Monthly Archive for June, 2007

PottuVille – Arugam – Panama Matters

Published on 30/06/2007 in Blogs and press coverage. 0 Comments

June 29th, 2007

Even as efforts are underway to resolve the ethnic crisis through power sharing arrangements new developments threaten to upset the delicate ethnic prevalent in the North – East. A long standing grievance of the Tamil and Muslim people in the Eastern province is that of demography being altered through state aided colonisation schemes. Amparai in the East is the only district in Sri Lanka where the Muslims are the single largest ethnicity. Yet A?a??A?colonisation A?a??A?has reduced that majority status considerably. Disturbing evidence has come to light that fresh initiatives are on to dispossess Muslims of their lands in Pottuvil electoral division. Pottuvil itself is seen as the entry – point of Sinhalaisation in the East. The choice of a A?a??A?lionA?a??A? associated with the majority community as the symbol for Muslim majority Amparai district has heightened anxiety further. Land has become a crucial issue in evolving satisfactory and fair systems of devolution for Sri Lanka.

Children in Sainthamaruthu, Ampara District
[Photo: HumanityAshore.org]

The coalition of Muslims and Tamils for Peace and Coexistence (CMTPC) has released a special report focussing on this issue. It is titled A?a??A?Territorial Claims, Conquests and Dispossession in the A?a??A?New EastA?a??A?:The Growing concerns of the Muslims of Amparai.

The Federal IdeaA?a??A? reproduces that report in full:

Territorial Claims, Conquests and Dispossesion in the A?a??E?New EastA?a??a??: The growing concerns of the Muslims of Amparai

Coalition of Muslims and Tamils for Peace and Coexistence (CMTPC)

The new flag for the Eastern Province, introduced by the government, displays three animals: a lion symbolizing the Amparai district, an eagle for Trincomalee and a fish for Batticaloa. Batticaloa has long called itself the land of the A?a??A?singingA?a??A? fish, but why an eagle was chosen for Trincomalee is unclear.

The use of the Sinhala lion to represent the Muslim dominated Amparai district is terrifying: erasing the Muslim presence in the east, it is a potent symbol of the reality on the ground- the Muslims do not count in the larger context of our ethnic conflict.

The east is the testing ground for the success of any resolution to the conflict. All of our communities need to feel a sense of well being and belonging for peace and stability to prevail. But recent actions of the government and forces aligned to it are increasing the sense of insecurity felt by different communities.

The use of the lion for Amparai district suggests that this is a continuation of the post-independence Sinhalisation of the Eastern Province that has found new and brutal fervour under the administration of President Mahinda Rajapakse.

We speak here with alarm and with concern of specific acts by state agencies that continue the dispossession of the Muslim people through land acquisition and demarcation by the state. The Muslims of the Pottuvil region, who are already in a insecure position have in recent times felt the brunt of the heavy hand of state sponsored programmes.

These programmes have created anxiety and fear in the community. The Pottuvil region is multi cultural and multi ethnic, with an ethnic break down of 78.11% Muslims, 19.79% Tamils and 2.11% Sinhala. Traditionally, the different communities had co-existed peacefully with 90% of the population engaged in agriculture and the rest 10% in other forms of employment.

We give here four incidents or acts that have a direct bearing on the welfare of the people of the region:

1. The gazette notice dated 1454/26 of July 2006, declares that 1531 hectares of land of the Lahugala district secretariat of the Ampara District will be declared a National Park, which will be referred to, hereafter as the A?a??A?Lahugala-Kithulana National ParkA?a??A?. Since the borders of the Pottuvil and Lahugala Divisions are still under dispute (ref. Alfred Silva commission) Pottuvil Muslims feel that through this move the government is trying to take over land along the Lahugala Pottuvil main road that the Muslims have had access to and had been the means of livelihood for most of the people there.

2. On the 25 of the September, 2006, a letter signed by the Chair of the Lahugala Pradeshiya Sabha, to the Ministry of Public Administration, with copies to the President and the Minister of Labour Mr. Mervyn Silva, requested the annexation of the three gramasevaka divisions, Sarvodaya puram, Sinna Ulle, and Pasarichennai, (Periya Ulle) with the Lahugala Division, citing discriminatory practices of the officers against minority Sinhala and Tamil villagers. The ethnic break down for these three grama sevaka divisions shows an overwhelming Muslim majority: (91.5% Muslim, 4.7% Sinhala, 3.8% Tamil). So the motive for moving a Muslim majority area into a larger Sinhala unit in this instance is easily apparent.

3. In December 2005, official inquiries were made about identifying all the places of Buddhist worship and Dagabas in the Ampara district. A letter dated and signed by the G.A. of Ampara addressing the Pradeshiya Lekam makes this request. In Pottuvil alone they have indicated 07 places as sites of Buddhist heritage (Sangamankanthai, Kirimetiaaru, Pottuvil town, Muhuthumahaviharai, Eatham, Thaharampolla, Rottaiviharai).

4. It has also been brought to our notice that a thousand acres surrounding the Shasthiravelli STF camp in the Pottuvil region was previously under consideration as a High Security Zone, which had led to annexation of land that has traditionally been used by the people of the region. Now it has been declared as Shasthiravelli Temple land. There was a protest by the people of Pottuvil demanding access to this area in April 2007.

It is unclear whether all these four concurrent developments have progressed any further. For instance it is not clear if the request for the three gramasevaka divisions, Sarvodaya puram, Sinna Ulle, and Pasarichennai, (Periya Ulle) to be annexed to the Lahugala Division will go forward.

The Divisional Secretary of the Pottuvil District in a letter to the G.A. Ampara gave a detailed response, denying all charges of discrimination. He further noted that fishermen who came from other parts of the country indulged in unlawful occupation of state land and transgressed existing rules governing the buffer zone of the coastal areas and had been demanding permits for their illegal activities which were not acceded to by his office. As far as we know the matter has not progressed beyond this point but there are clear signs that there is growing pressure to push this issue further.

These acts of acquisition or potential annexation, taken in isolation, might seem purely bureaucratic or in the interests of military security. The policies can in fact be justified as being driven by important principles such as the conservation of nature, the right to equality for all ethnic communities and fair governance, the preservation of Sri LankaA?a??a??s ancient history and national security.

While these principles should be recognized and not dismissed, it is important to recognize the context in which these policies are being implemented and the agenda of those pushing these policies. If one approaches it from the perspective of history, the history of the minority communities, these acts emerge as part of a history where state-aided programmes have brought about demographic changes in the east. In this instance, these acts appear to be aimed at dispossessing the Muslim majority population of their land.

Pottuvil is politically an isolated division but it has featured prominently in the demographic and administrative battle for the East. Situated on the edge of Ampara district with a majority Muslim population, it has been used as the entry point for Sinhalisation of the east. Muslims politicians often neglect this division, leaving it to the consideration of one or the other of the two ruling parties (UNP or SLFP).

It is sandwiched between two Sinhala areas, Panama and Lahugala. Lahugala and Panama are two non-contiguous areas brought together as one DS division-Lahugala DS. When the Ampara district was created, a large Sinhala population was added on giving the district one of the oddest looking boundaries – a coastal belt linked to a truncated inland area, making crystal clear the ethnic agenda of the central government to avoid the emergence of a clearly Muslim-majority district. Like in other areas of the East and the North where new Sinhala names have proclaimed the expansion of the Sinhala colonization programme, Ampara too has undergone symbolic and demographic changes owing to state aided colonization programmes.

Amparai remains the play thing of ambitious politicians. The M.P for Amparai, who was formerly the Deputy Minister in charge of Mahaweli Development is back in power as Minister for Planning and Implementation and is in an influential position to steer the course of events in this unfolding story of annexation. He has, in fact, written a letter to the District Secretary of Pottuvil on 20th April, 2007, requesting/demanding that the thousand acres surrounding the Shasthiravelli STF camp be allocated to the Shasthiravelli temple.

The developments cited above follow other recent changes in land demarcation. In December 2005, the boundaries of the Pottuvil region were redrawn (which are still in dispute), where some of the land belonging to people from Pottuvil was brought under Panama Pattu, causing great difficulties to them, where language and transport were concerned.

Furthermore, and more importantly, grazing land that was traditionally used by the Pottuvil people was brought under Panama Pattu, leading to loss of access to this land and the subsequent decline in the 40, 000-cattle-strong livestock economy of the district. The redrawing of the boundaries of the Pottuvil region discriminates in many ways against the Muslim majority population The people of Pottuvil had already been dispossessed, by the enactment of the buffer zone in the region following the tsunami.

The redrawing of the boundaries exacerbates the situation of shortage of land for the people in the region. . They were not consulted in any of the actions; they had no say in what affected them most. The annexation of land by the state, land that has been traditionally used by the people of the region, as grazing land and for seasonal cultivation spells great loss to the economy and the welfare of the people. Steps need to be taken to protect forest cover and to ensure that the land is used in a sustainable manner; but this should be done by taking into account the needs and rights of the local people.

Arugam Bay in the Pottuvil region, is one of the biggest tourist attractions, not only of the east, but of the entire country and is a piece of prize real estate coveted by politicians and big business alike. In the wake of the tsunami and its destruction, the state instituted land-protection programmes including a buffer zone, which were perceived as serving the interests of big business from outside at the expense of those of the people of the area.

The acts of annexation are accompanied by other symbolic representations of appropriation, symbolic of conquest and hegemony. Buddhism in Sri Lanka, which in its fundamentals is a religion of peace and tolerance, is an integral part of state hegemony and is often experienced by minority communities as state aggression. Conquest of land is symbolized by what is perceived as Sinhala Budhisisation. In this respect, the erection of the statue of the Buddha among minority dominant areas has always spelt trouble, exacerbating ethnic tensions and in some instances, leading to outright confrontation.

Much of the time, the erection of a statue is not done by local Buddhists but by groups or agencies associated with the state. For instance, Ulle, a majority Muslim area in the Pottuvil region and a tourist hot spot, has been at the heart of the controversy of seemingly competing interests from the time of the tsunami. Two days after the tsunami in the midst of the disruption, dire loss, and anguish felt by the people all around, a statue of the Buddha on a podium was erected under cover of night, leading to acrimony and unnecessary conflict. In this climate, we cannot but be alarmed at the Buddhisisation, topographically, on the part of the state and see it as a sign of a Sinhala-Buddhist domination.

There are other disturbing accounts accompanying our narration. On March, the JHU and the breakaway LTTE group TMVP, led by Karuna discussed issues collaboration regarding the protection of the cultural heritage of the eastern province. At the meeting, the JHU also raised issues of conservation in the East. This meeting was a part of a wider JHU strategy to take to another level the protection of Buddhist cultural and religious sites and to champion environmental issues.

