Southern Provincial Council Chairman J. Wijewantha had to suspend the proceedings of the council for about 15 minutes when it met recently, as Council member Naleen Hewage (JVP) repeatedly raised the question on the failure to take necessary action to expedite the reconstruction work of Gintota MV, devastated by the tsunami tidal waves in December 2004.

The member who raised thequestion requested the Chief Minister to commence the reconstruction of the school using the balance money of Rs. 5 million pf the fund allocated for the intended foreign travel of the councilors.

In reply, the Chief Minister Shan Wijayalal de Silva, said 5 million rupee allocation was not sufficient for the reconstruction work. He said he was working on a plan to get the money as soon as possible to start work on the project.

Chairman Wijewantha reprimanded those unscrupulous politicians who are bent on disrupting the education of children in the school by trying to lure them to the streets to fulfil their narrow political aims. Mr Hewage who raised the question objected to these remarks and created a mild stir when responding to them.

When the UPFA and the UNP councillors jointly raised objections against the behaviour of the JVP members there was some commotion creating an unwieldy situation prompting the Chairman to suspend the sittings for about 15 minutes.