{"id":50193,"date":"2016-12-07T01:08:16","date_gmt":"2016-12-07T06:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=50193"},"modified":"2016-12-07T01:12:03","modified_gmt":"2016-12-07T06:12:03","slug":"ma-sumanthiran-mp-pitches-into-dm-swaminathan-in-parliament-and-demands-resettlement-ministers-resignation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=50193","title":{"rendered":"MA Sumanthiran MP Pitches Into DM Swaminathan in Parliament and Demands UNP Resettlement Minister’s Resignation."},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dharisha Bastians <\/strong><\/p>\n

The main opposition Tamil National Alliance pitched into Resettlement Minister D.M. Swaminathan in Parliament yesterday, demanding his resignation over the controversial Government proposal to build 65,000 prefabricated steel houses for war affected families of the North and East. <\/p>\n

TNA Jaffna District Parliamentarian and party Spokesman M.A. Sumanthiran used his time during the committee stage debate of the vote on the Ministry of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation to issue a scathing criticism of the Minister, who he said was adamant to go ahead with the controversial housing project, even after Tamil representatives from the region had informed him that it was riddled with fraud. <\/p>\n

Sumanthiran said the Minister was still defiant and still making statements to the press about the project. \u201cWe cannot allow you to continuously damage our people\u2019s future like this. We have to publicly say that we have no more confidence in the conduct of this minister,\u201d he charged. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is our request in this House today, that you relinquish your portfolio or we will be forced to call for a division and reveal all the facts to the country,\u201d the TNA MP warned. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The heated hour-long debate on the steel houses gave rise to interventions from members of the Joint Opposition that were shot down by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who promised to bring both the TNA and the Minister to the table for discussions about the proposed housing project. <\/p>\n

The Prime Minister also promised Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan that 80 percent of the houses the Government was proposing to build in the North and East would be brick and mortar constructions. \u201cThe rest will be from steel because some people have asked for it. If there is a demand for more we will supply,\u201d Premier Wickremesinghe said. <\/p>\n

During his response, an angry Minister Swaminathan shot back at Sumanthiran: \u201cDon\u2019t try to teach me about Jaffna, I know more about Jaffna than you do.\u201d <\/p>\n

Through constant disruptions and interruptions, Minister Swaminathan claimed that several TNA MPs from Batticaloa, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi had written to him, requesting the prefabricated houses. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have the documents, I can prove it to you,\u201d he claimed. He claimed EPDP Leader Douglas Devananda had requested 37,000 houses, a statement that caused the TNA benches to erupt in protest again. <\/p>\n

The Minister said that the TNA\u2019s alternate proposal had price contradictions and did not seem to indicate firm commitments from the local banks. Swaminathan also defended ArcelorMittal, saying that it on a list of \u201c100 fortune companies in the world\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am not trying to bring a mushroom company to this country,\u201d he charged. <\/p>\n

During his speech TNA Legislator Sumanthiran said that now that the project was being reviewed in the face of major opposition to the scheme, the TNA was being asked to allow Minister Swaminathan to have at least 10,000 houses. <\/p>\n

The TNA MP said he was not accusing the Minister of trying to make money. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut imagine what the necessary inference will be, if you stand on your head like this and insist that at least 10,000 houses must be built?\u201d he demanded. <\/p>\n

Sumanthiran charged that Minister Swaminathan had told him during an event in Sampur that the Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal would be the company to construct the 65,000 houses even before cabinet approval was granted to the project in September 2015. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou told me the name of the company that would build the houses even before the tender was conceived of. How did you know that even before you got cabinet approval for the project? I raised the question even then, about how the tender process could be just and transparent when the Minister had already named the company,\u201d the TNA MP revealed. <\/p>\n

He demanded why Swaminathan was adamant on the project even after all 16 TNA MPs had written to the President stating their reasons for opposition to the proposal. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou go around the country saying the TNA is blocking development \u2013 but we don\u2019t want others lining their pockets in the name of our people,\u201d the TNA MP charged, directly addressing Minister Swaminathan. <\/p>\n

To counter what he called the Minister\u2019s \u201cmalicious propaganda\u201d Sumanthiran said the TNA had submitted an alternate proposal drafted in collaboration with a civil society consortium, to build the same number of houses at half the cost, and with loans from local banks. <\/p>\n

With the ArcelorMittal contract, the Government would pay USD 1 billion over a period of 10 years, at Rs 1.6 million per house made of prefabricated steel. The TNA-civil society proposal estimates the cost of a brick-and-mortar house at Rs 999,950. <\/p>\n

\u201cSeveral submissions of that proposal to you have gone unheeded, so we tabled that proposal in this House,\u201d Sumanthiran charged. The TNA backed proposal, the MP said, would generate some 13,000 jobs in the region over four years. <\/p>\n

The local agent for AccelorMittal, the TNA lawmaker told the House, was allegedly businessman Ravi Wettasinghe, a man he said had been implicated in fraud and arrested at the Katunayake airport as he was attempting to flee the country. Newspaper reports had revealed that Wettasinghe was a staunch UNP supporter and had even funded the party, Sumanthiran said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to know from you directly today, whether Ravi Wettasinghe is the local agent or connected to ArcelorMittal in some way,\u201d he demanded from Swaminathan. <\/p>\n

The TNA Lawmaker also charged that ArcelorMittal was under criminal investigation in Paris.<\/p>\n

The UK\u2019s Daily Telegraph newspaper reported in 2013 that ArcelorMittal was being investigated in the French courts over claims of alleged criminal conduct in an escalating legal row with hedge funds and other investors. The company, owned by one of the biggest backers of Britain\u2019s Labour Party, has a controversial corporate history. <\/p>\n

Sumanthiran also slammed Minister Swaminathan for his recent remarks to the press, claiming that the 13th Amendment was an adequate solution to the Tamil question. <\/p>\n

\u201cWho are you to say that? You are on the steering committee to draft a new constitution. Why do we need a new constitution if 13th Amendment is the solution? Ask yourselves those basic questions before you speak. You don\u2019t realize the type of damage you are doing to the community,\u201d the TNA Parliamentarian thundered. <\/p>\n

In an attempt to lighten the mood, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe quipped that the issue was just a \u201cJaffna battle of words\u201d. <\/p>\n

As the Joint Opposition joined in the war of words, the Premier addressed the pro-Rajapaksa faction and said: \u201cWe got one member of parliament from Jaffna. The TNA got the majority. You didn\u2019t get anyone in, what are you shouting about?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just a difference of opinion, we will resolve it through discussions, not through bullets,\u201d Wickremesinghe told the House taking another swipe at the JO and its treatment of Tamil politicians like N. Raviraj during their tenure in office. <\/p>\n

Joining in the debate, Opposition Leader Sampanthan demanded a direct answer from the Prime Minister about the TNA\u2019s alternate housing proposal. <\/p>\n

\u201cI can assure the Leader of the Opposition. The bulk of the houses will be of brick,\u201d Wickremesinghe replied. \u201cI will assure you the demands of the people will be heeded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Courtesy:Daily FT<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dharisha Bastians The main opposition Tamil National Alliance pitched into Resettlement Minister D.M. Swaminathan in Parliament yesterday, demanding his resignation over the controversial Government proposal to build 65,000 prefabricated steel houses for war affected families of the North and East. TNA Jaffna District Parliamentarian and party Spokesman M.A. Sumanthiran used his time during the …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘MA Sumanthiran MP Pitches Into DM Swaminathan in Parliament and Demands UNP Resettlement Minister’s Resignation.’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50193"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50193"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50195,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50193\/revisions\/50195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}