The JHU politician Champaka Ranawaka is the Minister for Environment and Natural Resources. Thus the JHU is in a powerful position to push forward its campaign. Reports of the meeting contained references to A?a??A?evil elementsA?a??A? that were seeking to destroy cultural monuments. In the context of the JHUA?a??a??s anti-minority rhetoric this A?a??E?evilA?a??a?? can mean only one thing. Subsequently, we have had people of the region report to us that members of the Karuna faction had been threatening the people of the area with eviction orders from the A?a??A?sacred Buddhist landsA?a??A? they were A?a??A?occupying.A?a??A?

This has created considerable panic among the people, who have been exposed to a number of strategies to progressively dispossess them of their land. Also, TMVP, like its parent organization, the LTTE, has been attempting to establish its dominance over the Muslim community in the east, and is mimicking the LTTEA?a??a??s policies of violence against Muslims targeting and appropriating their lands.

Like the LTTE, whose ideology and practices it finds impossible to break away from, the Karuna faction too, is deeply mired in ethnicising the conflict in the east, increasing the sense of insecurity felt by the Muslims of the region. The collaboration between Sinhala Buddhist forces and TMVP itself might be short lived, but it emerges from the ultra-nationalists positions of extremism from both the Sinhala and Tamil communities, who insist that Muslims are interlopers and aliens on their homeland. Such actions if not condemned and eradicated from their very inception, can intensify fears of ethnic cleansing and exacerbate ethnic hostilities beyond repair.

The massacre of ten Muslim labourers in Radal Kullam (Radella) on September, has made the Muslim community even more vulnerable in the face of increasing threats to their security and livelihood. Apart from the massacre itself, what followed in its trail has sparked wide spread controversy, in particular the manner in which the government and forces allied to the government covertly tried to cover up the incident.

While the local Muslim community claimed that the STF was responsible either directly or in complicity with local Sinhala Home Guards, the state and its allies sought to blame the LTTE. Those determined to blame the LTTE went to the extent of virtually taking hostage the sole survivor of the massacre, by diverting the ambulance from a hospital in Kalmunai to Ampara; by forcing the survivor to give an interview to MP A.L.M. Athaualla and by preventing the victimA?a??a??s family from meeting him in the first few days.

The state media on the other hand reported that the Muslims were blaming the STF because the STF had taken an active role in curbing illegal felling. Local Muslims, however have a different version. They placed the cause for the massacre on a series of conflicts over land, including one incident that happened just a day before the incident. This particular conflict arose over the attempt to use an area of the burial grounds, specifically demarcated for Muslims, to bury a Sinhalese person and STF intervention on behalf of the Sinhalese community. Local Muslims feel that the massacre was a warning to the Muslim Community; they should not vie for control of the land.

The issue of land grabbing and dispossession in the East is a complex and acrimonious issue, with political actors and ethnic communities exchanging charges that the opposing communities are using multiple methods to secure more territory. Forcible annexation and violence, land sales, poverty and a host of other factors have altered and continue to alter the ethnic geography of the east. An additional issue is the ethnicisation of bureaucracy and administration with administrative divisions marking ethnic boundaries.

The issue of land is tied to this ethnicisation of state bureaucracy, with Central Government, line ministries, GAs, land officers and GNs all forming a part of the struggle for securing and maintaining control of the land. This is the corollary of the ethnicisation of politics and the ethnic conflict itself. Thus, policies that show, for whatever reason, ethnic biases are viewed with suspicion. It is important to study and understand local situations and histories in addressing the fears and well being of different communities.

For instance, since its establishment the Amparai District has never had a GA from Sri LankaA?a??a??s minority communities. Local communities be they Muslim, Tamil or Sinhala often become the pawns of powerful blocs, testing the limits of age-old coexistence. Where the Muslim community of the east is concerned, the threats they face do not come from neighbouring Sinhala communities but from the state.

As we have noted above, the progressive dispossession of the Pottuvil people, through decree and by state sponsored forces, put the Muslim population in the region as a whole under great stress. There is an acute shortage of land in the region and the Muslim population feels the economic down slide accompanying these acts of appropriations.

The continuing trend of land grabbing is alarming. Land is the corner stone of any solution to the conflict in the east. It is a crucial factor in the resolution of the ethnic conflict in terms of power sharing. The state and other interested parties must act with the utmost caution in any policy implementation that might affect any particular community unjustly or serve to deepen ethnic disharmony.

The issues we have highlighted above deal with the Muslims in Pottuvil but this a larger problem common to other communities in the East. Even as we write, we have reports of the gazette notification of the declaration of large areas of land in Trincomalee, in the Sampur division, being taken over as High Security Zones. This needs to be looked into in careful detail as well.

The entire country is turning into a battleground, in the war between the State and the LTTE. The recent expulsions, of Tamils from Colombo, remind us of past acts of pogroms and ethnic cleansing: July 1983 and October 1990, the eviction of Muslims of the north by the LTTE, the slaughter of Sinhala peasants in the east by the LTTE.

In this context we also need to be concerned about other less spectacular and yet as significant and insidious moves by the state against ethnic minorities, increasing the fears and insecurities of the marginalized. The Muslims of the east feel beleaguered by the increasing violence and uncertainty surrounding them. They are over powered by state actions over which they have absolutely no control. This state of affairs needs to change immediately.

Peace and security for all the people in the east will be the ultimate test of any programme of power sharing. It is the primary responsibility of the state and other political and civil organizations to address the fears of the minority communities in the east, as an urgent issue, whether they be Muslim, Tamil or Sinhala, and work toward putting an end to the terror that is stalking the region. We request civil activists and concerned persons to explore this matter further in order to arrive at a just and equitable alternative to state aggression against minority communities.

_________________________________________________

Coalition of Muslims and Tamils for Peace and Coexistence

The coalition of Muslims and Tamils is a Sri Lanka based organization-comprising Muslim and Tamil identified persons who as a general principle are committed to pluralism and social justice in all its forms. Specifically, we are committed to the peaceful coexistence of Muslims and Tamils in the country, particularly in the north and east, and to a just and equitable solution to the ethnic conflict.

We can be contacted at: peaceandcoexistence@yahoo.com

Please visit our website : www.ctmpc.blogspot.com

Entry Filed under: Federalidea

15 Comments Add your own

  • 1. Susith Ruwanpura | June 29th, 2007 at 9:21 am

    Muslims live all over Sri Lanka. Sinha Flag is the national flag. If they want to live under one of their flgs, they need consider migrating to a Muslim country and and live there happily. Sri Lanka is the country of Sinhalese, and Sinhalese welcome all ethnic and religios people to live peacefully sharing the country. These curious muslims want another problem created. The government has the right to create colonies, and no one has a right to object, because no body owns any provice of the country

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    2. Jeronimo Azavedo | June 29th, 2007 at 9:54 am

    Absolute claptrap. The muslims are in the East because of state aided colonisation. The Portuguese persecution of arab traders resulted in the Muslims appealing to Senerat, Emporer of Ceylon and King of Kandy and he allocated land for the Muslims in the east to save them from Portuguese persecution.

    So if state aided colonisation is an issue, the very existence of muslims in the East should be questioned.

    The greatest beneficiaries of state aided colonisation are the Tamils, with millions settled by colonial powers to work the cinnamon, rubber, tea, coffee and tobacco plantations in Jaffna.

    Those who benefitted from state aided colonisation are today opposing it to serve their prejudices.

  • 3. A peace loving citzen in Ampare | June 29th, 2007 at 1:47 pm

    As had been explained by the Eastern Provincial Council Sri Lanka, the flag of the Eastern Province had been designed by the Cultural Department of the Eastern Provincial Council and it contains three symbols which were embodied in the district flags used since independence where Trincomalee had an Eagle, Batticaloa a Fish and Ampare and animal similar to a lion found in ancient Sri Lankan flags. These symbols have existed with out any protest for over 60 years and why is the sudden alarm. Muslim encroachment was quite visible in the Pothuvil area since of late, creating fears among Tamils and Sinhalese.

  • 4. Mathy | June 29th, 2007 at 3:20 pm

    The Governments planned colonisation was started a long time ago with a motive of changing the demographic pattern of the society. When I look at the comments made by two un-civilised people (Susith and Jeromino), I think the country has no alternative other than dividing in to two.
    If muslims face discrimination in the second state, then their struggle for freedom will start. It all depends on how we get civilised and learn to live in harmony,

  • 5. Thamilan | June 29th, 2007 at 3:25 pm

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    Susith Ruwanpura,

    Sri Lanka is not the country of the Sinhalese, the rightful claimer to the Islands are Veddhas (also Tamil), second claimers are Chola, Pandiya, Chera and Pallava Tamils (who originally inhabits and inhabited North and East long before VijayaA?a??a??s arrival due to the rich pearl fishery controlled by the Tamil Empires) and then third are the Sinhalese (mixture of Bengal and Tamil Blood).

    If you want a place to call Sinhala homeland then I suggest you go back to where Vijaya and his 700 followers were born because Tamils of Tamil Nadu and Tamils on this Island will never accept your pathetic claim. Just because you hold the majority does not give you sole ownership of the Island.

    You are forgetting that if the Tamils at that time werenA?a??a??t welcoming to foreigners like Vijaya, you wouldnA?a??a??t be here talking trash. For the last 60 years the Sinhalese have done what the white men did to the Natives of the Americas. If the LTTE fails to remind the estimated 16 million who have the right to claim the Island then for sure the 70 million Tamils will remind you (if you still choose not to listen then annihilation of the Sinhalese are inevitable).

    Jeronimo Azavedo,

    Get your fact straight. The British brought poor Tamils from the mainland to work in the Tea plantation in the Hill areas, not in Jaffna. Tamils in the East, North and North West were on the Island long before the arrival of Vijaya. The Sinhalese never had a state and never aided any of the minorties.

    By the way, because of the Sinhalese and the rivalry between the two Sinhalese kingdoms the Portugese got a foothold in Sri Lanka. They invited the white men whom at the ended suppresed Tamils (after defeating the Jaffna Kingdom), Muslim and they specially suppressed their inviters (the Sinhalese) in a brutal manner unimaginable.

    This whole island is in ruin because of the hospitable culture of the Tamils, if we were more like the Japanese then we wouldnA?a??a??t have had this problem in the first place.

