Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Shanakiyan Rasamanikkam says that the theory of one country, one law does not apply to the North and East and they are treated differently.
He points out that not even a journalist or a Member of Parliament for the area can attend a meeting of the North and East Development Committee today. All these activities are being carried out on the instructions of the ministers and MPs representing the government.
He says that the ministers and MPs will come out after the committee discussion and hold a press conference for a few minutes, but neither the journalist nor any other parliamentarian will know what is going on inside the committee.
He points out that even the Divisional Secretaries who provide information in this regard will have to be transferred, stressing that it is a deprivation of the right of the people to know the truth through the media in the North and East.
Mr. Shanakiyan, for example, says he still does not know who was employed in the Batticaloa area’s million jobs program, and although letters have been sent to the relevant places requesting this information, no response has yet been received and this is the true situation in the North and East and although information is requested from the Information Commission for on various occasions, many things are missed due to delays in receiving their answers.
He points out that he has been seeking information from the Information Commission on the Batticaloa sand smuggling for about eight months and that the potential environmental damage has been done when they act on accordingly.
Therefore, before talking about the international community, what is in Sri Lanka should be implemented properly and those laws should be implemented in practice. He further says that everything should be done in a process of integrating them with the latest technology without having to write and mail letters.
He was speaking at a live discussion organized by Journalists for Rights on the occasion of International Day for “Universal Access to Information” yesterday (28).
Shani