Another palace was being built in Seeduwa by a relation of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the UNP’s Badulla Chief Organiser and Uva Provincial Council Member, Harin Fernando said yesterday.

He told a news conference in Colombo, that journalists should visit the new Palace, but they risk getting assaulted and remanded under Emergency Regulations.

"Three journalists from the ‘Lanka’ Newspaper, who investigated the construction of the Deniyaya Palace, also by a relation of President Rajapaksa, were locked up in a cell", Fernando said. "The same thing could happen to any media personnel who dare probe the Seeduwa Palace. This is the real situation, despite government claims that there is democracy and media freedom in Sri Lanka."

He said that the vast majority of people in the Uva Province live in poverty, while billions of rupees are spent on maintaining the Provincial Ministers. "The name of their development game is, Api Hademu Uva Wellasseng."

Students faint frequently for want of food. In some schools there are more teachers than students. The masses have to be provided with their basic necessities, before pampering ministers, Fernando said.