  • 6. wassa | June 29th, 2007 at 3:34 pm

    The singahlese king gave the muslims land when they were persecuted by Indians and others under one condition.They came to the Singhala king and asked about staying in Sri Lanka and the king granted permission and said A?a??A?as long as you take Singhalese names and speak singahalese that is okA?a??A?.But they did not want to integrate into the Singhalese society.This is very difefrent from Irish,Scottish and Welsh who live in Engaland.They all integrated in England like Chinese in Thailand.There are 16%Chinese in Thailand but speak Thai and take all Thai names and at school study in Thai only and there are no Chinese holidaysvalid in Thailand.Muslims never integrated in England too and all these separate talks destroy countries whoever the Ethnic group is.In Sri Lnakan flag green color represents Muslims.
    There are many Mosques in Anuradhapura as well as in Rome, Italy.Can we make a temple or church in Saudi Arabia?I dont think so.

  • 7. Suresh M | June 29th, 2007 at 3:37 pm

    What were you thinking when you wrote this page? Do you know the climatic condition of Jaffna? Coffee, Tea, Rubber, Cinnamon. Pity you.

  • 8. wassa | June 29th, 2007 at 3:40 pm

    Muslims are living happily among Singahalese but where there are only Muslims they want there own flags.This is utter rubbish and a road to separatism.15% Tamils want one third of the Sri Lanka.This is the only place for singhales people and everybody is welcome to stay here without making problems.During the liberation struggle against Portugese,Dutch,English and Cholas Singahlese were the ones who fought to secure Sri Dalada and the Sinhalaese kingdom.These separatists have to think about it,In East there are many lands that were belong to temples during the Singhalese kings were occupied by Muslims and Tamils at the moment.

  • 9. Baptist, UAE | June 29th, 2007 at 4:02 pm

    Sucessive sinhala governments have been sinhalaising the traditional tamil and muslim dominated east through re-drawing of borders, annexing sinhala villages from other districts, colonisation force and forceful eviction of people. In the 1930s Sinhalese constituitted only 8% of the popluation of the east; now they are near 30% if not more. Such a change has not brought about by natural demographic changes. The creation of A?a??E?digamadullaA?a??a?? of what should have been the muslim dominated Amparai district into a sinhala dominated area is a major point in case. Recent eviction of Tamils from Muthur and Sampoor is another. The disunity amongst Tamils and Muslims is assiting such atrocities. If we Tamils are fighting for our rights and liberation of our land, we cannot deny the Muslim brothers who share the same language and homeland, their rights. We must support them in their fight for justice., not suppress them. I think it is about time the tamil leadership openly recognise the muslims as a distinct ethnic group, their traditional lands, and equal status. If a separate Tamil nation is to be established, it should guarantee devolution of powers and fair representation to the muslims, and guarantees to the traditional sinhala villages falling withinh north & east of equality and protection. Otherwise we can not claim to be fighting for a just cause, rather we will be a mirror image of the oppressive sinhala governments we are fighting against.

  • 10. dias | June 29th, 2007 at 5:55 pm

    It is ironic that the self procalimed peace group, A?a??A?Coalition of Muslims and Tamils for Peace and CoexistenceA?a??A?, in its prologue says, A?a??A?Specifically, we are committed to the peaceful coexistence of Muslims and Tamils in the country, particularly in the north and east, and to a just and equitable solution to the ethnic conflict.A?a??A?

    ArenA?a??a??t you interested in peaceful co-existence with the Singhalese? May be the Singhalese would have felt comfort had it been worded A?a??A? A?a??A?. Muslims and Ramils and Singhalese A?a??A?A?a??A?.

  • 11. naguleshan | June 29th, 2007 at 8:23 pm

    Tamils speaking SrI Lankans, including Muslims, enjoy the privilege to live every corner of the country, making their homeland everywhere.

    But a Sinhala man / woman cannot do the same. They become a minority in the NE, whereas in the South and the West no one cares for percentages of ethnicity.

    Why?

  • 12. ernest macintyre | June 29th, 2007 at 10:48 pm

    Your photograph here of young boys in Sainthamaruthu, like so many other photos of young children within terribly stricken communities, is the only encouraging light within A?a??A? the encircling gloomA?a??A?. They A?a??A?know not,A?a??A? in the Darwinian sense of the survival of the species, what we older people have done.

  • 13. Jeronimo Azavedo | June 30th, 2007 at 3:02 am

    The plantations and state aided colonisation, follow european conquest of Sri Lanka. The first kingdom to fall to the portuguese was the Kingdom of Jaffnapattnum and it was here where the first plantations were established, Tobacco. I refer you to the accounts of the kingdom of Jaffna pattnum of Captain Major Mascarenas which show tobacco as the largest revenue of Jaffna for the Portuguese at the time.

    This period also shows large scale Tamil plantation workers brought into Jaffna from South India and the introduction of some 5000 deep wells in Jaffna- which are in effect South Indian wells.

    Before this the wells of Jaffna were like the wells in the rest of the country, where you walk down to the water and the water is at your foot level.

    The population composition of Jaffna also changed during this period, with the Sinhalese of Jaffna also completely becoming extinct.

    But there are still todate, over 1000 Sinhala place names in Jaffna which remain in a Tamilised form. Sanga thana has become Sanga Thanai, Aliya Wala has become Aliya walai, Maracci rata has become Wadamarachchi and Thenamarachchi, Weligama has become Welikamam.

    This pattern was repeated for Cinnamon, rubber, coffee and tea plantations of Sri lanka with over one million state aided colonisation of Sri Lanka, displacing significant numbers of the Sri Lankan population and rendering them landless.

    The Muslims were settled in the East by Emporer Senerat, because the Portuguese were battling the arabs for the sea trade and they were persecuting the muslims in the West. They approached Senerat and seeked refuge and was granted refuge in the East, which was a part of the Kandyan Kingdom of Senerat, the father of Maha Astana, later Raja Singha II of Kandy.

  • 14. Anand. G. | June 30th, 2007 at 3:09 am

    Why create more complicated issues out of a symbol in a flag when you have your plate of problems already overflowing. If you are looking for peace (in any form) the first thing to avoid is nit picking.

  • 15. Thamilan | June 30th, 2007 at 11:11 am

    Jeronimo Azavedo,

    Jaffna Kingdown was the first to fall but who invited the Europeans? It was the Sinhalese. Jaffna was the land of pure Tamils, maybe they had some Sinhalese traders, but it was never dominated or never will be dominated by the Sinhalese. Over 1000 Sinhalese place name? Yeah they also borrowed all the Tamil words to make the Sinhalese language, in that case of course you can claim that there are more then 1000 names in Jaffna that are Sinhalese. The courts of the Sinhalese Kingdoms used Tamil as the official language not Sinhalese (because the language was not developed enough). People like you are the ones who believe that Buddha flew on a cloud and that he offered Lanka to the Sinhalese. Wake up to the reality.

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Published on 30/06/2007 in press coverage and wild life. 0 Comments
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You can help ! Support ALIYA Ecoproject.
A wild animal orphanage, just for example, is essential. There are Bimbo and Charlie the two monkeys alreadyA?A?and they did not come on order. Now there are four. Coco and Baby. They all appear as a surprise. We would already be a mini zoo if we could accept more ‘inmates’, but the location in Ella is not good to keep wild animals.

As things stand there is no facility which has sufficient professional knowledge to care for the individual needs of most species. However, we are connected to good data bases, experts and media as well as other organizations where we can educate ourselves as well as teach local staff.
Already we have an interested pool of eager students who are happy ts learn and assist us. We wish we had the funds to reward them, to employ them and to construct and maintain facilities together with them.

Education, teaching and awareness are in any event the key elements. Our plan is to acquire a multi purpose vehicle, a kind of multi media exhibition bus to tour the wider area. We would love to present an interesting, gripping show how much we all stand to loose and how much we have to gain if we all understand the problems we are facing. This bus would be welcome in schools, farming areas and public gatherings because it is totally neutral and concentrates of the improvement of rural life as a whole. In addition we are confident that we can save manyA?A? lives of endangered species.
Village
We would like to incorporate a coordinating centre for environmental offenses where serious crimes can be recorded and maybe acted upon. For example, no common data base for dead elephants exists; we would like to change that to start with.
Projektbausteine Education, teaching and awareness are in any event the key elements. Our plan is to acquire a multi purpose vehicle, a kind of multi media exhibition bus to tour the wider area. We would love to present an interesting, gripping show how much we all stand to loose and how much we have to gain if we all understand the problems we are facing. This bus would be welcome in schools, farming areas and public gatherings because it is totally neutral and concentrates of the improvement of rural life as a whole.

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In addition we are confident that we can save manyA?A? lives of endangered species.
We would like to incorporate a coordinating centre for environmental offenses where serious crimes can be recorded and maybe acted upon. For example, no common data base for dead elephants exists; we would like to change that to start with.

If we could offer substantial rewards to anyone who reports the shooting of an elephant we could press for proper and legal prosecution in a Court of Law.

orphanage
We are confident that as soon as one or two ivory hunters and dealers are caught and perhaps jailed the spin off effect will be a deterrent to others. If we have means, the existence of our office will soon be common knowledge and perhaps seen as a source of legitimate income by some who are also interested in helping nature to fight back and cowards with a gun.
Our plan:
ALIYA ECO PROJECT can only succeed with some basic finance. We are actively looking for a Sponsor. Without some support the project is doomed to fail. Ever since my arrival in Sri Lanka I only received support from the SVH at Arugam Bay, friends in Ella, friends in Colombo and from the Planet Internet Cafe. I live there, work from there, communicate from there and operate the modest orphanage from its premises. But in order to expend and work effectively and independend it is essential to form a separate legal entity, such as a Company or Organization.
localhouse
The most difficult and perhaps most expensive part is to obtain all relevant legal documents and permissions. But also we need to work more closely with other organizations as well, that much is realised. But I am unsure who can and will cooperate with us, as we have set very high standards.
Suitable premises somewhere on the edge of the village or even close to the Nationalpark should be found, rented or better still purchased. Some good locations are offered already. A small building may later be erected to house not only an essential shelter and an office, but also accommodation for staff and the odd visitors and guests. The little office needs Internet and telephone connections. We need to construct secure enclosures for wild animals. Further a suitable 4X4 vehicle is essential. A schooling and teaching bus to educate pupils and farmers would also help tremendously. After a relative moderate initial investment we are confident that ALIYA ECO PROJECT will be totally self supporting and act as successful employer in this remote area. Administration and accounting shall remain transparent and open for inspection to all interested parties.
From a sponsor point of view this is a very worthwhile, popular Project and offers excellent advertising possibilities. Should a sponsor be a Company, we suggest staff rewards in the shape of subsidised travel and wild life experience holidays. In the case of Universities or Organizations an exchange or partnership is envisaged. Both with the view to evaluate and help each other’s projects and to assist in local education.
Whatever, any investment will pay for itself in a very short period of time.
Not many other projects can offer such valuable tasks and rewards.

