Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday slammed the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) for not cooperating with it in development initiatives for the people of the north.
Addressing a meeting in Kilinochchi he said that though the people of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province had entrusted the NPC with the responsibility of serving them, the Council neither did any work nor let his government do any work.
“I was happy to hold democratic elections here [in September 2013]… The leaders should work for you. There is no point if they keep disagreeing with me and fighting with me,” he said.
The remarks came a couple of days after Northern Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran wrote to him, conveying his decision to boycott the President’s meetings in the island’s Tamil-majority north, terming them “politically motivated”.
The NPC has repeatedly voiced concern over the need for more powers, and has sought India’s intervention in ensuring greater devolution as per the 13th Amendment.
In Kilinochchi, the President awarded compensation amounting to LKR 115 million to over 1,200 internally displaced families.
He also handed over gold recovered by the Government from LTTE banks to rightful owners in Kilinochchi, an official statement said.
