Attorney General to join Trinco fray

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 May 2005, 20:57 GMT]
The support of the Attorney General should be sought by the Special Commissioner of the Trincomalee Urban Council (UC) to implement a court order to temporarily remove a controversial Buddha statue and other unlawful religious structures in the eastern port town, officials decided Wednesday. The reason for the AG’s involvement was not clear, sources said.

The decision to involve the AG was taken at a four hour long conference held Wednesday evening at the office of the North East Provincial Governor.

Mr. Dilan Perera, Deputy Minister and a member of the senior government team sent by President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge Wednesday, spoke to the media afterwards.

He said the Trincomalee District Tamil Peoples Forum has agreed to put off its hartal action till June 2 to enabling the authorities concerned to implement the court decision.

(L-R) Mr.K.Sivapalan, Attorney-at-Law, Brammasiri Krishna Iyer, Fr.Annathas,Brammasiri Vikneswara Kurukkal.

(L-R) Mr.Gamini Rodrigo, Government Agent, Mr.Gunawardene, former MP, Mr.K.Thurairatnasingham, Trinco district MP, Mr.V.Vigneswaran and

The government committee led by Minister Maithiripala Sirisena and comprising Messrs Tyronne Fernando, Governor, Mr. Dilan Perera, Deputy Minister and Mr. Harim Peiris, Presidential Advisor, arrived in Trincomalee by special aircraft Wednesday afternoon

Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians, Mr. R. Sampanthan and Mr. K. Thurairatnasingham, Mr. M. K. A. Gunawardene, former parliamentarian, Mr. Gamini Rodrigo, Trincomalee Government Agent, Mr. Sundaram Arumainayagam, Trincomalee UC Special Commissioner, Mr. S. Vipulanandan, UC Secretary, Mr. K. Sivapalan, Attorney-at-Law, Mr. V. Vigneswaran and Mr. S. Gowrimuhunthan on behalf of the Trincomalee District Tamil Peoples Forum (TDTPF), Brammasiri Vikneswara Kurukkal and Rev. Fr. Annathas participated in the conference.

Mr. Perera told reporters that the government team first held discussion with Sinhala groups alone and later with the Tamil group.

The four and a half hour talks with the parties concerned had centred on the court judgment in the controversial Buddha statue issue, he said.

It was decided at the conference to seek further assistance from the Attorney General on behalf of the UC Special Commissioner to implement the court decision, he said, without elaborating.

It was also decided to request the Police not to allow any further development or changes in the place where the controversial Buddha statue stands, Mr. Perera said.

He said people should co-operate with the law enforcement authorities to maintain law and order to implement the court decision.

At the meeting, Mr. Sampanthan had called on Mr. Perera and Mr. Peiris to take all possible steps to ensure that the decisions taken at the conference are implemented effectively.

He requested that the law enforcement authorities should be instructed to provide all necessary assistance to the implementation of these decisions.




(L-R)Mr.Harim Peiris, Presidential Advisor, Mr.Tyronne Fernando, NE Governor, Mr.Dilan Perera, Deputy Minister and Mr.R.Sampanthan, Trincomalee parliamentarian.