Reveal Govt. stance on letter by Maha Nayake Theras: UNP

11 December 2013 10:09 am

United National Party (UNP) media spokesman Gayantha Karunathilake asked the Government to reveal its stance on the letter sent to President Mahinda Rajapaksa by the Maha Nayake Theras of the four Nikayas asking that casinos be banned in Sri Lanka.

“The Government is still talking about casinos despite the Maha Nayake Theras of the four Nikayas requesting for a ban on casinos and other forms of gambling in the country. We ask the government to reveal its stance on the request made by the Maha Nayake Theras,” Mr. Karunathilake said.

He told a news conference that the Government had transferred the police officers who raided the gambling den in Colombo instead of appreciating their service.

Mr. Karunathilake said the government was spending millions for car races in Colombo while ordinary people found it extremely difficult to even travel by bus or by train or make ends meet in the face of the rapidly soaring cost of living.

“Instead of giving relief to the people, the government has given relief to dogs by removing tax on dog food in the budget. The Government cannot deceive the people every day,” he said and added that signs of the Government’s collapse were clearly evident with several local government bodies losing the vote on their 2014 budget. (Ajith Siriwardana)