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| Thursday, 3 March 2005 |
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Politics | |
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| All contentious issues resolved: CWC confirms troth with Govt after three hour talks with President by P. Krishnaswamy Last Monday's talks between President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) delegation led by its leader Arumugan Thondaman were highly successful, CWC stalwart and Minister Muthu Sivalingam told the Daily News. With regard to the Upper Kotmale Hydro Power Project (UKHP) which was one of the key issues, the President had agreed to implement an alternative proposal submitted by the CWC which would be confined to St. Clairs waterfall, instead of the six waterfalls in the earlier contentious proposal, he said. Thus five waterfalls have been saved and major environmental concerns have been averted. The President also ordered the cancellation of tender procedures on the earlier proposal. Fresh tenders will be called for the new proposal, Sivalingam said. The President had also agreed to implement several key measures to improve the lives of plantations residents, Sivalingam said. A committee appointed by the Government to look into appointments of teachers in the plantation areas had identified 3,179 candidates as suitable but the CWC's request for the appointment of 3,500 teachers and also the absorption of 2,500 eligible plantation youths into the estate sector as liaison officers were approved by the President, he said. This would help the plantation people in their communications with Government officers. Many of the 14 point demands of the CWC submitted to the Government had been approved by the Cabinet, but they were not implemented due to red tape. The President has appointed a committee comprising Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva, Susil Premjayanth and Anura Priyadahrashana Yapa and CWC leader Arumugan Thondaman, R.Yogarajan and himself which would regularly meet on the first Tuesday of every month for discussions on economic, educational and employment problems of plantation workers, Sivalingam added. |
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