SL president suspends plans to relocate NPC offices to Ki'linochchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 August 2010, 05:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa has directly intervened to immediately suspend the plans of Northern Province Governor, Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri to relocate the offices of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) functioning in Trincomalee to Ki'linochchi, NPC sources said. The president had called Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri to his official residence and issued the order. Moreover, President's brother and Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Gothabaya Rajapaka had severely warned the officials of NPC 'not to even think' of relocating the offices, they added.

It had been scheduled for NPC offices to start functioning 1 August in Ki'linochchi.

It emerges that Basil Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka minister and brother of president Mahinda Rajapaksa too had expressed his strong opposition to Chandarsiri's plan.

Chandrasiri is very keen on making use of the buildings earlier used by Liberation Tigers in Ki’linochchi as NPC departmental offices and a residence for the Governor.

Earlier, plans to move Northern Provincial Council (NPC) and its offices now functioning in Trincomalee to Ki’linochchi by Northern Province Governor Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri had been indefinitely postponed due to opposed opinion of the NPC officials who maintained that Ki’linochchi has not returned to normalcy and there are no basic facilities for the officials and employees to reside and work.