Tamil grocery traders in Mannar have reported losses after the Sri Lankan army began selling groceries last Saturday, reported Uthayan . According to the paper, traders are having to buy vegetables from Dambulla in the South, before selling them on in Mannar, whilst the Sri Lankan army is selling the same vegetables at a lower cost. This report is the latest in a serious of business ventures by Sri Lankan Army in the North-East, at a time when Tamil residents are struggling to regain their livelihoods.
Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy visited an Iranian submarine that had berthed in Colombo earlier today, after visiting India earlier this month. Vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage visited the Iranian Navy’s 28th fleet, which included the 'Younus' submarine, stating, “We could host a submarine in Colombo port after a long time and it was a rare opportunity for us to visit such a submarine”. The Iranian visit to Colombo came after the flotilla had docked in Mumbai earlier this month. Whilst there, the Commander of India’s West Navy Admiral Shekar Sinha, also visited, saying, “The Indian Navy has...
A statue of Buddha, erected recently in Batticaloa, was found smashed on the ground on Wednesday, reported Tamilwin . The statue had been removed from its glass casing before being smashed, said the police, who have initiated an inquiry into the incident. The pieces have been collected by the police for further investigation. According to Tamilwin, the statue was erected following the end of the armed conflict, whilst most of the Tamil residents were detained within internment camps.
The chairman of the state-owned Milco Company has stated that he suspects ‘multinational companies’ could be behind strikes, which have contributed to a severe shortage of milk powder in Sri Lanka. The price of milk powder, is controlled by the government’s Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA), despite requests from milk powder companies to increase the prices, reported ColomboPage . This has led to reportedly led to companies reducing their production in order to minimise losses. The situation has been compounded by a strike by Milco staff, to which Milco chairman Sunil Wickramasinghe commented...
An island off the coast of Jaffna has been declared a sanctuary for horses by the Sri Lankan government, reported The Island . Wildlife Conservation Minister Vijith Wijayamuni Zoysa said yesterday that the government wants to protect and safeguard the animals. Zoysa also said that EPDP chief and Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Minister Douglas Devananda also requested the move. Neduntheevu, also known as Delft, is tightly controlled by the Sri Lankan Navy and the paramilitary EPDP, with native Tamils suffering from the military presence for many years. The government...
The Sri Lankan government has sharply rebuked the British Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Hugo Swire, whilst rejecting the notion of a resolution being brought before the United Nations Human Rights Council in March 2014. The comments by External Affairs Ministry Secretary Karunathilake Amunugama, come after Swire spoke in the British Parliament, telling the house that Sri Lanka was regularly discussed with the UK's international partners and the contents of a resolution were being discussed. Amunugama spurned Swire’s comments, telling the Sunday Leader , “The...
An Australian hotelier, and founder of the Galle Literary Festival, has been denied entry into Sri Lanka after allegedly flying the Sri Lankan flag upside down. Geoffrey Dobbs, who owns four luxury hotels in the Galle region, was accused of flying the flag upside down and at half mast, outside each of his hotels in the run up to the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting last month. He founded the controversial Galle Literary Festival, which drew calls from Reporters Without Borders and Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka asking literary figures to boycott the event. (See ‘Self indulgent...
Shops and traders in Nagapattinam and Nagore are closed today , in solidarity with the over 3000 fisher folk protesting since Saturday for the release of over 100 fishermen, arrested and detained by the Sri Lankan Navy earlier this month. Twenty fisher women were admitted to the Nagapattinam General Hospital after fainting, where they were visited by the Fisheries Minister K.A. Jayapal. A delegation of fishermen are to meet with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today, who had described the mass arrest as a 'near war like' act. The solidarity strike by traders was endorsed by the...
Four further skulls have been found at a site in Thirukketheeswaram in Mannar, according to the police. Last week construction workers found two human skeletons . A spokesperson from the police told AFP , "A judicial medical officer has gone to the site. Further forensic examinations are underway to determine the age of the mass grave,"
The family of British aid worker Khuram Shaikh, who was murdered in a Sri Lankan holiday resort on Christmas Day 2011, have vowed to continue their fight for justice despite the Sri Lankan authorities “painfully slow” manner in handling the case. Speaking to the Guardian , Khuram’s father Mohammad Zaman Shaikh said, "The Sri Lankan authorities have handled the case in a painfully slow manner... They are trying to brush it under the carpet in the hope that people will forget about what happened and that we will stop fighting for justice." "We will never stop fighting for justice." Khuram’s girlfriend, 24-year-old Victoria Tkacheva, who was raped and left with a fractured skull in the attack that saw Khuram shot dead, stated earlier this year that she would also “go to the end” for justice. Simon Danczuk, Member of Parliament for the Shaikhs’ constituency, travelled to Sri Lanka in order to meet with government ministers in the hope of bringing the killers to justice. Danczuk, said, "The loss this family has suffered is unbearable and I've seen for myself the pain in the parents' eyes as they struggle to come to terms with what happened to their son". "I do not want another Christmas to pass with Khuram's killers still walking free."