Roads lead to ruin – Prime Minister Wickramanayake

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 September 2009, 19:14 GMT]
Sri Lanka will not open up closed roads despite defeating the Tamil Tigers because this could cause the economy to collapse, the country’s Prime Minister was quoted as saying last week. "Do you remember what happened to the Soviet Union under Gorbachev? He opened the roads immediately and what happened? The entire country collapsed. We can't afford to do that," Ratnasiri Wickramanayake told a business forum in Colombo last Tuesday, according to the business news portal, Lanka Business Online.

"It is true the ongoing battle is over [sic] but we are still unearthing and finding various things that have been planted in various parts of the country such as Colombo and suburbs," Mr. Wickramanayake said.

"In fact about a week ago we traced a package of 20 kilograms of explosives and we unearthed so many jackets of suicide bombers. So we can't still open the roads," he said.

Noting that “roads in Colombo are cordoned-off without prior notice to allow government bigwigs to pass through [and] many roads have security checkpoints,” LBO also observed that “despite the security blanket there have been a string of abductions by 'white vans' and disappearances. Among those who have been killed by unknown gangs have been journalists.”

The Prime Minister was also reportedly at a loss at several deaths in police custody.

"A lot of people even before they are taken to courts are killed, I don't know how they are killed; don't ask me those questions but they get killed."