Concerns have been raised and questions asked about a two-day workshop organised by the Defence Ministry to be held at the Diyatalawa Military Academy (DMA) for ministers and UPFA parliamentarians, a senior SLFP minister said yesterday.

The workshop on March 3 and 4 was earlier scheduled to be held at Nuwara Eliya but was shifted to the DMA after parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa and Udith Lokubandara visited Nuwara Eliya, Daily Mirror learns.

A government official said the military academy was chosen for security reasons on the instructions of Namal Rajapaksa because President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the ministers and government parliamentarians were expected to attend the two-day event. He said the Defence Secretary would deliver the keynote address at the inauguration of the workshop on March 3 while top officials of the defence establishments would be among the main speakers. “We do not have a clear idea about the objective since it will be addressed by military officers,” a senior minister told Daily Mirror.

“I cannot find any law or regulation in the parliamentary standing orders or in the common law that permits this kind of workshop for law makers,” another concerned minister said.

An elaborate security arrangement has been put in place at Diyatalawa for the two-day event. Meanwhile, Diyatalawa Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman N.G. Samankumara said on the instructions of the Urban Development Authority and as a security measure the Pradeshiya Sabha would evict unauthorised dwellers and dismantle unauthorised constructions.“we expect President Rajapaksa, ministers and government parliamentarians for the workshop and it is our duty to make their stay at Diyatalawa peaceful and happy,” Mr. Samankumara said.

Source: Daily Mirror - Sri Lanka