The Hon. G.G. Ponnambalam

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, I rise to a Point of Order. I had requested a certain amount of time from the Office of the Leader of the Opposition; today I was allocated less than half of what I asked. There is no point in my making a speech if I cannot condense it to less than half. Since the Hon. Minister of Justice and National Integration is here, if he would give me two minutes, I wish to raise an urgent matter. Mass graves have been discovered in the Chemmani cemetery. I raised this before and the Ministry has been—

¶ 02 I only get one speech per Sitting week. If I am not given enough time, at least tell us in advance so we can adjust. I have been a Member for over ten years; I have never been treated like this.

¶ 03 Hon. Minister, in those graves, more than three skeletons have been found, qualifying as a mass grave under international standards. There is no security or protection at the site. Court officials visit and leave; thereafter it is exposed. There is also no funding: the allocation to the JMO will not last more than 20 days. Without funds, proceedings will stop. Please, at least declare it a potential mass grave site. If you wish, we can help obtain external funding to do it properly. This is vital to truth-seeking. In 1996, that area was declared a mass grave site based on testimony in the Krishanti Kumaraswamy case that over 600 people were buried there. Please intervene: allocate funds, declare it a mass grave site, seek international or institutional support, and protect the site from tampering.

¶ 04 Thank you.