Sri Lanka to set a ministry to speed up reconciliation

President Mahinda Rajapaksa`s advisor Rajiva Wijesinha said a Ministry for Reconciliation, with responsibilities of implementing the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), should be set up.

Speaking on `Reconciliation, Sri Lanka and the World` at Observer Research Foundation, Wijesinha said he believed that the will to succeed along with initiative and imagination can lead to fulfilment of the recommendations of the Commission.

"Ministry for Reconciliation should be charged with fulfilling the recommendations of the Commission as best as possible and be given a limited life span, of two years perhaps, after which it should be made redundant," he said.

"The current lethargy, as exemplified for instance by the failure of the Ministry of Education to even think of mechanisms for increasing the supply of competent language teachers, despite the clear commitment of the President to building up a trilingual society, makes it clear that innovative ideas and ensuring their implementation would have to come from a dedicated agency," Wijesinha said.

He also said that police reforms were much needed though it is extremely difficult to implement it. He said the police were neglected in the last couple of decades when the country was focusing on fighting terrorism.