UNP contradicts MR

24 September 2010 03:43 am

Contradicting the Statements of President Mahinda Rajapksa at the UN last evening, the UNP claims that poverty is yet to be significantly reduced in Sri Lanka and thus the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals is  still out of reach.
 

“The Millennium Development Goals consider per capital income and the reduction of poverty. The present assessment of the President has been made based on the 15.2 per-cent figure obtained in 2006/07, however this figure did not take into account the massive bout of inflation experienced in the country soon thereafter and the poverty in the North and East,” UNP MP Dr. Harsha De Silva told the Daily Mirror earlier this morning.
 

He added that if these elements were considered the poverty numbers in Sri Lanka would likely be higher than those in the 2006/07 assessment.
 

“The reduction of poverty needs to be a household assessment. Because it is a select few that are obtaining high returns from investments at present. The reduction of the rate of malnutrition and the number of people living on less than 2 US$ a day would be a truer depiction of the situation and our path to development,” he added. (DS)