Jaffna bodies ask for 3m rupees

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The members of the seventeen local bodies in Jaffna who were elected to office last month are requesting three million rupees (USD 50,000) from the Sri Lankan Government as funds for their day to day functioning.

"The government is not so enthusiastic about getting us the money to run the councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas as it was about holding the elections" said a disgruntled Jaffna Municipal councilor.

None of them took their oaths as officially scheduled on Wednesday.

The failure of the government to come up with the funds for running the local government bodies in Jaffna was one of the sore points behind the move, said Tamil party sources.

Nevertheless, they have agreed to compromise at one and a half million rupees, said sources.

The Government Agent Jaffna, was advised by the Sri Lanka Government to request Members of Parliament of the Jaffna District to allocate a portion of their funds for district development to the local bodies.

But the MPs have refused to accede to this request on the ground this fund is provided in other parts of the country by Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government.

Local Government elections were held in the Jaffna District and Pachchilaippalli Division on January 29.