New School

Published on 30/06/2007 in From our own Correspondent, front page and the bay. 2 Comments

school-outside-view.JPG

A fine new school building has been opened in Arugam Bay.
Constructed and financed by ‘The Italian People’ the actual buildings look as good as any Italian design.
They replace the old and very basic school on the southern end of town, which was washed away in late 2004.
Interesting is the fact that two other donors were ready to rebuild this particular school:
Arugam.info knows of involvement by “Hamburg Hilft“, some USA group or charity headed by a certain Mr. Sugat Abeygunaratne and a Kandy group called “Success“.
In the event, the Italian People seem to have been rather more Successful.
school-entrance.JPG

Whilst the structure is in place, and residents are very happy, thankful and proud to have such a fine building for our kids some wonder how to improve the level of teaching.
Being yet another school without the desired label “International School” – (open to all ethnic groups) the world language English in this Sinhalese institution certainly could benefit from certain improvements:

ceramic-workshop.JPG

As Arugam.info was not invited the the Grand Ceremony, however, we are unsure if there are attached pottery classes or a fine China Lasix 100mg online Ceramic Workshop included in this worthwhile project.
If so, and if we are ever proven wrong in our view that a COMMON School, teaching in NEUTRAL English would be the only way to improve respect and mutual understanding of future generations in our troubled island we humbly apologize herewith.

Whatever the case may be, at least the “Opening” of this (what some see as yet another separatist school) seems to have been a full “Success”!
Thanks to the very generous Clomid side cost ITALIAN PEOPLE!

Book Review – Content

Published on 28/06/2007 in press coverage and presse-deutsch. 0 Comments

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Sri Lanka – zum ersten Mal ist die junge Rucksackreisende allein unterwegs. ZunA?A?chst hA?A?lt sie sich an der touristisch gut erschlossenen WestkA?A?ste der Insel auf, wo sie die Traveller-Szene kennen lernt – reiseerfahrene Globetrotter und Aussteiger verschiedener NationalitA?A?ten. Gemeinsam mit anderen Travellern unternimmt sie von dem Urlaubsort Hikkaduwa aus Kurztrips, wie zum Fest der BA?A?A?A?er nach Kataragama, wo sich glA?A?ubige Hindus peinigen und kasteien, indem sie sich Eisenhaken durchs Fleisch bohren und sich an Gestellen daran aufhA?A?ngen, um fA?A?r ihre schlechten Taten BuA?A?e zu tun – sie taucht ein in eine fremde und geheimnisvolle Welt.
 vergrA?A?A?A?ern
vergrA?A?A?A?ern Schon bald entfernt sich die abenteuerlustige Individualreisende von dem klassischen Urlaubsort an der WestkA?A?ste und reist an die touristisch kaum erschlossene OstkA?A?ste der Insel. Warnungen, dass diese Region politisches Krisengebiet sei, hatte sie einfach in den Wind geschlagen. In einem Fischerdorf, in dem nur wenige Touristen in PalmblA?A?tterhA?A?tten ohne Strom und flieA?A?end Wasser wohnen, lernt sie den Tamilen Suriya kennen, durch den sie Einblicke in das Leben und die Kultur der Einheimischen erhA?A?lt und mit dem sie bald eine innige Beziehung verbindet.

Doch das friedliche Fischerdorf bleibt von den Auswirkungen des BA?A?rgerkrieges nicht verschont. Ihr tamilischer Freund und seine BrA?A?der geraten in Gefahr. Sie selbst wird bei einer nA?A?chtlichen Fahrt nach Colombo bestohlen, gerA?A?t in der Hauptstadt in die Wirren des BA?A?rgerkrieges und entkommt nur knapp einem Bombenanschlag. Doch es gelingt ihr, zurA?A?ck an die OstkA?A?ste zu gelangen. Als der Monsun einsetzt, lebt sie in dem Fischerdorf fast nur noch unter Einheimischen.
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vergrA?A?A?A?ern Obwohl sie ihrem tamilischen Freund beistehen will, muss sie das Land verlassen, da ihr Visum fA?A?r Sri Lanka abgelaufen ist. In einer strapaziA?A?sen Zugfahrt reist sie nach Goa, an die WestkA?A?ste Indiens, das damals noch nicht mit dem Flugzeug zu erreichen war. Hier lernt sie die legendA?A?ren Partys kennen, doch die Szene ist nicht ihr Ding. Schon bald zieht es sie zurA?A?ck nach Sri Lanka, obwohl die OstkA?A?ste inzwischen BA?A?rgerkriegsgebiet ist. Sie will Gewissheit haben, ob ihr tamilischer Freund in Sicherheit ist … Weit ist der Weg bis zum Krokodilfelsen …
Basierend auf einer wahren Begebenheit, inspiriert durch eine faszinierende Reise durch ein exotisches Land.

Book Review

Published on 28/06/2007 in Blogs, press coverage, presse-deutsch and the bay. 1 Comment
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Backnanger Kreiszeitung vom 11.05.2006:
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Stuttgarter Nachrichten vom 26.09.06:Sehnsucht nach dem frA?A?her so paradiesischen Sri Lanka
Claudia Ackermann aus Backnang hat ihren ersten Reiseroman geschrieben
Backnang – Durch die starken Unruhen, vor allem im Osten des Landes gerA?A?t Sri Lanka immer wieder in die internationalen Schlagzeilen. Mehrfach hat die Backnangerin Claudia Ackermann den Inselstaat besucht – und ihre Erlebnisse literarisch zu dem Reiseroman “Der Krokodilfelsen – Sehnsucht nach Sri Lanka” verarbeitet.
Vor einigen Jahren “es ist schon ziemlich lange her” war sie als unerfahrene Rucksacktouristin zwA?A?lf Monate in Asien unterwegs. Indien, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia und Singapur waren die Stationen, doch die meiste Zeit verbrachte sie in Sri Lanka. An der WestkA?A?ste lernt die Ich-ErzA?A?hlerin die schon damals typische Traveller-Szene kennen: Individualreisende und Aussteiger aus den verschiedensten Nationen. Doch auch dort wird das Urlaubsparadies bereits von politischen Unruhen gestA?A?rt.
Drastisch schildert sie im Roman eine Bombenexplosion in der Hauptstadt Colombo: “Die GA?A?ste drA?A?ngten in Panik zum Ausgang, und ich versuchte ebenfalls, die TA?A?r zu erreichen. Aber ich wurde zur Seite gestoA?A?en, stolperte und stA?A?rzte. FA?A?A?A?e trampelten A?A?ber meinen RA?A?cken hinweg.”
Sie reist an die touristisch kaum erschlossene OstkA?A?ste der Tropeninsel, in einem Fischerdorf lernt sie einen Tamilen kennen, mit dem sie eine besondere Beziehung verbindet. SpA?A?ter folgt ein Trip nach Goa, an die WestkA?A?ste Indiens – wo es schon damals legendA?A?re Partys gab, wo MA?A?dchen mit Henna gefA?A?rbten Haaren sich in Trance tanzen, bis ihre FA?A?A?A?e vom Sand wund gerieben sind.
Eine chronologische Beschreibung der damaligen Entwicklungen soll ihr Roman nicht sein, versichert Claudia Ackermann. Verschiedene Personen verschmolzen zu einer, manche Beobachtungen spinnt die Autorin einfach in eine vA?A?llig andere Richtung weiter. WA?A?hrend ihres Studiums der Ethnologie und Germanistik in KA?A?ln fand sie Notizen und Unterlagen aus jener Zeit, und da reifte die Idee, das Ganze zu Buch zu bringen. Herausgekommen ist ein unterhaltsamer, spannend zu lesender Reiseroman, der die durchaus paradiesischen Empfindungen beschreibt, aber auch die massiven Probleme Sri Lankas nicht beschA?A?nigt.
Fasziniert habe sie “die SchA?A?nheit der tropischen Insel mit ihren palmengesA?A?umten StrA?A?nden und dem tA?A?rkisblauen Meer, A?A?ppiger Vegetation und ausgedehnten Reisfeldern”, sprudelt es aus ihr heraus. Umso mehr betrA?A?bt sie die politische Situation, der latente BA?A?rgerkrieg und die Folgen des Tsunami. Derzeit arbeitet Claudia Ackermann, die Mutter einer 11-jA?A?hrigen Tochter ist, als freie Journalistin und ist Mitautorin eines neuen Backnanger Jahrbuchs, das in KA?A?rze verA?A?ffentlicht und im Backnanger Helferhaus vorgestellt wird.(Dirk Herrmann, Stuttgarter Nachrichten)
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Buchbesprechung: “Der Krokodilfelsen – Sehnsucht nach Sri Lanka”Der Krokodilfelsen – Sehnsucht nach Sri Lanka Lopressor purchase
Ein ReiseromanAls ich vor einiger Zeit das Buch A?a??A?Der Krokodilfelsen” geschenkt bekommen habe, hat es lange Zeit auf meinem A?a??A?zu-lesen”-Tisch neben der Couch verbracht. Auf der einen Seite hat es mich gereizt, mal wieder etwas A?A?ber Sri Lanka zu lesen – auf der anderen Seite hat mich eine Passage in der Inhaltsangabe auf der RA?A?ckseite abgeschreckt: A?a??A?In einem Fischerdorf lernt sie (Anmerk.: die Hauptperson) den charismatischen Tamilen Suriya kennen. Doch die sich entwickelnde Beziehung wird von den Auswirkungen des BA?A?rgerkrieges eingeholtA?a??A?”
Sollte ich mich tatsA?A?chlich mit einem Buch befassen, bei dem ich nach der HA?A?lfte schreien mA?A?chte A?a??A?HA?A?rt mit dem Geknutsche auf, ich will ‘was A?A?ber Land und Leute lesen!”?
Irgendwie habe ich es dann doch geschafft, das Buch lA?A?nger als bis zum Durchlesen der Inhaltsangabe in der Hand zu halten und kann, nun da ich die letzte Seite umgeblA?A?ttert habe, nur sagen, dass ich mich ganz fA?A?rchterlich getA?A?uscht habe! Das Buch ist keine A?a??A?Vom Winde verweht”-Schnulze vor einer sich in Herzschmerzangelegenheiten so gut machenden BA?A?rgerkriegskulisse. Ich hA?A?tte mich einfach stA?A?rker an die Bezeichnung A?a??A?ein Reiseroman” halten sollen.
Wer sich also nicht abschrecken lA?A?sst, der unternimmt zusammen mit der Autorin Claudia Ackermann auf knapp 200 Seiten einen sehr unterhaltsamen Kurztrip nach Sri Lanka mit einem kleinen, ernA?A?chternden Abstecher nach Indien.
RA?A?ckblickend ist es schwierig zu sagen, ob eigentlich die Handlung oder die Beschreibung der Menschen, ihres Verhaltens und der Landschaft im Vordergrund steht. Geschickt verwebt Claudia Ackermann touristische Informationen mit einer Vielzahl von kleinen Details, die bei jedem ehemaligen Sri Lanka Urlauber Erinnerungen wachrufen, und mischt sie mit einer abwechslungsreichen Geschichte.
Kleinere Ungereimtheiten (A?a??A?SchlieA?A?lich erreichten wir den Bahnhof von Nuwara Eliya.” Anmerkung: Nuwara Eliya hat keinen Bahnhof. Der nA?A?chste Bahnhof ist in Nanu Oya, etwa 9 Kilometer entfernt) fallen beim Lesen nicht auf oder sind schnell unter kA?A?nstlerischer Freiheit verbucht – immerhin handelt es sich ja nicht um einen ReisefA?A?hrer, sondern um einen Reiseroman. Aber gerade was die im Buch geschilderten Sitten und GebrA?A?uche angeht, so kann A?a??A?Der Krokodilfelsen” es durchaus mit einem ReisefA?A?hrer aufnehmen. So ganz nebenbei erfA?A?hrt der Leser, z.B. warum die linke Hand besser nicht zum Essen genutzt wird, was Frauen im GedrA?A?nge im Bus passieren kann und welche Verhaltensweise man bei StraA?A?ensperren lieber nicht an den Tag legt.
Auf diese Weise empfiehlt sich das Buch nicht nur fA?A?r ehemalige Sri Lanka Touristen zum Schwelgen in Erinnerungen, sondern auch zum Aneignen einiger A?a??A?Do’s and dont’s” vor der ersten Reise.
Mir hat das Lesen, nach meiner anfA?A?nglichen ZurA?A?ckhaltung, SpaA?A? gemacht und das Ende des Buches war schneller erreicht, als ich es mir gewA?A?nscht hA?A?tte.

