TNA MP raises privilege issue against EP Governor

Batticaloa District TNA MP Rasamanickam Shankiyan called on Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to take action against Eastern Province Governor Anuradha Yahampath for violating his privileges as an MP.

 MP Shankiyan raising a privilege issue said the Governor had issued media statements which were malicious and false.  “Batticaloa District MPs including myself met Eastern Province Governor Anuradha Yahampath on Oct 14 by prior appointment. Governor Yahampath thereafter issued statements to the press stating that I led the delegation which behaved in a manner unbecoming of parliamentarians by demanding land on the basis of ethnic proportion. The Island newspaper of Oct 15 quoted the Governor’s media unit and stated the Governor found fault with TNA politicians attaching communal identity to lands for cheap political gain.

It identifies me having led the delegation. Also similar statements have appeared in other Sinhala and English newspapers. That statement issued to the press by the governor violates my privileges as an MP. The statements spread malicious and false stories and thereby lower the dignity of an MP. I urge you to take actions against Anuradha Yahampath in this regard. I read the article in The Island. It says Eastern Governor locks horns with TNA politicians.

 Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena: There is no need to read the article. You can present your privilege issue.

MP Shankiyan: Actually this issue is not related to lands or anything ethnic. It is a pastureland between Mailaththamadu and Madawana belonging to Chenkaladi. It belongs to Mahaweli B Zone. There are 200,000 milch cows for many years. The cows produce around 17,000 liters of milk daily. We met with the Grama Niladhari, Divisional Secretary and District Secretary to point out that those pasturelands are being divided into five acre plots and distributed for various purposes. The District Secretary has now been transferred out because she spoke on this matter. We met Director General of Mahaweli. I met Irrigation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa too to discuss this matter. There is a circular to affect 22,000 acres in the area. When I took up the issue I am labeled a racist. These media circuses depict me as a communalist. Sinhala readers think that I arouse communal issues. There is no such thing. This is a pastureland. Milch cows grazing there do not know whether those are Sinhala or Tamil lands”.