NEWS IN BRIEF

Sri Lanka seeks $27m for floods

Sri Lanka appealed for USD27 million in urgent foreign aid to begin rebuilding areas devastated by unprecedented flooding that claimed 253 lives. Energy Minister Karu Jayasuriya, who is heading a disaster management committee, said the short-term reconstruction of homes, schools and other public buildings and roads would require that amount of aid. He said the authorities were moving to start repairing 154 schools damaged by last month's floods. The minister said there had been an outpouring of help from both the local communities and foreign governments keen to help the hundreds of thousands of people who were affected by the floods as well as mudslides. (AFP)

Euphoria over stock market record

There was euphoria among the business community last week as the Colombo stock market broke long-standing records on the strength of sustained bullish investor sentiment. The All Share Price Index (ASPI) crossed the landmark 1,000 point level 10 minutes before close of trading amidst applause at brokering firms and finished the day at 1001.6 points. However due to a new calculation method based on Volume Weighted Average, the ASPI closed at 995 points. Turnover at the Colombo Stock Exchange last Friday soared to Rs. 745 million thereby bringing the total turnover for June so far to Rs. 5.6 billion, the highest monthly figure. (Daily Mirror)

Second airport at Thanamalvilla

The Government has made proposals to construct a second international airport close to Thanamalvilla, with the idea of developing the Southern part of the country economically. "These developments of the airport, harbour and the road will open new economic avenues for the Southern part of the country," the Director General of the Urban Development Authority K. V. Darmasiri said. The Urban Development Authority has initiated a massive development programme in Hambanthota. "The development of the Southern part of the country has been neglected in the past few years. This project will be known as the Hambanthota Town Development", he said. (Daily News)

Doctors’ strike ends

The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) called off its nine-day long strike after the Health Ministry issued an amended circular approving a renewed salary scale rectifying a long-standing salary anomaly. Accordingly the new salary structure will come into force from July 1 this year. The Health Ministry issued an earlier circular after the issue was taken up at the Cabinet meeting. However, the GMOA refused to accept the circular stating it was a farce and continued the strike. The doctors threatened withdrawal of emergency services aggravating the trade union action, if the Ministry failed to issue the amended circular as early as possible. The Ministry then sent a draft of the amended circular and on approval by the GMOA, a new circular was issued. (Sunday Times)

Child rescued from MP’s home

A 12-year-old boy was rescued by the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) while fleeing the home of a former EPDP MP, where he was employed as a child domestic. According to NCPA the boy had allegedly been tortured whilst being employed at the Thalawathugoda home of the Ex-EPDP MP. The boy was discovered at a retail shop to where he had fled unable to bear the cruel treatment meted out to him by the wife of the former politico. The boy was ill-treated by the wife of the ex-MP. He was not sent to a school and was given only one meal a day. The boy was beaten up and tortured by the woman. The NCPA is now making arrangements to file a case against the accused. (Daily News)

CBK proposes 50% rise

President Chandrika Kumaratunga has recommended to the Cabinet that Public servants be given a pay hike of about 50% immediately from the aid obtained at the recent donors conference, the Presidential Secretariat said. In a statement the Secretariat also slighted government claims of an unprecedented aid package from Tokyo, saying the assistance pledged might not be more than about US Dollars 3950 million for four years. (Daily Mirror)

FMs to head committees

Parliament has appointed Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando and former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar to head two important select committees dealing with legal matters. Mr. Kadirgarmar will head the select committee on the codification of law relating to contempt of court, which will study and report on laws and practices relating to contempt of court. The select committee on the administration of justice will be headed by Minister Fernando. This committee has been appointed after concerns over the erosion of public confidence in the judiciary and related institutions. (Sunday Times)

