NPC like a house of resolutions

Even if its achievements are arguably a handful, the Nor thern Provincial Council (NPC), has set a record. It has adopted 415 different resolutions during its five year tenure that ends in October. This works out to nearly seven resolutions a day on which sittings were held, the highest among all PCs in the country.

They are related mostly to issues that do not come within the purview of the NPC. One sought to convert Palaly airfield to an international airport, another to place issues arising from the military defeat of Tiger guerrillas before the International Criminal Court ( ICC) in the Hague, and yet another was the construction of a railway station in Mannar. One that was related to the NPC was a resolution urging all institutions coming under it to display in their offices the portrait of Chief Minister C . V. Wigneswaran.

Days earlier, NPC Chairman C.V.J. Sivagnanam over-ruled a resolution which sought to impose a ban on lighting crackers during funeral processions. The proposer said that it should be done to prevent noise pollution and to protect the environment.

These developments come as the future of PCs hinges on whether elections will be held for them. In the event of a post- ponement, the NPC will come under the purview of the Governor of the Northern Province.

Chairman Sivagnanam said that resolutions for such measures could be enacted even by a Pradeshiya Sabha and said it was not necessarily for them to be approved by the NPC.

That NPC meeting also saw a heated exchange of words by the province’s Women’s Affairs Minister Ananthi Sashitharan and other members. It came when they accused her of acquiring a pistol after obtaining clearance from the Ministry of Defence. She, however, hotly denied the accusation and declared she was not in possession of any weapon.