2 Thursday 18th March, 2010 The Island Home News Page Two Are you a lucky winner?

SATURDAY FORTUNE JATHIKA SAMPATHA SUPIRI VASANA MAHAJANA SAMPATHA DEVELOPMENT FORTUNE DOUBLE CHANCE JAYAVIRU GOVI SETHA VASANA Date 24-02-2010 Date:03-03-2010 Draw No: 01 SAMPATHA SAMPATHA Date: 12-03-2010 Draw No: 1174 Date:03-03-2010 Date: 08-03-2010 Draw No.2099 Draw No.01 Date 16-03-2010 Date 09-03-2010 Date: 11-03-2010 Date: 13-03-2010 Draw No. 2215 Draw No. 501 Draw Bones No55 Bonus No:04 Zodiac Symbol: Cancer Super No.23 Draw No. 810 Draw No. 540 Winning No: Winning Nos: Winning Nos : No. 745 Winning No: Winning Nos: Winning Nos: Bonus No. 15 Bonus No. 25 U-0-0-7-9-9-7 21 - 36 - 39 - 47 03 - 19 - 21 - 28 S- 18-37- 68- 71 L- 02 - 29 - 32 -52 E- 19 - 38 - 50 -64 R- 18- 27- 28- 64 D- 4 - 9- 3 - 6- 4- 3 30-40-45-52 Polonnaruwa candidates not involved in ‘Battle of the Blues’ by Shamindra Ferdinando said ministerial appointments were not SLFP general secretary Maithripala the only opportunities available in the Sirisena yesterday (March 17) said government. UPFA candidates contesting from The minister said that the UPFA Polonnaruwa electoral district had could comfortably secure over 65 per ensured a peaceful environment, though cent of the total polled at the forthcom- there were a spate of clashes among ing general election. He expressed confi- UPFA candidates in some other parts of dence that the government could do the country. The Polonnaruwa district much better than at the recently con- leader said that eight UPFA candidates cluded presidential election, which in the fray had the opportunity to use all President Rajapaksa had secured with 237 party offices set up in the district as over a staggering 1.8 million majority. part of an overall plan to promote soli- He emphasized that a stable parlia- darity among candidates. He said that Maithripala Sirisena and Maheepala ment was needed to introduce far reach- the Polonnaruwa district had set an Herath at Mahaweli centre. Pic Gamini ing constitutional reforms required to While the police are fighting an uphill battle to clear election propaganda materi- example, which should be emulated. MUnasinghe develop the country in the wake the of al, some politicians use official vehicles to promote candidates contesting the forthcoming parliamentary election. Our cameraman, Gamini Munasinghe yester- He was responding to a query raised Premjayantha and he had received a armed forces’ triumph over the LTTE. day captured a government vehicle carrying a smiling photograph of by The Island at an SLFP press briefing presidential directive to inquire into He said that an accelerated development Sabaragamuwa Chief Minister Maheepala Herath and his son, Kanaka contesting at the Mahaweli centre. Asked whether alleged clashes among UPFA candidates. programme could not be implemented from the Kegalle district. The vehicle was parked at the Mahaweli centre, where the top SLFP leadership could not pre- He emphasized that anyone flouting without having full control of parlia- Maheepala Herath addressed the media along with SLFP general secretary vent in-fighting among candidates, the presidential directive to engage in a ment. Maithripala Sirisena. though it (SLFP) had criticized UNP peaceful propaganda campaign would He said that a vote for the UPFA, too, leader Ranil Wickremesinghe for failing not be considered for government posts. should be considered a second vote for to reign in members, trouble makers Asked whether the government planned President Rajapaksa. The April 8 elec- would not be eligible for ministerial or to reduce the number of ministers on tion would give the electorate an oppor- Unauthorized polls offices other posts. Minister Sirisena said that the basis of their conduct in the run-up tunity to endorse the President again, he UPFA Gen. Secretary Susil to the April 8 election, Minister Sirisena said. cause clashes - PAFFREL by Franklin R. Satyapalan political party. “Otherwise they are illegal offices and police must act in 1,000 jobless ... Election monitors PAFFREL say accordance with the law and remove that the proliferation of illegal elec- them,” he said. From page 1 tion offices has become one of the “The party offices had been main reasons for the polls violence. opened haphazardly with candidates ETF and EPF dues, though money had PAFFREL Executive Director from one Political Party or been deducted from workers’ salaries. Rohana Hettiarachchi yesterday said Independent Group opening Offices They added that the management had the majority of party offices erected next to each other leading to support- taken advantage of poor supervision on at every junction and on roadsides ers their supporters clashing,” he the part of relevant authorities to manip- were illegal