Students barred after hours

The 52-4 Brigade of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) located in Point Pedro Friday ordered that no students or teachers should enter the Hartley College and Methodist Girls College after 3 p.m. These two leading educational institutions in the Vadamarachchi division are located inside the SLA 52-4 brigade complex. Students normally enter college premises after school hours to do physical exercises and to participate in sports activities in the college playground. They have now stopped entering the college premises with the ban imposed by the SLA authorities. Meanwhile male soldiers are now seen checking girl students who go to Methodist Girls College to attend classes though women soldiers are available in the 52-4 brigade complex. (TamilNet)

Returnees assaulted

Displaced Tamils returning to their homes in the village of Ominiya Madhu, in Vakarai, were stopped by gangs of Sinhala youth and the Homeguard. The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) chased away 315 Tamil families from the village in 1983, with most seeking shelter in Valachchenai, Kallaaru, Paththaalai, Mandur and Kalmadhu. The refugees have filed a complaint with the Village Councillor and Batticaloa Government Agent about them being prevented from returning to their traditional homes. The families say they only went back after getting permission from the Government Agent and other relevant officials but were assaulted and chased away by Sinhala gangs when they started to clear undergrowth surrounding their former homes. (Paadumeen)

Close watch on political wing

Cadres of the Liberation Tigers Political Sector and their offices are being kept under close scrutiny by Sri Lanka soldiers. In recent days small armoured personnel carriers and jeeps as well as soldiers on field bikes have been stationed close to offices, according to civilians. In the wake of the events in Chulipuram many more soldiers have taken to guard duties on the ground, they say. Vehicle identification numbers are also being checked by soldiers who stop passing vehicles frequently. Meanwhile, Liberation Tiger officials say their cadres have been keeping themselves within the confines of their offices in recent days to let the tension die down. (Thinakural)

Vadamarachchi searched

Hundreds of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers Friday conducted house-to-house searches in Thumpalai east and Moorkam villages in the Vadamarachchi division in Jaffna district. The SLA now frequently conducts cordon and search operations in most parts of the peninsula to maintain law and order, military sources said. The SLA has increased its surveillance activities in the Jaffna district recently as the Jaffna Undergrads Union is making elaborate arrangements to hold Pongu Thamil celebration on grand scale in Jaffna university premises on June 27, police said. (TamilNet)

China Bay homes searched

Homes in Little Jaffna in China Bay, Trincomalee, were searched last Wednesday by a large number of Sri Lanka Air Force personnel and police. Residents say their identity cards and documents were checked but no one was arrested in the first such search in the area since the signing of the ceasefire accord. (Virakesari)

Point Pedro, Thunnalai searched

Sri Lanka soldiers cordoned off the centre of Point Pedro and searched people there last Wednesday. The search coincided with the posting of posters to remember former EPRLF General Secretary Pathmanabha. A large number of soldiers also stood guard on the Kodikamam-Point Pedro road. Meanwhile, reports say soldiers are constructing new sentry points near Varani market, Mulli, Manthikai and the 1st mile Post in Point Pedro. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka police and army conducted a cordon and search operation in Thunnalai for around two hours last Tuesday. Police and soldiers conducted house-by-house searches, with shots fired into the air by soldiers causing panic among the public. (Thinakural)

Searches resume

Stop and search operations by Sri Lanka soldiers have once again resumed on Vallai Veli in Vadamaradchi, after a long lull since the ceasefire accord was signed. Government and private buses plying the Valvettithurai, Point Pedro to Jaffna route are being stopped and their occupants searched. Many passengers were taken off guard by the sudden resumption of the search last Wednesday and didn't have their identity cards with them. They were all turned back by the soldiers. (Virakesari)

Complainant attacked by officers

The officer on duty attacked a sixty-year-old man who went to Kopay police station to lodge a complaint. Mr. Nagamuththu Kandasamy has now filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission into the incident. The HRC's coordinator Mr. Ruwan Chandrasekara contacted Kopay police and has ordered the policeman concerned to come for an inquiry. (Virakesari)

