President Maithripala Sirisena said he instructed that the late CWC Leader Savumiamoorthy Thondaman’s name to be re-exhibited in buildings from which it was recently removed.
He was speaking at a local government election rally, organised by the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) at Talawakelle on Sunday.
“The late leader Savumiamoorthy Thondaman fought for the liberation of the forefathers of the hill country Tamils. Therefore, removing his name from institutions is wrong,” said the President.
He added: “Ceylon tea is famous the world over for its quality. In the past, it fetched much foreign income but it is now being ruined due to various factors. One is that in many estates, the fields have been neglected for the last 20 to 25 years and have become a jungle. In addition, tea is mixed with low-quality exports, thereby degrading our tea which affects our income drastically. This is also the case in pepper. This fraud carried out by certain traders must be stopped. Therefore, I have decided to appoint a committee to investigate and draw a future plan to revamp tea production.”
The President said the government was gradually looking into the problems of the estate community. The late Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, he said, solved the citizenship issue by entering into the Sirimavo-Shastri Pact. The President himself, as the Health Minister at the time, was able to get the Dickoya Glencairn hospital as a donation by the Indian government.
“But you still have more problems. Land allocation for houses alone is not enough. Minister S. B. Dissanayake in his speech touched on the drug menace in the hill country, especially in Hatton. I carried out national level programs to abolish narcotics and this would be further strengthened,” he stressed.
The President said the SLFP and CWC are contesting together under the betel leaf and the hand symbol in some districts and under the cockerel in other areas. Voters of all communities should vote for their respective symbol and elect their representatives. “I will personally allocate them money for their area development work,” he said.
CPC Minister M. Rameshwaran, UPC Minister Senthil Thondaman and former parliamentarian Prabha Ganeshan also addressed the gathering.
CWC General Secretary Arumugan Thondaman, CWC President Muthu Sivalingam, Ministers S. B. Dissanayake, Susil Premajayantha, CPC Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake, Provincial Councillors and members of the SLFP and CWC also participated.
Add new comment