No one in government listens to me: President

• Launch of the Sinhala translation of “The Viceroy Special” authored by Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando

By Harshana Thushara Silva   

There is no one in this government who accepts what I say, President Maithripala Sirisena said. 

Speaking at the launch of the Sinhala translation of “The Viceroy Special” authored by Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, President Sirisena said that he told those responsible for the construction of the Colombo-Kandy Expressway to continue with their work without flattening mountains and ruining the environment, but they continue building this road ignoring my instructions and it is clear that there is no one in this government who accepts what he says.   

The President said, “Everybody knows that I am the minister in charge of the subject of environment and before the construction of the Colombo-Kandy Expressway began I told the Big Man in Colombo and the Big Man in Kandy not to level the mountains. I am not an engineer but as a person who loves the environment I explained the way this expressway should be built. Three years ago I explained to them that the expressway should be built from Ambepussa to Kurunegala avoiding any harm to the mountains. Even today the time spent to travel from Kurunegala to Kandy is only 35 minutes. Therefore I requested them to widen the road from Kurunegala to Kandy but to avoid levelling any mountains along the way, but it seems that they are not listening to me,” he charged.