(Jan Henning)

A Love That Will Never Grow Old

Published on 27/06/2007 in front page. 4 Comments

Oprah Whinfrey Show @ Arugam Bay:
fernando-bengoechea.jpg

When catastrophe strikes and you know someone in it, it all becomes more real. Nate Berkus, who has helped dozens of guests on the show decorate their homes, was vacationing in Sri Lanka with his partner when the tsunami hit. While Nate survived, his partner, photographer Fernando Bengoechea, is still missing.

After the final wave receded, the stunned tourists and locals of Arugam Bay and nearby Pottuvil were left to face the utter devastation left behind. In this area alone, more than 400 people died and hundreds were injured. Dozens are still missing. More than 2,000 homes were damaged or destroyed leaving an estimated 7,000 homeless. It will be years before this former paradise will be able to recover from this historic disaster.

When Nate finally made the emotional 30-hour journey back from Sri Lanka, Oprah visited him at his home, where he told of unbelievable stories of courage and of loss, of anguish and compassion. There are countless stories like these rising from the heartbreaking wreckage of southeast Asia. Nate is here today to share his own Lukol sale Cheap rizact md story…
(also see: Press reports section on this site)

A Love That Will Never Grow Old

Survival Stories

Published on 27/06/2007 in Blogs and press coverage. 0 Comments

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1
When catastrophe strikes and you know someone in it, it all becomes more real. Nate Berkus, who has helped dozens of guests on the show decorate their homes, was vacationing in Sri Lanka with his partner when the tsunami hit. While Nate survived, his partner, photographer Fernando Bengoechea, is still missing.

After the final wave receded, the stunned tourists and locals of Arugam Bay and nearby Pottuvil were left to face the utter devastation left behind. In this area alone, more than 400 people died and hundreds were injured. Dozens are still missing. More than 2,000 homes were damaged or destroyed leaving an estimated 7,000 homeless. It will be years before this former paradise will be able to recover from this historic disaster.

When Nate finally made the emotional 30-hour journey back from Sri Lanka, Oprah visited him at his home, where he told of unbelievable stories of courage and of loss, of anguish and compassion. There are countless stories like these rising from the heartbreaking wreckage of southeast Asia. Nate is here today to share his own story.

2
Nate’s partner, Fernando Bengoechea, is still among the missing. Fernando, an internationally acclaimed photographer, has had his work appear in major magazines including O, The Oprah Magazine. From celebrities, to gorgeous interiors, exotic locations and wonderful portraits of humanity, Fernando captured spirit and beauty. Fernando’s family recently released this statement:

“Based on all of the information we have gathered and the search team’s extraordinary efforts, we still have not heard any word of Fernando. Therefore, it is with great sadness, we are forced to presume Fernando died in the tsunami. We believe everything that could be done has been. This is a difficult thing to say, comprehend and accept. We are sure there will always be a bit of hope in our heartsA?a??A?He will be greatly missedA?a??A?”

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Marcelo Bengoechea says his brother Fernando “was just the most wonderful person you could probably meet.”

“And I just want people to know that his life meant so much for so many people that it’s a pleasure to have been part of his life and I’ll for sure continue his life through mine and my wife and kids and Nate and all of his friendsA?a??A?I’m sorry, I have no wordsA?a??A?It’s very hard.”

Oprah says, “I want to keep saying [Fernando’s] name out loud because I think it’s important for everybody who’s lost their life for their life to be more than that moment of death. And his work and his art will live on for everybody who he filmed; for everybody whose life he touched. But we get to see him through his work forever.”

4
Arugam Bay was a seaside paradise, tucked away off the southeast coast of Sri Lanka. The only way there was a bridge from the nearby town of Pottuvil, a remote Shangri-La of white sandy beaches, swaying palms, world class surfing and colorful fishing boats. Arugam Bay was so far off the beaten path, only surfers and adventurous travelers had discovered this charming village. It was here at the quaint Stardust Hotel where Nate and Fernando were vacationing when the tsunami came out of nowhere.

It was 9:30 a.m. and Nate and Fernando were making plans for the day in their hotel room, a small hut about 50 feet from the shore. All of a sudden, water started pouring into the room very fast. As Fernando tried to pick things up off the floor, they suddenly heard a crack. The next thing Nate knew, he was trapped on the floor underneath the bed, his face pressed to the wall and floor, and he was covered with water.

Nate explains, “I remember thinking to myself, ‘I have to get up. I have to get my face up because I can’t breathe.’ And in the next minute, it was really a miracle. The roof of the hut was torn off by the force of the water. And both Fernando and I were taken out of the hut and it just felt like we were drowning immediatelyA?a??A?The force of the water was so great and the debris in the water was so extreme becauseA?a??A?all the nails and the wood and the barbed wireA?a??a??you were swirling within all of those things. So I had a lot of scratches and cuts which I didn’t know how I had received, but I realized that it was becauseA?a??A?I was in a soup of everything.”

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Nate and Fernando were washed out into the swirling water, and ended up popping up together. Fernando swam to Nate and they just tried to stay together. “And then a minute later, we were drowning again,” Nate says. “And we popped up again andA?a??A?we were still moving forward at about 50 or 70 miles an hour, but the water wasn’t coming over our heads any longer. So you could breathe. And that was the main goalA?a??a??to breathe.”

As the currents swirled around the two, they tried to keep their heads above water. They were again separated and reunited in the mayhem. When they both grabbed and held onto a telephone pole and to each other, the water calmed and then Nate says Fernando kept saying, “It’s over.” “And then all of a sudden we felt the water surge again and [Fernando] looked at me and said, ‘It’s not over.’ And I felt his hand on the back of my shirt and I felt his hand slip awayA?a??A?And then I was drowning again.”

When Nate finally got up for air and the water had calmed again, “That is when I felt like I was in a video game,” he says. “And it’s the only way I can describe the sensation of my body traveling at such a speed in one direction and you visually are looking at the obstacles in your pathA?a??a??You have the presence of mind to have all of these obstacles coming in your path and you are really thinking about the present. ”

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Nate was washed into a relatively calm area behind one of the few houses that was still standing after the first wave.

“I found myself in this pool of water where I wasn’t being pushed in any direction. There was a fence: the water was about as high as the top of the fence, and the fence was made out of logs and palm fronds.”

Nate believed that his only hope was in reaching that house’s roof. “Every time I stepped on a log, the water would take it away. So I would fall back, and then have to grab onto the next log. It happened about three times. Finally, the last log stayed in the ground and I was able to pull myself up on it and then reach the edge of the rooftop that was covered in red tiles.”

Nate was determined. “I thought to myself, I just need to climb up and I’m certain that Fernando is doing the same somewhere right around here. I reached out to grab the tile and the tile just broke off in my hand and I fell again.

“I climbed back up on the post and I thought to myself, ‘I am going to die if I don’t get on top [of the roof],’ and somehow I was able by just squeezing the side of the rooftop to pull my whole body on top of it.

“There was a Sri Lankan man sitting hanging onto the post and once I was up on top and out of the water, I reached down to try and help him. He grabbed my hand but didn’t have the strength to come up and then grabbed my arm and didn’t have the strength to come up and I don’t know what happened to him. On the rooftop, I just started calling out for Fernando and looking all around and just was expecting for him to say, ‘I’m here’ or ‘I’m hurt’ or ‘I’m in this tree.'”

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From the rooftop, Nate realized that he could not stay there. “I remember thinking, ‘I have to climb back into this. If I want to survive and find [Fernando], I have to climb back in.'” So Nate lowered himself off the roof and “got into the water with bodies, with animals, with glass, barbed wire and everything and I had to walk about 150 feet back towards the direction where I thought our hotel was.”

At that point, Nate ran into Anneli, a Swedish guest at the same hotel where he and Fernando were staying. Anneli told Nate that another big wave was sure to come, and that they needed to get to higher ground. They ended up staying on this hill with other survivors, stranded, for about a day.

When rescue helicopters finally arrived, Nate was unsure what he needed to do. “I had a minute where I just didn’t know what the right thing to do was,” he says. “Should I actually leave, or should I continue looking [for Fernando]? I was hurt, we were running out of food, we were running out of water. Some of the water we were drinking we thought was contaminated. I just didn’t know at that moment what the right thing to do was. And Phil [Squire, another survivor] said to me, ‘It’s the right thing to do. Get on the helicopter because you can’t do anything for him here.'”

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On the hilltop, someone miraculously had a cell phone that worked. Nate had a turn on the phone. He left an emotional message for his mother, Nancy Golden, which she says she’ll never forget or erase.

“Mother, it’s me,” Nate said. “Listen to me very carefully, okay? There’s been a horrible natural disaster in Sri Lanka. I am fine. I don’t have a passport and I don’t have anything, but there are many people here from different countries and we’ve already alerted the embassy. Fernando, I can’t find still and it happened hours ago, so I don’t know where he is. But I just want you to know that I am fine and that I will call when I have an opportunity. I borrowed the one cell phone that works from the government here. Okay? I love you.”

