3RD LEAD

Colombo's militarisation budget to increase by 26%

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 October 2012, 14:58 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry, headed by SL presidential sibling Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, has sought a 26% increase in its military and ‘urban development’ expenditures for the year 2013, news sources in Colombo said. The military expenditure for the year 2012 was 230 billion rupees out of a total budget of 2,220 billion. For the year 2013, out of a total budget of 2,520 billion, the SL defence ministry seeks 290 billion rupees. While the budget increase is 13% the military seeks 26% increase, a double. Meanwhile, a group of international academics pointed out last week that Sri Lanka's expenditure on education is only 1.86% of the GDP, which is the lowest in South Asia and one of the lowest in the world.

“This crisis [in the education sector] is compounded by reports of rural school closures, problems in schools and university entrance exams and the politicisation and militarisation of the education space,” the academics said in an appeal last week supporting the striking university teachers in the island.

Colombo should increase state spending in education to the order of 6% of GDP which has been recommended by UNESCO and agreed by the SL government in international forums, the international academics further said.

Currently, the SL military is alotted with 10.3% of the budget. The increase the military seeks will make the allotment 11.5% of the budget in 2013.

In the meantime, according to Lalith Weeratunga who heads a ‘National Action Plan Task Force’ for the implementation of LLRC findings, various other ministries of the Colombo government would also get funds to proceed further with LLRC ‘implementation’.

The LLRC implementation, supporting demographic changes, subtly paving way for the slow death of Tamil language and denying territory-based political solution, is regarded by Eezham Tamils as the blueprint for the completion of structural genocide and annihilation of the nation of Eezham Tamils. The LLRC implementation expects to achieve its goals by the year 2020.