The Island Home News Page Three Tuesday 23rd March, 2010 3 Navy in mid-sea US$ 640 mn IMF loan obtained by govt. rescue of critically-ill lying in foreign banks fisherman - Harsha de Silva The Navy res- on the rescue mission in cued a fisherman who was response to a request made ! Not a dollar used for suffering from chest pain in by the Fisheries and Aquatic development, North-East mid-sea and rushed him Resources department. ashore for immediate med- The crew members of the reconstruction ical assistance in the early Navy vessels took the dis- hours of March 21. tressed fisherman on board !US$ 93 mn Development The skipper of the multi- ashore and then admitted Bonds sold to repay high day fishing trawler named him to the Naval Hospital at ‘Kulan Puttha’ had been suf- Naval Dockyard Trincomalee cost commercial loans fering from a chest pain for immediate treatment. by Zacki Jabbar while engaged in fishing, 320 The patient is now in sta- km east of Trincomalee. ble condition, due to the An IMF standby The skipper was badly in timely measures taken by the facility totalling US$ 640 need of medical assistance, Sri Lanka Navy and its med- million obtained by the leaving the crew and the ical team. Rajapaksa government, craft in peril. He was later transferred was lying in foreign The Eastern Naval to the Trincomalee General banks and had not been Command Headquarters dis- Hospital and is undergoing used for development patched two fast naval crafts further medical check-ups. purposes as claimed, the Harsha de Silva UNP said yesterday. Economist and UNP National List MP, Harsha de Silva, addressing the media in , after launching the website All Co-ops www.lankaeconomist.com said that the allowed to government had lied to the people when it Police ‘probe activities claimed that the IMF standby facility was buy paddy to be used for development in general and post war reconstruction in the North and All Cooperative outlets in the East. country have been authorized “Not one dollar of the IMF standby to purchase paddy. Hitherto, facility totalling US$ 640 million, was used only the Paddy Marketing for the purpose stated. Last week the gov- Board (PMB) and selected of six key Tigers’ ernment raised US$ 93 million by selling Cooperative societies had been Sri Lanka Development Bonds, at an inter- authorized to purchase the The Police are verifying Minister Manmohan Singh According to news.lk, an the news portal. est rate of LIBOR plus 3.95%. This too we Maha harvest. inputs from Indian Central and arrived in Chennai to inaugu- official said there was informa- After careful analysis of the were told was for development activities. This decision follows sug- State intelligence agencies that rate the new Assembly and tion about some suspected threat perception to the prime But, it is being used to partly clear the gestions made by District some key LTTE cadres had Secretariat complex on March LTTE cadres who reached the minister, the official said the massive high cost commercial borrowing Secretaries and other sneaked into Tamil Nadu. 13th the Intelligence Bureau coast at Rameswaram and other ‘special protection group and resorted to in the last four and a half Agricultural authorities. The official government had alerted the Tamil Nadu places through clandestine other agencies made some rec- years.” The Ministry of Finance and news portal, citing highly- Police that six LTTE cadres had means. ommendations in the Advance The government has a track record of Planning has allocated Rs 3 bil- placed police sources, reported entered the city and were stay- The information was being Security Liaison meeting that misleading the public. It claimed that the lion to the PMBs and a further that hours before Prime ing at Valasaravakkam. verified at different levels, said were complied with fully. proceeds of the infamous HSBC bond of Rs 2 billion to the Cooperative US$ 500 million, was for development pur- societies. poses, but admitted subsequently that Secretary to the Treasury Dr. restrictions and difficulties. not a corrupt politician and is apart from various other mal- most of it had been used to repay previous P. B. Jayasundera has instruct- by Lal Gunesekera The fisheries industry is fac- trusted and accepted all over practices. loans, he said. “We challenged the legality ed all relevant officials to allo- uttalam District UNP ing a lot of hardships. Boats the world”, Ranga Bandara “The Election of raising the HSBC bonds. It was improp- cate the funds to all purchasing Leader Ranga Bandara that were given free to fisher- said. Commissioner’s orders are erly authorised, in violation of constitu- outlets without delay. Psaid, at a series of cam- men by an organisation have Bandara said that the UNF not followed by the police and tional provisions and laws governing pub- paign meetings in the district been sold with their engines. is contesting under the State media. Is the IGP lic finance. A future UNP government, over the last few days, that No houses have been built and Elephant symbol unlike the Balasuriya so blind that he will not honour the illegal loans raised by Holy Hour they cannot expect a free and they talk of development. Swan at the January 26 cannot see cut outs, banners, the regime.” fair election at the April 8 There are no new industries Presidential Election which posters which are yet being De Silva said that there was nothing A Holy Hour with Christ has Parliamentary Polls. Except and even the tourism sector was robbed from the UNF. He displayed in public areas. wrong in taking loans, but what was objec- been organised by the Old Boys tionable is that the government had fallen Batch of 82-83 at St. Joseph’s into a debt trap, by opting for high cost College, Darley Road at the College Chapel at 7 p.m, on Don’t expect commercial borrowing. Thursday (25). The “The UNP while in power obtained This will be conducted by Election Commissioner’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility redemptorist priest Rev. Fr. “ loans from the IMF, at very low interest Chandana Perera. free, fair polls orders are not followed by the rates. That is what you call responsible All old boys are requested to