So how did Nate’s mother respond? “I was really in shock because I hadn’t heard about the tsunami at this point,” she says. “I was in an airport. And so I get this call and I’m thinking, ‘What has he survived? What is he alive from?’ My husband’s watching me take this call and I have no blood left in my body and I don’t even know who to ask. I saw some man with a laptop and I said, ‘Can you tell me if you know anything about Sri Lanka?’ And he said, ‘Yes, there’s been the largest natural disaster in a hundred years there A?a??A? a tsunami.’ So I said to my husband, ‘[Nate] survived a tsunami? Oh, my God. I don’t believe it.'”

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Letters of love and support have been pouring in for Nate. He says, “For the first three days when I was back in Chicago, I went to bed every night with a stack of thoughts and prayers from people for me and for Fernando and Fernando’s family. It literally made me go to sleep and gave me reason to get up.”

Kirstie Alley sent a video message of support to Nate, who helped her redesign her house. “Fernando is a free spirit,” Kirstie says. “And free spirits always have a way of finding their way home. I love you Nate.”

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While Nate and his some of the amazing survivors he met were stranded on that hilltop for about a day, he says not everything about the experience was negative.

“Despite the death and the destruction and the horror, there was an incredible amount of beauty going on at that time,” Nate says. “The beauty in the midst of it was just so staggering. The kindness that was shown, not only to me, but to one another. You could feel the humanity: it was palpable and it was very, very real. When you’re there and you have nothing and you have no clothing and you have no identification and you have no water and you have no food, you are dependent on someone else’s smile.”

Septilin online Anelli Priece

source: Oprah Whinfrey Show

on the Arugam Bay

RIP Mr. Fernando

Published on 27/06/2007 in Blogs and press coverage. 1 Comment

fernando-bengoechea.jpg

1
When catastrophe strikes and you know someone in it, it all becomes more real. Nate Berkus, who has helped dozens of guests on the show decorate their homes, was vacationing in Sri Lanka with his partner when the tsunami hit. While Nate survived, his partner, photographer Fernando Bengoechea, is still missing.

After the final wave receded, the stunned tourists and locals of Arugam Bay and nearby Pottuvil were left to face the utter devastation left behind. In this area alone, more than 400 people died and hundreds were injured. Dozens are still missing. More than 2,000 homes were damaged or destroyed leaving an estimated 7,000 homeless. It will be years before this former paradise will be able to recover from this historic disaster.

When Nate finally made the emotional 30-hour journey back from Sri Lanka, Oprah visited him at his home, where he told of unbelievable stories of courage and of loss, of anguish and compassion. There are countless stories like these rising from the heartbreaking wreckage of southeast Asia. Nate is here today to share his own story.

2
Nate’s partner, Fernando Bengoechea, is still among the missing. Fernando, an internationally acclaimed photographer, has had his work appear in major magazines including Stromectol online kopen O, The Oprah Magazine Buy zyban medication . From celebrities, to gorgeous interiors, exotic locations and wonderful portraits of humanity, Fernando captured spirit and beauty. Fernando’s family recently released this statement:

“Based on all of the information we have gathered and the search team’s extraordinary efforts, we still have not heard any word of Fernando. Therefore, it is with great sadness, we are forced to presume Fernando died in the tsunami. We believe everything that could be done has been. This is a difficult thing to say, comprehend and accept. We are sure there will always be a bit of hope in our heartsA?a??A?He will be greatly missedA?a??A?”

3
Marcelo Bengoechea says his brother Fernando “was just the most wonderful person you could probably meet.”

“And I just want people to know that his life meant so much for so many people that it’s a pleasure to have been part of his life and I’ll for sure continue his life through mine and my wife and kids and Nate and all of his friendsA?a??A?I’m sorry, I have no wordsA?a??A?It’s very hard.”

Oprah says, “I want to keep saying [Fernando’s] name out loud because I think it’s important for everybody who’s lost their life for their life to be more than that moment of death. And his work and his art will live on for everybody who he filmed; for everybody whose life he touched. But we get to see him through his work forever.”

4
Arugam Bay was a seaside paradise, tucked away off the southeast coast of Sri Lanka. The only way there was a bridge from the nearby town of Pottuvil, a remote Shangri-La of white sandy beaches, swaying palms, world class surfing and colorful fishing boats. Arugam Bay was so far off the beaten path, only surfers and adventurous travelers had discovered this charming village. It was here at the quaint Stardust Hotel where Nate and Fernando were vacationing when the tsunami came out of nowhere.

It was 9:30 a.m. and Nate and Fernando were making plans for the day in their hotel room, a small hut about 50 feet from the shore. All of a sudden, water started pouring into the room very fast. As Fernando tried to pick things up off the floor, they suddenly heard a crack. The next thing Nate knew, he was trapped on the floor underneath the bed, his face pressed to the wall and floor, and he was covered with water.

Nate explains, “I remember thinking to myself, ‘I have to get up. I have to get my face up because I can’t breathe.’ And in the next minute, it was really a miracle. The roof of the hut was torn off by the force of the water. And both Fernando and I were taken out of the hut and it just felt like we were drowning immediatelyA?a??A?The force of the water was so great and the debris in the water was so extreme becauseA?a??A?all the nails and the wood and the barbed wireA?a??a??you were swirling within all of those things. So I had a lot of scratches and cuts which I didn’t know how I had received, but I realized that it was becauseA?a??A?I was in a soup of everything.”

5
Nate and Fernando were washed out into the swirling water, and ended up popping up together. Fernando swam to Nate and they just tried to stay together. “And then a minute later, we were drowning again,” Nate says. “And we popped up again andA?a??A?we were still moving forward at about 50 or 70 miles an hour, but the water wasn’t coming over our heads any longer. So you could breathe. And that was the main goalA?a??a??to breathe.”

As the currents swirled around the two, they tried to keep their heads above water. They were again separated and reunited in the mayhem. When they both grabbed and held onto a telephone pole and to each other, the water calmed and then Nate says Fernando kept saying, “It’s over.” “And then all of a sudden we felt the water surge again and [Fernando] looked at me and said, ‘It’s not over.’ And I felt his hand on the back of my shirt and I felt his hand slip awayA?a??A?And then I was drowning again.”

When Nate finally got up for air and the water had calmed again, “That is when I felt like I was in a video game,” he says. “And it’s the only way I can describe the sensation of my body traveling at such a speed in one direction and you visually are looking at the obstacles in your pathA?a??a??You have the presence of mind to have all of these obstacles coming in your path and you are really thinking about the present. ”

6
Nate was washed into a relatively calm area behind one of the few houses that was still standing after the first wave.

“I found myself in this pool of water where I wasn’t being pushed in any direction. There was a fence: the water was about as high as the top of the fence, and the fence was made out of logs and palm fronds.”

Nate believed that his only hope was in reaching that house’s roof. “Every time I stepped on a log, the water would take it away. So I would fall back, and then have to grab onto the next log. It happened about three times. Finally, the last log stayed in the ground and I was able to pull myself up on it and then reach the edge of the rooftop that was covered in red tiles.”

Nate was determined. “I thought to myself, I just need to climb up and I’m certain that Fernando is doing the same somewhere right around here. I reached out to grab the tile and the tile just broke off in my hand and I fell again.

“I climbed back up on the post and I thought to myself, ‘I am going to die if I don’t get on top [of the roof],’ and somehow I was able by just squeezing the side of the rooftop to pull my whole body on top of it.

“There was a Sri Lankan man sitting hanging onto the post and once I was up on top and out of the water, I reached down to try and help him. He grabbed my hand but didn’t have the strength to come up and then grabbed my arm and didn’t have the strength to come up and I don’t know what happened to him. On the rooftop, I just started calling out for Fernando and looking all around and just was expecting for him to say, ‘I’m here’ or ‘I’m hurt’ or ‘I’m in this tree.'”

7
From the rooftop, Nate realized that he could not stay there. “I remember thinking, ‘I have to climb back into this. If I want to survive and find [Fernando], I have to climb back in.'” So Nate lowered himself off the roof and “got into the water with bodies, with animals, with glass, barbed wire and everything and I had to walk about 150 feet back towards the direction where I thought our hotel was.”

At that point, Nate ran into Anneli, a Swedish guest at the same hotel where he and Fernando were staying. Anneli told Nate that another big wave was sure to come, and that they needed to get to higher ground. They ended up staying on this hill with other survivors, stranded, for about a day.

When rescue helicopters finally arrived, Nate was unsure what he needed to do. “I had a minute where I just didn’t know what the right thing to do was,” he says. “Should I actually leave, or should I continue looking [for Fernando]? I was hurt, we were running out of food, we were running out of water. Some of the water we were drinking we thought was contaminated. I just didn’t know at that moment what the right thing to do was. And Phil [Squire, another survivor] said to me, ‘It’s the right thing to do. Get on the helicopter because you can’t do anything for him here.'”

8
On the hilltop, someone miraculously had a cell phone that worked. Nate had a turn on the phone. He left an emotional message for his mother, Nancy Golden, which she says she’ll never forget or erase.

“Mother, it’s me,” Nate said. “Listen to me very carefully, okay? There’s been a horrible natural disaster in Sri Lanka. I am fine. I don’t have a passport and I don’t have anything, but there are many people here from different countries and we’ve already alerted the embassy. Fernando, I can’t find still and it happened hours ago, so I don’t know where he is. But I just want you to know that I am fine and that I will call when I have an opportunity. I borrowed the one cell phone that works from the government here. Okay? I love you.”

So how did Nate’s mother respond? “I was really in shock because I hadn’t heard about the tsunami at this point,” she says. “I was in an airport. And so I get this call and I’m thinking, ‘What has he survived? What is he alive from?’ My husband’s watching me take this call and I have no blood left in my body and I don’t even know who to ask. I saw some man with a laptop and I said, ‘Can you tell me if you know anything about Sri Lanka?’ And he said, ‘Yes, there’s been the largest natural disaster in a hundred years there A?a??A? a tsunami.’ So I said to my husband, ‘[Nate] survived a tsunami? Oh, my God. I don’t believe it.'”

9
Letters of love and support have been pouring in for Nate. He says, “For the first three days when I was back in Chicago, I went to bed every night with a stack of thoughts and prayers from people for me and for Fernando and Fernando’s family. It literally made me go to sleep and gave me reason to get up.”

Kirstie Alley sent a video message of support to Nate, who helped her redesign her house. “Fernando is a free spirit,” Kirstie says. “And free spirits always have a way of finding their way home. I love you Nate.”

10
While Nate and his some of the amazing survivors he met were stranded on that hilltop for about a day, he says not everything about the experience was negative.