as they were not regis- said. ulate the process. tered according to the regulations Hettiarachchi said that there are Speculation is rife that a US-based Sri prescribed by the Elections 7,620 candidates belonging to 36 polit- Lankan had helped the company to secure Commissioner. ical parties and 301 Independent funds from one of the Sri Lankan banks Each such office had to be regis- groups in the fray and they are all involved in the transactions. tered at the Election Secretariat in legally entitled to open party offices A non-career diplomat, too, is widely Colombo through an assistant elec- within the districts from which they believed to have backed the California- tion commissioner and the police sta- contest. “But these offices have to based Sri Lankan in his endeavour. tion in the area it belongs to by the meet the conditions stipulated by the (SF) General Secretary of the respective Commissioner of Elections,” he said.

Expert... From page 1 Fonseka... From page 1 reconciliation, the treatment of inter- President Rajapaksa flanked by Rohitha Bogollagama and Mrs Bogollagama nally displaced persons (IDPs) and the set- hear the second set of charges visions in the Army Act empowered the ting up of an accountability process since against the former Army Commander. judges of one Court Martial to be in he reached the joint statement with Mahinda won’t ask for Maj. Gen. H. L. Weeratunga another tribunal trying the same President Rajapaksa. informed the tribunal that the members accused, provided the alleged prosecut- Earlier this month Ban Ki-moon had two-thirds majority of the court martial had decided on that ing charges were of different nature. what he described as “a frank and honest course of action as they were hearing The Court martial had preferred to be exchange of views” by telephone with President Mahinda Rajapaksa on war against the LTTE, the Foreign separate charges against the same reconvened for the sake of maintaining Rajapaksa. Tuesday (March 16), said that he needed Ministry and Foreign Minister Rohitha accused. a high degree of transparency and B. Lynn Pascoe, the Under-Secretary- a stable government, though he would Bogollagama, who is the SLFP chief The tribunal, considering submis- unprejudiced nature, the army website General for Political Affairs, is slated to not ask for two-thirds, one-third or five- organiser for Kotte, responded swiftly sions, maintained that although the pro- said. soon head to Sri Lanka for talks with sen- sixth of a majority in Parliament. and decisively to foreign interference. ior officials in the government. Addressing a public meeting at Kotte In an obvious reference to the ongo- organized in support of Foreign ing court martial of former Army MATHQUIZ 2010 Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, the Commander Gen. (retd) Sarath Fonseka, A UNP... From page 1 President said that he would not talk he said “the JR’s Constitution has MATHQUIZ 2010, the islandwide quiz organized. with the aim of guiding the about a two-thirds majority in parlia- placed me above the law. According to of mathematical sciences, organized by students towards mathematical sciences launching development programmes. ment. He said that the UPFA had only JR’s Constitution, the judiciary could section E1 of Sri Lanka. Association for in a proper manner and to entrust them The UNP had documentary evidence that one MP more than the Opposition at the not be moved against me, though every Advancement of Sciences, the with the knowledge on both historical the government had taken several unoffi- time parliament elected the Speaker, but soldier was subject to Military Law.” Department of Mathematics of the and modern aspects of mathematical sci- cial loans at high interest rates. at the time of dissolution, the ruling Bogollagama said that under the University of Colombo and. the Ministry ences.- The organizers expect to receive The UNP leader said that Parliament coalition had a majority of 47 members, Rajapaksa presidency, the country had of Education, in collaboration with the applications from a variety of students, would decide on the repayment of such including the Speaker. He said that at defeated LTTE terrorism and restored science magazine Vidusara is currently since it is to be held in all three mediums loans. the parliamentary election, the vote for peace. He expressed confidence that receiving applications. - Sinhala, Tamil and English. Foreign debts posed a threat to the betel leaf would be his manape (prefer- under President Rajapaksa’s leadership, An abridged series. of articles on the For further details contact: Dr country’s economy, he said citing an ential vote) and the voters could pick the country could achieve what no pre- quiz are published on Vidusara and also Sanjeewa Perera (071-5352616) / HSBC loan as an example. three candidates of their choice. vious administration had attained since the application was published on the vol- Anuradha Mahasinghe- (077-8290095). Wickremasinghe said that the The President said that during the independence.