Stop alienating elected representatives from their constituents - TNA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 April 2007, 20:52 GMT]
"Tamil National Alliance (TNA) strongly condemns the sudden postponement of the Batticaloa District Development Committee (DDC) meeting scheduled for Wednesday at parliamentary complex, Colombo, by the President of DDC, Minister Ameer Ali, without informing Batticaloa district parliamentarians," a statement released by TNA Wednesday in Colombo said.

The excerpts of the statement are as follow:

The Batticaloa District Development Committee meeting, normally held in Batticaloa Government Secretariat, was relocated to Colombo parliamentary complex because of the death threat issued to Batticaloa district TNA Parliamentarians by the paramilitary Karuna group, preventing them from going to their electorates. It was scheduled for Wednesday.

The date of the meeting is usually fixed with the consent and advice from the district's elected representatives. However, the procedure was overlooked and the personal wishes of an individual minister have been upheld in postponing the DDC meeting. TNA strongly condemns this action.

In Batticaloa district, nearly 150,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Trincomalee, Vaharai and Paduvankarai languish in IDP Transit Camps with inadequate facilities. The recent torrential rain has worsened their woes.

We are unable to obtain the first hand information of their urgent needs to take steps to reduce their suffering because of the government's creation of insecure conditions in Batticaloa district.

The elected representatives of a district are the persons who aware well the real problems of the people and viable remedies to them. As Sri Lanka government prevent the peoples' elected representatives meeting their constituents the problems of the IDPs continue unattended and unresolved.

The Ministry of Disaster Management and Ministry for Rehabilitation promote the intention of the government by holding important meetings in Ministries in Colombo and in Temple Trees, ignoring the participation of the elected representatives of the people concerned.

We wish to reiterate that any decision affecting the people should be made in consultation with their elected representatives in future.

Chronology:


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