UN Lanka clarifies stand

10 July 2010 05:56 am

The UN office in Sri Lanka, in a clarification sent to Daily Mirror online today regarding an earlier story published on the website, said that the decision to close the UNDP regional center was taken by the UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon as a direct response to the situation in Colombo affecting the main UN compound.

Daily Mirror online had earlier quoted a UN Colombo official as saying that preparations were underway for several months now to close down the UNDP Regional Center in Sri Lanka and it was not linked to the protest outside the UN compound.

However in an email to Daily Mirror online today the UN Sri Lanka office said that following discussions with the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry earlier it was agreed that the UN would downsize the UNDP regional center.

However in light of the UN Secretary General’s decision announced two days ago the UN is now closing the regional center outright and it is a direct response to the situation in Colombo and the inability for the UN staff to do their work without hindrance.

“The decision to close the UNDP regional center was taken by the UN Secretary General as a direct response to the situation in Colombo affecting our main UN compound. Although, of course, the regional center is not the same as the main UN compound,” the UN Sri Lanka office said today.


Earlier stories:  http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/4950-the-big-ban-lie.html

http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/4971-un-contradicts-un-again.html