92,000 IDPs yet to return

Of more than one hundred thousand Tamil internally displaced people (IDPs) from Valigamam north since 1987, only about 8,838 persons from four hundred and sixteen families were allowed to return to their homes. Around ninety two thousand IDPs are yet to return to Valigamam north, which is designated as HSZ, reported the Jaffna district secretariat. During the sixteen-month period since the Ceasefire Agreement was signed between the Sri Lanka government and LTTE, 271,267 persons from 73,378 families have returned to their lands in the peninsula up to the end of May, according to the statistics available in the Jaffna district secretariat. Meanwhile in Thenamaradchchi division about 81,771 persons from 22,598 internally displaced families have returned to their own villages. (TamilNet)

Tension after 'white van' arrests

Joseph Pararajasingham MP told Sri Lanka Prime Minister in a letter that people in Batticaloa are living in fear after several sudden arrests by Sri Lanka CID. "Several civilians have been nabbed off the street by officers who come from Colombo in a white van. Their victims are then taken back to Colombo, often with their next of kin having no knowledge of their arrest," he said, adding "When people were detained under the PTA or the State of Emergency powers the police used to give a form of receipt. That they don't let the next of kin know at all during these times is unacceptable." The Prime Minister is understood to have told Secretary of the Ministry of Defence Austin Fernando to act on the matter. (Virakesari)

Remand extended

The LTTE's political leader for Putur, Batticaloa district, Mr. T. Satyaraj, Friday filed a bail application in the High Court after he was remanded for a further 14 days by the Batticaloa Magistrate, when the case was taken up again Thursday. The bail application is due to be heard on June 27. Unidentified men killed Mr. Kadirgamathamby Navasooriyam, a member of the paramilitary Razeek group, on May 19 at a barbershop in Putur. Mr. Satyaraj was arrested on June 6 by members of the Razeek group, a Sri Lankan government auxiliary force, and handed over to the police who produced him before the Magistrate stating he was involved in the murder. (TamilNet)

Strike demands officer's release

Chankanai Divisional Secretariat in Jaffna district did not function Thursday as its employees picketed the office demanding the release of a Grama Sevaka Officer (village level officer), Mr. Nagalingam Kumarakurunathan, who had been abducted on June 10 by unidentified persons. About thirty Grama Sevaka Officers under the Chankanai divisional secretariat participated in the picketing, which organizers said was a token protest, with continuous picketing to follow if the officer was not released without delay. Organizers handed a memorandum to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, Human Rights Commission regional office, LTTE officials and SLA authorities in Jaffna, appealing to them to take immediate action. (TamilNet)

Waste plastic collection in Vanni

A programme to collect plastic waste for recycling has begun in the Vanni to mark Environment Week. Under the scheme, run jointly by TEEDOR and TRO, plastic waste will be collected from villages throughout the Vanni. The TRO will pay Rs 100 for a kilo of polythene and Rs 50 for a kilo of plastic waste, officials say. TEEDOR and TRO have asked community organisations to collect the waste and help msintaain the Vanni environment. One batch of waste collected in this way by the Kilinochchi Government Secretariat was handed over by Government Agent Mr. T Rasanayagam to TRO's Kilinochchi representative Mr Gerard. (Uthayan)

Northeast elections postponed

The elections to fifty local government institutions in the northeast province, which were to have been held on June 25, have been postponed for another six months, to a new date of January 24, 2004. Government agents of the districts of Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara have decided not to hold the polls as the ground situation is not conducive to hold such elections. (TamilNet)

Tamil Eelam Police graduation

The passing out ceremony of a batch of 100 cadets of the Tamil Eelam Police took place on June 19 at the Police Training College in Mankulam. The Police Centre head Inspector Mathavan inaugurated the event by hoisting the Tamil national flag, while the Training College chief Mr. Theivendram hoisted the police flag. The cadets then took their oaths before displaying their skills in front of the large gathering. The Tamil Eelam Police Chief then accepted their salute during the passing out parade. (Uthayan)