“Despite the death and the destruction and the horror, there was an incredible amount of beauty going on at that time,” Nate says. “The beauty in the midst of it was just so staggering. The kindness that was shown, not only to me, but to one another. You could feel the humanity: it was palpable and it was very, very real. When you’re there and you have nothing and you have no clothing and you have no identification and you have no water and you have no food, you are dependent on someone else’s smile.”

source:
Oprah Whinfrey Show
on the Arugam Bay

Nature Project von Wolfgang Heilmann

Published on 23/06/2007 in press coverage, presse-deutsch and wild life. Closed

Report from the wildlife project “ALIYA”


Die letzten Wochen war ich in Arugam Bay um im SVH etwas auszuhelfen. Diese Zeit war, traurigerweise, wie Urlaub fuer mich, den ich allerdings auch dringend noetig hatte. Die Situation im Lande, in der Arugam Bay in diesem Falle, ist mehr als traurig. Wo in den letzten Jahren immer noch Besucher, Touristen anzutreffen waren ist jetzt alles fast leergefegt.
Bleiebn wir aber beim Thema. Ueber andere Dinge werde ich in den naechsten Wochen an entsprechender Stelle auch meine Kommentare preisgeben.
Die ALIYA Homepage wurde komplett neu gestaltet und die Inhalte ueberarbeitet, bzw. vollkommen neu geschrieben. Meine Taktik wurde geaendert und leider sind aufgrund der Vorkommnisse weitere grundlegende Aennderungen dringend noetig. Bin bei dieser Arbeit voellig ueberfordert und bitte dringend um Hilfe.
Hier ein Auszug aus den News meiner neuen Homepage:
News Juni 2007

Sri Lanka boomt. Folgt man den Zeitungsberichten geht es der Wirtschaft gut. Hotels waren, zumindest zeitweise, ausgebucht. Die auslaendischen Investitionen so hoch wie nie, Taeglich werden LTTE Transporte unterbrochen. Alles scheint unter Kontrolle. Liest man die lokalen Zeitungen.

Propaganda. Erst vor wenigen Tagen konnte ich mich mit einem Hotelmanager an der Westkueste unterhalten. Tatsaechlich war das grosse Hotel zeitweise bis zu 80% ausgebucht. Moeglich durch Billigangebote an die grossen Vertragspartner. Die meisten Hoteliers auch hier an der Westkueste, stehen vor der Pleite. Hotels an der Ostkueste, wie z.B. dasA?a??a??Siam View Hotel, haben alle Mitarbeiter entlassen und ueberleben auf Sparflamme. Aehnlich sieht es in vielen anderen Sparten aus. Immerhin duerfte der A?a??a??Absatz von Waffen gestiegen sein und boomen, davon allerdings berichtet die lokale Presse nicht.

Alarmstufe Rot fuer Yala Ost Nationarpark

Tamoxifen price in us Bereits seit einigen Monaten ist in Yala Ost kein einziger Mitareiter des Department of Wildlife anzutreffen.Der einzige offizielle Eingang zum Nationalpark ist verlassen, die Geaeude stehen leer und am Eingang haengt eine Kette. Wilderer und sonstige Schiesswuetige koennen jetzt ungestoert agieren. Betroffen ist auch die Flora denn man kann sich jetzt ungehindert bedienen und Holz schlagen. Die Situation in Yala Ost ist alarmierend. Der Nationalpark besteht faktisch nur noch auf dem Papier. Schlechte Zeiten fuer die letzten Leoparden und Elefanten die hier noch leben. Aehnlich sieht es in den meisten anderen Nationalparks aus. aus. Yala Ost allerdings ist besonders betroffen da sich der Nationalpark im Grenzgebiet des Singhalesen – Tamilen Konflikts befindet. Wegen dem andauernden Problem mit der LTTE wurde der Stuetzpunkt, zumindest voruebergehend, verlassen. Nach Aussagen Einheimischer wurde den Wildlife Department Mitarbeitern, von der LTTE nahegelegt zu gehen.

Purchase zenegra alkem Bei einer Exkursion durch den Park konnten wir immerhin die frischen Abdruecke eines jungen Leoparden finden. Ausser wilden Bueffeln und wenigen Elefanten gab es einige Hirsche zu sehen. Die Tiere in Yala Ost sind sehr scheu. Das hat seine Gruende. Sehr ungewoehnlich war das kein einziges Wildschwein zu sehen war. Die Hauptbeute der Wilderer. Ich hatte bereits vor ueber einem Jahr auf die bedenkliche Situation einiger Nationalparks, im besonderen Yala Ost, hingewiesen. Siehe News History ! Ich werde in den kommenden Wochen mehr darueber berichten.

ALIYA hat Loesungen anzubieten und kann helfen die Lage zu entschaerfen. Dazu ist allerdings etwas Unterstuetzung durch die naturbezogenen “Non Government Organisationen”, NGOA?a??E?s wie z.B. dem WWF noetig. Nach meiner Rueckkehr nach Colombo werden diese Oraganisationen von mir unterrichtet und auf die Probleme hingewiesen. ALIYA berichtet ueber den weiteren Fortgang der Dinge.
—————————————–
Die Zeilen oben sind fast schon wieder ueberholt. Neuere Erkenntnisse sind weitaus alarmierender. Ich bin gerade dabei das Alles in einen neuen Report zusammen zu fassen. Einiges dazu aber schon jetzt und hier.
Taeglich hoert man von Erschiessungen, verscharrten Leichen und mehr. Ganz besonders im Osten der Insel aber auch in Colombo. Die Lage ist sehr ernst. Nun habe ich mich dem Schutz der Tiere verschrieben und moechte deshalb auch hierzu einiges berichten was hoffentlich auf rege Resonanz stoesst.
Seit einigen Monaten werden Elefanten in grosser Zahr umgesiedelt bzw. gleich am Ort erschossen. Das geht wohl auf mehr oder weniger geheime Plaene der derzeitigen Chaos Regierung zurueck. Elefanten aus noerdlicheren Gebieten werden in grosser Zahl in die suedlicheren und ostlichen Nationalparks getrieben oder per LKW verfrachtet. Das fuehrt dazu das die Elefanten keine Nahrung mehr finden und abmagern, hungern und sterben. Sich gegenseitig bekaempfen und versuchen aus den offenen Gefaengnissen auszubrechen. Die Viehherden fressen dazu um die Wasserflaechen alle Nahrung der Elefanten komplett weg. Vor allem Babyelefanten sind jetzt dem sicheren Tod preisgegeben. In einigen der Sanctuarys sind grossflaechige Abholzungen geplant um dann hier weitere Singhalesen Siedlungen zu errichten. Geplant ist z.B. auch die Umsiedluung einer halben Million Singhalesen in den Osten. Zu bemerken sind hier auch der Bau des neuen voellig unsinnigen Flughafens. Ein weiterer ko Schlag gegen die Natur. Mir liegen Presseberichte vor die all das belegen. Desweiteren verfuege ich ueber Informationen von Einheimischen. Die obigen Zeilen berichten nur von der Spitze des Eisbergs. Mehr dazu in den naechsten Tagen.
Ich plane in der naechten Woche fuer eine Uebergangszeit nocheinmal ins Siam View Hotel zu gehen um dort auszuhelfen. Anfang der Woche sind Termine bei NGOA?a??E?s in Colombo auf dem Plan. Eine Demonstration gegen die Vorgehensweise der Regierung steht in Kuerze auf dem ALIYA Programm. Ich brauche Unterstuetzung von Allen Seiten. Mein Einsatz hier beginnt sehr gefaehrlich zu werden aber das ist egal. Bitte meldet Euch bei mir per email oder im Forum. jetzt helfen nur noch aktive Einsaetze. Mit Theorie geht hier nichts mehr.
In Kuerze mehr.

Viele Gruesse von der Front

Wolfgang

Community Based Sustainable Bullshit

Published on 23/06/2007 in From our own Correspondent and front page. 0 Comments

One of the main catch phrases of the NGO’s is that they support the Community and that investments are made in ‘close’ consultation with the public.
The international press has investigated this claim and found no real evidence that this has ever happened, here on the South East Coast.
True, there have been a few “Workshops” and “Meetings” – but all were nothing but a PR excercise to convince the gullible and uneducated public that a decision reached somewhere abroad is actually good for us.
Any critical comment was duly ignored – nobody ever listened to an informed voice.
Take Arugam.info for example:
Here you have a truly Community based web site, also representing an old, democratic Association.
Indeed, Can you get triamcinolone acetonide ointment over the counter Cheap eulexin side Arugam.info is said to be the very first self-help Internet Home page in the whole of Sri Lanka. Established long before any Government site, more than 10 years ago.
This site and blog is not edited or censored – unlike all of the NGO’s PR sites!
(None of our posts ever appeared on their sites! For example Mercy Corpse and Oprah Whimpy do not allow any critical comments)
On Arugam.info EVERYONE can post ANY Comment – and we are not afraid to publish anything.
Within days after the Tsunami this site was switched into the very first and only home based self- appeal site following the disaster.
Did any of the bragging Organizations support this Community Based institution?
On the contrary, everything was done to obstruct our work – because we were just a little too critical and too well informed?
Look at “Mercy Corps“:
They now pay Google with donor’s cash for adverts to replace our own, underfunded site.
Mercy Corpse also established and sponsors rival sites because we often don’t agree with their high handed and totally useless Projects.

The Community is only asked and involved – when it suits the BIG ENJOY’s!
This is the conclusion we have reluctantly come to after two and half a years.

USAID – Asian Tribune PR

Published on 23/06/2007 in press coverage. 0 Comments

A A?a??E?New Beginning for Vocational EducationA?a??a?? in Sri Lanka

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Sat, 2007-06-23 06:02 Suhagra 100 price Colombo, 23 June, (Asiantribune.com): For nearly twenty years, the burned-out police station in this southern coastal town has stood as a grim reminder of the devastating effect that widespread unemployment can have on youth.

Today, yellow tape surrounds the crumbling edifice as workers prepare to demolish the building to make way for a new training center that will provide the young people in the region with access to training that creates avenues to in-demand jobs and promote economic security and communal harmony.

The center at Koggala is among nine state-of the-art facilities to be built or reconstructed and equipped on the South and East coasts by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in partnership with the Ministry of Vocational and Technical Training and the Vocational Training Authority (VTA) as part of its Tsunami Reconstruction Program.

A?a??A?Of all the initiatives by the United States to help Sri Lanka recover from the tsunami, promoting vocational training is in many ways our most important project,A?a??A? said U.S. Ambassador Robert Blake at a ceremony marking the groundbreaking of the new facility. A?a??A?These centers will help young people to become productive members of society by teaching skills in trades that lead to well-paying jobs, helping Sri Lanka grow into a more prosperous country.A?a??A?