borrowing, benefiting the country.” join this service with their fam- police and State media. Is the IGP The launch of the website ilies and friends during this - UNP Balasuriya so blind that he cannot www.lankaeconomist.com, he said was a period of Lent. platform initiated by the UNP to “Winning for the Norochcholai Coal has been neglected. Seventy see cut outs, banners, posters “ Sri Lanka’s Economic War”. It will dis- Power Plant, no other develop- schools too have been closed.” which are yet being displayed in cuss the UNP’s official economic policy Talk on Buddhism ment was seen in the The former MP also spoke vis a vis the governments. Puttalam District. about the list of candidates public areas. Only orders Currently the government does as it Indika Perera will deliver a UPFA candidates had spent from both the ruling UPFA are given, but not followed. pleases and there was no debate on its eco- public talk on Buddhism millions of rupees on their and opposition UNF. The peo- nomic policies. www.lankaeconomist.com “Practice of Sati, when physi- campaigns. This was money ple of Puttalam District will Only orders are given, but not will not only ensure an exchange of views which could have been used cally sick” on Saturday March have to make a very crucial followed”, he said. between the government and opposition, instead for development pur- 27 at 3.30 p.m. at the Maithri decision on whom to vote for He said that the UPFA gov- but also invite the public to air their poses and welfare of the peo- on April 8. “The UNP and said that ballot papers were ernment is trying to split the Hall, Lauries Road, views. This will hopefully result in the ple of the Puttalam district. UNF leader Ranil burned and found in garbage votes by fielding their sup- Bambalapitiya. much needed fact based political-econom- He said: “There are only three Wickremesinghe could be bins like what was discovered porters as independents. The The event has been organ- ic discussion, that can help build the garment factories now and trusted to deliver the goods by in Ratnapura. Party Election ballot paper for Digamadulla ised by the Servants of Buddha others are contemplating clos- the next UNF government that Officers were chased away is four feet in length and peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka every- Society. ing down due to various will be voted into power. He is from counting centres too Colombo two and a half feet. one was looking for, de Silva said. More German investment on the way – Lankan official Harischandra Gunaratna they feel that it is safe to return home, he go ahead with the mega developments proj- ties live in harmony and live in a united In Frankfurt said. ects that have been lined up to achieve eco- Sri Lanka,” he said. Nihal Samarasinha, President of the nomic prosperity,” he pointed out. In view of the General Election in Sri Buddhi Athauda, Consul General for Sri SLFP branch, said that all committee mem- Samarasinha emphasised the need to Lanka, the committee met for the first time Lanka in Frankfurt, on Saturday expressed bers have expressed their fullest commit- amend the present Constitution as some of in 2010 to establish its agenda and action confidence that the UPFA government, ment and active participation in the party’s the archaic laws in the country would hin- plan, he added. under the leadership of President Mahinda campaign for the forthcoming general elec- der development. He also said that the gov- Samarasinha distributing a copy of the Rajapaksa, will usher in economic prosper- ‘Mahinda Chinthanaya’ to members, said ity to the country. He added that mega that he was happy to see that the member- investment projects have been lined up. ship had increased and added that he was All economic indicators are on the privileged to lead an enthusiastic band of upswing and there is overwhelming enthu- members consisting Sinhalese, Tamils and siasm from leading German companies to Muslims. invest in Sri Lanka, he said. “The diaspora has a responsibility to Athauda said the President had cleared communicate with their friends and rela- the biggest obstacle that thwarted such tives in Sri Lanka after the bloody war was development projects, the scourge of ter- ended by the UPFA government under the rorism which moved the country back- leadership of President Rajapaksa,” he wards for thirty long years. said. “A large number of German entrepre- The President said that UPFA Ministers neurs have already visited the country and , Rohitha made the initial plans to invest in Sri Bogollagama, , Lanka in areas of telecommunications, , C. B. Ratnayake, manufacturing, tourism, project financing, Patali , etc., as they have utmost confidence that and Vinayagamurthy Muralitharan, have safety and security are there and a con- Sri Lanka’s Consul General in Frankfurt Buddhi Athauda, the guest speaker address- visited the SLFP branch in Frankfurt to ducive environment has been created for ing the gathering at Saturday’s SLFP branch meeting at the Ramada Hotel, Frankfurt. celebrate various events of national investment,” he pointed out. Others from left are Nihal Samarasinha, President of the branch and Neeliya importance when they were in Germany Athauda, an IT expert turned diplomat, Abeysekera Neumann, Treasurer and acting Secretary. Pic Harischandra Gunaratna on official visits. was the guest speaker at the Sri Lanka The SLFP Working Committee in Freedom Party branch in Germany, head- tions in the country. They have expressly ernment would have to withstand and Germany: quartered in Frankfurt. said that they will all work in different counter the foreign pressures and the President – Nihal Samarasinha, Vice The Tamil diaspora have indicated their electorates with the objective of helping planned development process should con- President – Leslie Perera, Secretary, – willingness to return to their motherland the UPFA gain a 2/3 majority in tinue unhindered. Mervyn Lenora, Treasurer – Neeliya after living in Germany for many years as Parliament. “The most important factor after Abeysekera Neumann and Events “The Alliance need a 2/3rd majority to achieving peace is to see that all communi- Organiser – Azfer Sufi Ismail.