Gotabaya Rajapaksa promises a bright future for people in the North

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Presidential Candidate of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna conducted his political campaign in the Northern Province today (October 28). Gotabaya Rajapaksa received a warm welcome when he arrived in Vavuniya. Gotabaya Rajapaksa: "We are not the people who started the war. We are the ones who ended it. We would like to tell the Tamil people living in this region, that some people are conspiring to make you live in the past. I am showing you the future. After independence, for 70 years, different leaders representing different parties gave you false promises and lied to you, and took your votes. I have presented a plan through which we can develop this region, give jobs to the youth, provide them with a wholesome education and provide you with better lives. Because of the situation that prevailed in this region, no government could develop this area, but under our government, we began that development. This government has done nothing to take forward that development. You all know, after the situation that prevailed, we took steps to rehabilitate those people. We carried out the best rehabilitation program in the world. We reintroduced them to society. We had them join the Civil Defence Force. We began industries. We strengthened the private sector. In the future also we intend to grow the industries in this region while strengthening the private sector and providing them with the required facilities. We will initiate programs to train people and equip them with the skills required to work at these factories. We invested a large sum of money in this region for its development in the past. We can continue that development program. Your problems can only be solved through development." Mahinda Rajapaksa arriving at the rally said: "You know that during the past 5 years this government did not serve the people in this region as we did. You have not received your deeds. This government couldn't still provide you with deeds for your lands. There has been no program to provide compensation for the people who disappeared during the war. You also know what had happened to the reservoirs. This is what has happened to Sri Lanka. We will take up the responsibility of providing solutions to the issues you face in getting clean water." Mahinda Rajapaksa attempted to address the crowd in Tamil however he said that he forgot his words and continued to speak in Sinhala. An individual from the rally questioned: "What will be done to the criminals who stole from the Central Bank? Will they be punished? Or will they be treated lightly? We need a response now. We need the assurance of Mahinda Rajapaksa." Subsequently, Gotabaya Rajapaksa addressed a rally organized at the Jaffna town. Mahinda Rajapaksa noted that people in Jaffna are no strangers to him and he did everything in his power to develop the region and establish democracy. He went on to note that the TNA was responsible for the well being of the people in the region and chose to support UNP instead to form a government. Mahinda Rajapaksa added that the TNA agreed with every unwise decision UNP made and they did not affect the TNA of Vigneswaran but the youth in the region. He added that the locals know that better than them. He further added that he and his government gave freedom to the people and left the government only to do nothing by the successors. Gotabaya Rajapaksa: "The development that you see in the Northern province today was created during the era of Mahinda Rajapaksa. The carpet roads, the railway tracks, the electricity system in the region and all of these things were initiated during that time. You know before 2005 this region was like an army camp. But after that, it was I who released about 90% of these lands to their original owners. We released lands in the Palali high-security zone, the Kankesanthuari town, the Wasawilan area, up to Thondamannaaru. I was conducting discussions with Douglas Devananda on how we were going to release the remaining land as well. Along with that until we reach a decision on the matter I had agreed to allow these people to cultivate on these lands. But since we lost power, we did not get the opportunity to carry out the rest of the programs. In the future, we will motivate private corporations to come and invest in this region."