• Govt spending Rs 150,000 a month on wife and daughter 

Successive Governments have spent an estimated sum of Rs 26,278,052.39 (Rs 26 million) on the maintenance and protection of the family of the slain Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) founder Rohana Wijeweera from 1992 to date, with the current Government continuing to spend Rs 153,220.25 per month on the two remaining family members under State care, it is learnt.

Deputy Defence Minister, Major General (Retired) Aruna Jayasekara said in Parliament yesterday (21) that Wijeweera's widow Srimathi Chithrangani Fernando and their six children initially remained under State protection at the Trincomalee Naval Dockyard from 11 June 1992 until 22 August 1999. Since 23 August 1999, he said that they had been accommodated within the Welisara Naval Complex.

He said that no external individual, organisation or foreign country had contributed towards their maintenance. "The maintenance costs of the family have not been borne by any individual or group of individuals. According to information provided by the Foreign Relations Office of the Naval Headquarters, no assistance has been received from foreign countries either," he said.

According to the documents tabled in Parliament by Jayasekara, which were seen by The Daily Morning, the family originally consisted of Wijeweera's widow, four daughters and two sons. At present, only Fernando and one daughter with special needs remain under State protection.

The Government currently spends Rs 153,220.25 per month on their maintenance and security.

Wijeweera founded the JVP in the 1960s and led two armed insurrections against the State, in 1971 and again between 1987 and 1989. Following the suppression of the second insurgency, Wijeweera was killed in November 1989, after which his family was taken into State protection and has remained under Government care for more than three decades. The JVP is the main constituent Party of the National People’s Power Government.