(SF) umes on 3rd and 10th of March. This is Constitution had to be amended and the UNP had decided on a hybrid electoral system consisting of features of both PR and the first-past-the-post systems. Hundred and twenty-five MPs would be Wind power project row: SLSEA rejects CEB engineers’ concerns elected direct from the electorates, he Apropos our recent news items on gen- which will be inaugurated by the ly resulting in the attraction of private failed to deter the lone crusader of Sri said. eration of wind power in the Puttalam dis- President this month, is the first such sector investments to the wind power proj- Lankan hydropower, Eng. D. J. UNP Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya trict, the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy project undertaken by the private sector. ects. Wimalasurendre, to steer the power gener- said that a concept of India’s Prime Authority (SLSEA) said that concerns The entry of the private sector into On the issue of paying a high tariff to ation base from oil-fired plants to hydro Minister Manamohan Sing had helped expressed by a section of the CEB, partic- small power generation is a result of the wind power projects, it has to be kept in power plants. India generate employment through the ularly engineers, were baseless. difficulty in catering to small plant sizes mind that even though it appears consid- Even though he did not live long to see Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). The The following is the full text of the by the state sector. erably higher than the average consumer the realization of the full potential of UNP had already formulated a plan to statement issued by the Director-General It has to be kept in mind, that after tariff, unlike fuel-burning power plants, hydropower being realised by the Sri adopt the Business Process Outsourcing of SLESA: commissioning the first ever wind power the tariff remains virtually unchanged till Lankans, we hope to see the day when the system to tackle the problem of unem- “The wind power development pro- plant in Hambantota by the Ceylon the very end of the contract period of 20 optimum potential of the wind resource is gramme, facilitated by the Sri Lanka Electricity Board (CEB) in 1998, all years. harnessed for an energy secure Sri Lanka. ployment. Sustainable Energy Authority (SLSEA), is attempts to formulate a commercial scale Further, if these projects are on 3-tier “Support from all stakeholders, includ- SLFP (Mahajana Wing) leader a part and parcel of the National Energy wind power plant did not succeed. tariff, the higher tariff will be paid only ing the CEB Engineers Union is a dire Mangala Samaraweera said that politi- Policy and Strategies of the GoSL and is a Even the private sector encountered during the first 8-year period of the con- necessity at this crucial hour to make our cization of the Samurdhi beneficiaries by significant contributor to the diversity of many issues, ranging from grid intercon- tract and the tariff could become very low journey a less arduous one than one Eng. the UPFA government was a national energy resources used in power genera- nection to lack of wind data to proceed in the last tier of the contract, to a level as Wimalasuredra took 60 years ago,” the crime. It had been found that Samurdhi tion. froth with a commercial scale wind power low as LKR 5.06/kWh in present terms, SLSEA statement said. families who did not wish to support the The GoSL has given SEA a policy tar- project. which is only 30% of the average cost of News Editor’s note: We stand by ruling party were harassed and their ben- get of meeting 10% of our electricity gen- However, with the establishment of generation today, even at the prevalent our position that the country would efits removed. The UNP had decided to eration from Non-Conventional the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy subsidised price paid by CEB for oil used not benefit from ongoing moves to gen- assist all Samurdhi beneficiaries irrespec- Renewable Energy (NCRE) sources by Authority (SLSEA) in 2007) and the intro- in both private and its own power plants. erate wind power, due to one-sided 2015. duction of the cost-based tariff regime, We would also like to point out here agreements, reached at the expense of tive of political affiliations, he said. The Mampuri wind power project the investment climate changed drastical- that similar, if not stronger, objections the national interest.