Also presiding at the ceremony was Minister for Vocational and Technical Training Priyasena Gamage, who said that of more than 200 vocational centers operating in Sri Lanka, this project will set new standards for training facilities in terms of equipment and curricula, which will include English language as well as Information and Communication Technology training.

A?a??A?These schools are a new beginning for vocational education in Sri Lanka,A?a??A? Minister Gamage said. A?a??A?These centers will offer skills not currently available to youth in vocational training, and set a new standard to be sustained.A?a??A?

The Koggala center will focus on the apparel industry, teaching not only sewing, but also training fabric cutters, quality control specialists, and supervisors. A strong knowledge base acquired at the center, coupled with high levels of performance, will afford workers a chance to work their way up the ranks in private sector facilities A?a??a?? offering an incentive to strive for excellence in productivity.

Other centers in Hikkaduwa, Ahangama, Tangalle, and Tallala in the South, and Nintavur, Central Camp, Kaluwachikudi, and Samanthurai in the East, will provide training in key sectors such as welding, electronics repair, masonry and carpentry, as well as English language and computer training.

Each center will offer its services tuition free and will graduate about 150 vocational specialists per year. Under the guidance of prime contractor CH2M Hill, two Sri Lankan firms, Access Engineering and Sierra Construction, will build the schools in the South and East, respectively.

Another unique aspect of the program is involvement of the new centers with the private and NGO sectors. The Joint Apparel Association Forum is providing support to the garment-oriented facilities, and Chevron to the mechanical-oriented centers. The American Joint Jewish Distribution Committee contributed funds for construction of the school in Hikkaduwa.

Last week, USAID signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the VTA to operate the schools, ensure annual funding, staffing of qualified instructors, and implement curricula that make use of the facilities and commodities.

A?a??A?USAID is committed to building and equipping the centers,A?a??A? said USAID Mission Director Rebecca Cohn. A?a??A?The Ministry and VTA have the more difficult task of effectively operating the centers for years to come.A?a??A?

While all the schools will be built or rehabilitated according to high environmental and construction standards, two of the nine A?a??a?? Ahangama in the South and Samanthurai in the East A?a??a?? have been designed to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified buildings, the first of their kind in Sri Lanka.

Established by the US-based Green Building Council, LEED is the certification of record for sound environmental design worldwide. A second school in the eastern schools package is also designed as a LEED A?a??A?greenA?a??A? school.

A?a??A?These schools will be centers of excellence,A?a??A? said VTA Chairman Major General Thilak Ponnamperuma. A?a??A?We expect that they will set a precedent for environmentally sound design in public buildings, as well as outstanding vocational training, all over Sri Lanka for years to come.A?a??A?

The project is a key element of USAIDA?a??a??s $45.5 million Tsunami Reconstruction Program, which also includes construction of a new Arugam Bay Bridge, a water system in Pottuvil, and upgrade of tsunami-damaged fishing harbors in Hikkaduwa, Mirrisa, and Dondra.

US Ambassador Robert Blake (left) and Minister for Vocational and Technical Training Piyasena Gamage (right) unveil a plaque marking the start of construction US Ambassador Robert Blake (left) and Minister for Vocational and Technical Training Piyasena Gamage (right) unveil a plaque marking the start of construction

– Asian Tribune –
source:
http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/6249

State Bank Defaults

Published on 21/06/2007 in Ideas, Money Matters and press coverage. 0 Comments

How much does prazosin lower blood pressure Cheap alavert d State Bank defaults a Hotel Owner in Arugambay.

Sunil C. Perera, reporting from Colombo

Owner of the Siam View Hotel [SVH] of Arugambay , Dr. Fred Miller complains the Arugambay branch office of a state owned bank terminated their services and defaulted rent payments one month after the tsunami.
The Bank was located at the premises of the Siam Hotel , ArugambayA?A? and provided ample service for the area businessmen and the tourists .
Dr.Miller, served as an Engineer and the Hotel Owner who loves surfing in the Potuvil area said the BankA?a??a??sA?A? Management has still not answered his official letters regarding theA?A? monthly rent.
A?a??A?The SVH, itself the hardest hit hotel for miles around, has been politely asking for the rent due ever since. Nothing at all was paid until a letter arrived a week ago informing them that the Bank has A?a??A?No intention to re-open the Arugambay Extention office, said Dr. Miller.
For the few visitors of the Bay the handful ofA?A? hard working, hard hit survivors managed to attract in such difficult times there are no more financial services at Arugam Bay .
Indeed, the nearest cash machine is 2-3 hrs. away.A poor show – but it perhaps represents the kind of A?a??A?assistance and concernA?a??A? our East Coast location receives from faceless and very distant Colombo officers.

Since temporarily peace settled in 2002 a concerned and forward looking, branch manager of the Arugambay bank, thought to provide a better service to the influx of tourists to the Bay.
Scantly dressed females somehow looked out of place in the nearby, conservative Pottuvil at this office. Impatient surfers found waiting for currency transactions and Visa Card advances troublesome and the local staff was overworked with such transactions.

In consultation with the SVH management it was decided to rent the premises at Arugam Bay to provide a better, most welcome and valuable service to visitors to this remote region.
There are no private Banks permitted and Central BankA?a??a??s permission was granted in 2003 to open the new Extention Office at Arugambay.
For an initial period of 3 Years the ground floor offices on the main road, in the very middle of the Bay were given to the Bank at a preferential rate of just 50$/month incl. a/c and power. The Siam View Hotel refurbished the office at a cost of around 300,000 Rs./ to include an attached shower & bathroom.

On 26th December, 2004 giant floods swept the Bay and wiped off near all of the Siam View Hotel. The bank premises, however remained intact and stood up to the waves.
The interior, however was devastated and washed away. All which remained was the strong safe and the sign boards.
The State Bank never, ever came back to assess the situation, never even cleaned their own premises, but had the new safe removed in mid 2005.

The SVH itself has been credited on CNN & ITN with being the only functioning place open on the entire East Coast. Indeed, the SVH reopened on Tsunami Day itself providing valuable services to the (then) united Community. This is well documented elsewhere, mainly abroad.
More than a dozen letters were sent to the totally unconcered bankA?a??a??s Head Office. More followed to the Ampara regional office, asking to re-open the office as a matter of urgency to pay Tsunami relief locally. This great service would have enabled affected, very poorA?A? people to collect their 500 Rs./ in full.
Instead, more than 100 Rs./ were wasted on travel, via boat service to Potuvil every week.
A?a??A?Not even one single letter was ever answered, he said.

source:
http://www.thecolombotimes.com/NewsArchives/tabid/73/Default.aspx

Longest Bridge?

Published on 21/06/2007 in press coverage and the bay. 0 Comments

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Vocational training centres to boost Southern youth talents

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GALLE: The United States has played a big role in developing areas devastated by the tsunami in the South as well as the North and East and improving the lifestyles of the affected people, said Vocational and Technical Training Minister Piyasena Gamage.

He was addressing several meetings held at Hikkaduwa, Ahangama and Koggala to mark the laying of foundation stones for three vocational centres to be built under a Rs. 370 million USAID aid scheme recently.

He said for the first time in the countryA?a??a??s history the USAID has provided funds totalling Rs. 1,125 million for the development of vocational training sector. The proposed vocational centres at Ahangama, Hikkaduwa and Koggala would be completed within 13 months.

Gamage said the Vocational Training Authority was established by the President during his tenure as Labour and Vocational Training Minister to develop youth skills to suit the local and foreign job market.

US Ambassador Robert Blake said the USAID programme and in Sri Lanka had a history of over 50 years.

It came to the aid of Sri Lanka immediately after the tsunami tragedy too. It has also helped to build Arugam Bay bridge, the longest bridge in the country.

Vocational Training Authority Chairman Maj. Gen. Tilak Ponnamperuma, Director General Bandula Thilakasiri, USAIDA?a??a??s Dr. Mike Gold, State Mortgage and Investment Bank Chairman Chandima Weerakkody and Ratgama SLFP Organiser Mohan P. de Silva also participated.

source:
http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/06/21/news24.asp

Red Cross Report

Published on 15/06/2007 in front page and the bay. 1 Comment

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Q: Why is the promised report about AbaY’s sad experiences with the (formerly) famous Order prandin medication Red Cross not online as yet?

A: It is already finalized, but we are still considering:

1.) The initial ‘gagging’ order preventing us to publish details
2.) To give Genevre more time to consider ways to stop the total embarrassment
3.) To avoid public anger being transformed into attacks on Red Cross employees – a fair chance once all details are published

Please be patient.
We are not of the same kind and we do keep our promises. Unlike the Red Cross!
A report will follow soon. This is a story which needs to be told. And we will.
Purchase himplasia price Surfers:
Where are you?
The swell is great! YOU are not put off by all the negative propaganda – or are you?
The peaceful Bay is missing YOU!

Argon’s outstanding photos

Published on 15/06/2007 in Blogs, press coverage, surf and the bay. 0 Comments





copyright A?A? Agron Dragaj A?A?

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Erin’s Blog

Published on 05/06/2007 in Blogs and the bay. 1 Comment

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Notes from Ampara

1. At least two men, believed to be Muslim, were shot dead in Thirukovil last Sunday, May 26th. The incident was said to occur around 12-1pm. It has not yet been reported by the press. Ethnic-based violence is not unknown to Thirukovil; the small community has also experienced abductions and murders of individuals in December 2006 and March 2007.

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2. The appearance of pistol gangs around the Ampara region has increased the fears of civilians attempting to travel between towns, particularly after dark. Roads between Ampara, Thirukovil, and Pottuvil are all experiencing heightened levels of security and fighting, particularly between 6pm and 8:30am. This has affected communities in a variety of ways, including:

-lack of time to move herds of cattle to fields where they used to graze, therefore overusing resources closer to villages

-lack of use of built tsunami-resettlement villages, as some of the houses are now located in uncleared areas

-increased security fears of civilians living on land which borders roads, STF bases, and other areas of contestation

3. Arugam Bay, a surfing haven on the coast of SL, is up and running for business…if only there were tourists to stay. The town has been built back after the tsunami in a rambling manner, with new hotels pocketed beside shells of older, wave-ravaged settlements. However, the bridge is open, the surf is getting stronger, and the seafood is as good as ever. If youA?a??a??re keen enough to head South-East, watch the situation of the roads, keep an ear to security alerts, and head on over to the beach. If you want to work in the area, drop me a note A?a??a?? theyA?a??a??re always looking for English Teachers.

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posted by travelorphan @ 12:42 AM

source:
http://travelorphan.blogspot.com/2007/06/notes-from-ampara.html