Children are our greatest treasure – President
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- Published on Thursday, 14 February 2013 10:50
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President Mahinda Rajapaksa upon declare opening of the new building complex of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital said that the biggest reward given to the people is the opportunity to live freely. He said that this freedom gained with much sacrifices should be safeguarded by everyone.
He said that the greatest treasure possessed by a person or a family is their children. He pointed out that there was a time in which the parents were forced to live hiding with their children to save them from being forcibly taken by the terrorists. He said that such an era is over forever.
The President emphasized that it is our responsibility to build a healthy child generation, and the government is committed to provide health facilities to all and it is the responsibility of the people to safeguard the facilities being provided.
Minister of Health Maithreepala Sirisena speaking at this function said that there has been a massive change in the Jaffna General Hospital and other hospitals in the North after ending the war. He said that the best place to see the transformation taking place in the country is the Northern Province. The Minister said that next to Colombo National Hospital the hospital with best facilities available in this country is the Jaffna Hospital.
Earlier, addressing a meeting of the government official, the President emphasized that the benefits of the development should be passed on to the people in the villages for them to enjoy it and there is no use in urban centered development. He said that it is not the policy of his government to implement urban centered development. He requested the officials to find out about urban centered development areas and to make measures to spread it to the village areas.
Speaking further, the President said that the responsibility vested with the regional politicians in passing the development benefits to the people in the villages is immense. He said is their responsibility to identify the needs and aspirations of the rural masses and provide them accordingly.
The President said that he has received information about incidents relating to non use of funds allocated for rural development and returning the funds back. The President pointed out that returning the funds in this manner is a great injustice being caused to the people. He said that the government at present is implementing a massive amount of development work for the people which no other government in the past implemented.
The President emphasized that it is his sole desire to see that benefits of development are passed on to all the people. The President said that he will closely monitor the shortcomings of the development work and emphasized that it is essential that the officials should also monitor this work closely.(niz)
