.

The President launched a program to construct houses for the disease affected families who did not have a permanent home and also awarded scholarships to children of those families.

Governor of Northern Province Reginald Cooray, Ministers Rishad Bathiudeen and Gayantha Karunathilaka, Vavuniya district MP Kader Masthan, Northern Province Minister of Health Dr. Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam and Director of the Presidential Task Force for Kidney Disease Prevention Asela Iddawela also participated in the occasion.

UNHRC renews call for inclusive engagement in Sri Lanka

After several years of being high on the agenda of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Sri Lanka yesterday received only a passing mention in the opening statement by the UN’s top envoy on Human Rights at the first day of the 32nd session of the Council that kicked off in Geneva yesterday.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein who referred to Sri Lanka very far down in his speech, told the Council yesterday that there should be an “inclusive and meaningful engagement” of all Sri Lankans in implementing the UN resolution on Sri Lanka adopted by the Council in September last year. 

Zeid said the Sri Lankan government’s efforts to implement its commitments in resolution would require a comprehensive strategy on transitional justice that enables it to pursue different processes in a coordinated, integrated and appropriately sequenced manner

 “This will require the inclusive and meaningful engagement of all Sri Lankans. I will present an oral update later in the session,” Zeid said in Geneva. (DB)