By Sarah Hannan

At the turn of a month since the demolition of the archaeologically important site in Kurunegala, the Municipal Council (MC) Finance Committee has allegedly agreed to pay the legal fees for the legal petition that is filed against the Mayor. During a recent media briefing, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) politburo member Namal Karunaratne stated: “It is over a month and the Municipal Council and the institutions in charge of protecting archaeological sites have failed to litigate the perpetrators, with the Council’s Finance Committee supposedly having approved the payment of legal fees for the case filed against the city’s Mayor Thushara Sanjeewa Vitharana.” Karunaratne noted that allegedly the Finance Committee approved a sum of Rs. 4,430,000 in legal fees as payment, which is not fair, as the residents of Kurunegala should not be paying for the legal counsel Vitharana is seeking. “If he is at fault, he should bear the legal fees on his own. Instead, he has gotten the people of Kurunegala to contribute their tax money for a petition that is filed against his irresponsible behaviour,” Karunaratne noted. The Kurunegala MC is to hold a meeting today (17) to discuss the reconstruction of the building and then discuss the litigation against the Mayor.