Explosives hampering agriculture

Farmers from Periyaankadu and Sempaadu in Navatkuli say they are unable to tend their land due to the fear of hidden explosives left by Sri Lanka armed forces. The SLA used many fields as their sports grounds and also filled several wells in order to expand sports facilities, the farmer say. After the army vacated, the farmers approached a foreign agency with the help of their local councillor to dig out the well again. The agency's officials who visited the site noticed a number of explosives hidden in the undergrowth. They observed more explosives could be in wells covered by military clothing material. They have now told the farmers help for digging the wells will only be granted once the explosives are cleared. (Uthayan)

Two runaways returned to parents

Two of three children detained at a checkpoint by Liberation Tigers while running away from home were handed back to their parents last week through the TRO. The three were named as A Mohanraj (13), U Mathushankar (12) and eight year old Mahesh, all from Kandy. Cadres manning the checkpoint promptly handed the children over into the custody of TRO representatives. The children told them that they had all fled to get away from cruel parents and wished to study. TRO officials temporarily housed them in a children's home run by the charity while they made further inquiries. The three sets of parents came to Vanni to discuss their children's fate with TRO officials. The eldest, Mohanaraj, refused to go home with his parents, but the other two said they would like to go back after all. They were then sent back after appropriate assurances from their parents with regards to the children's welfare and upbringing. (Virakesari)

Permanent teachers assume duties

Ninety percent of the 909 Tamil medium volunteers made permanent assumed duties in their respective Tamil medium schools in the northeast Thursday. The central government public service commission approved 909 Tamil medium volunteer teachers for permanency out of a list of 1200 submitted to it by the northeast provincial education ministry after holding interviews and on the spot inspection to select qualified volunteer teachers for permanency. Of the 909 Tamil medium volunteer teachers 786 are Tamils and 123 Muslims. (TamilNet)

Ilancheliyan reappointed

Manikavasagar Ilancheliyan who returned recently from Hong Kong after completing his masters degree in Human Rights Law has been re-appointed to assume duties as the Judge of Vavuniya district court. Mrs. Srinithi Nanthasekaran, who has been serving as the Vavuniya district court judge for the past 8 months, assumed duties as the Kayts court from 15 June. (TamilNet)

TRO spends Rs32m in Kilinochchi

TRO officials said the charity has spent Rs 32,857,000 on various development projects in Kilinochchi up to end-May. The monies spent included Rs 7,757,000 on education projects, Rs 1,914,000 on health services, Rs 3,500,000 on fresh drinking water supply projects and Rs 269,000 on home building projects. The TRO also spent Rs 8,140,000 on relief projects, Rs 3,199,000 on irrigation and Rs 172,000 on resettlement. Rs 1,800,000 was spent on fishing and cottage industries while Rs 3,200,000 was spent on self-employment projects. Rs 477,000 was spent on infrastructure and development, Rs 1,900,000 was spent on human resources development and Rs 19,000 was spent on nutrition projects, TRO officials said. (Uthayan)

Demining starts in Thalaimannar

The Humanitarians Demining Unit and a Swiss charity have started mine clearance work in Thalaimannar. They are currently working in the Liberation Tiger-controlled areas of Paalamadhu and Paappamodai. Former residents from these areas will be resettled as soon as the work is finished. Both teams are armed with the latest demining equipment and have recovered 60 mines in their first three days of work. (Uthayan)

227,000 families displaced by war

Figures released by the TRO state that 227,000 families were displaced by the war. 300,000 children from these families have suffered severely, both physically and psychologically, figures show. Estimates by the charity show that to resettle all 227,000 families would cost around Rs 2000 million. The displaced families include 30,000 women who have lost their husbands and a further 50,000 children being cared for in children's homes. (Uthayan)

Halo Trust at work

During the past seven months, the international mine-action group known as Halo Trust has removed about 4657 explosives buried in ten zones in the Jaffna district, manually as well as using machinery, said the group's administrative head in Jaffna, Mr. Sankar Jeyakumar. Mr. Jeyakumar said that machinery was used to remove explosives buried in an area of 7565 square meters. (TamilNet)