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Who thinks East? And who thinks “Arugam”?

Published on 24/11/2008 in Blogs, people, press coverage, Security & Safety and services. 0 Comments

23. november 2008

THINK ABOUT EASTERN PEOPLE FIRST!!! TAMIL POLICE FORCE ESSENTIAL!!!

EPC has no powers, says PillayanInterviewed by Chandani Kirinde

Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan conceded that his relationship with Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna had deteriorated in the recent past. Pillayan in an interview with The Sunday Times, while pointing out that police powersA?a??a??that he says would ensure freedom of movementA?a??a??were more important than concentrating on development, also complained that the Provincial Council was not being consulted on any of the projects that have been launched so far.

Excerpts:

What is the relationship between you and Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna?

There is tension over KarunaA?a??a??s demand for restructuring the party. He wants to bring his men to the Executive Committee. I registered this party when the government decided to hold local and provincial elections in the east early this year. Karuna was out of the country at that time. Because we wanted to prepare for elections we registered as the TMVP. There is no necessity to make any changes now. Pyridium phenazopyridine cost

Why is Karuna demanding a restructure of the party and registering it under a different name ?

I understand he is trying to grab political power from us. He does not have any official status in the TMVP. Since he returned he has been trying to forcibly occupy our offices in the Batticaloa district. I have shifted my office to a new building due to this problem.

Karuna didnA?a??a??t want you to contest as the Chief Ministerial candidate but instead he wanted the Batticaloa Mayor, Sivageetha Prabhakaran to contest for the post. Is this correct ?

We decided she was suitable for the MayorA?a??a??s post because of her political experience within the district. The Chief MinisterA?a??a??s post is an important one and it would have been difficult for her to handle the work as there is a lot of pressure. Therefore, I decided to contest for the post.

What are the main obstacles you are facing to develop the province making use of the powers vested in the Provincial Council under the 13th amendment?

To tell you frankly, since I took office in May this year not a single person has been recruited to the Council. I donA?a??a??t have any powers to implement the 13th Amendment. We have asked the central government to give us the powers vested in the 13th Amendment, but Karuna who is with the government is now convincing the government not to give powers to me.

We see a lot of development activities including building of new roads, bridges, providing electricity and telephone facilities to the newly liberated areas. Have you been consulted on these projects ?

No. Only a few cabinet ministers in the district are directly involved in these projects. This is not what we need at the moment. We first need freedom of movement to travel within the district and outside.

We saw that some of the TMVP offices opened by cadres loyal to you, now being closed down. Why is this ?

In the recent past there have been some incidents in these camps located in the mainland as well as in the newly liberated areas. The offices have been closed down to prevent more attacks taking place among the Tamil brotherhood.

There is information that former LTTE cadres whom you have de-listed have returned to the TMVP, stating that their lives are in danger. How serious is the problem of infiltration?

Quite serious. We are trying to identify these people and send some of them back. If they lead a normal life we will leave them alone. Otherwise they will be dealt with according to the law. After the eastern province was cleared, we were aware that a handful of LTTE cadres had returned to the districts of Batticaloa and Ampara. We are currently helping the security forces to track them down.

You are demanding police powers, but in contrast Karuna has said that such powers are not necessary. Your reactions?

If police powers are devolved to the provincial council I can protect all our members. They can also be absorbed into the police force so that they get official recogntion. They will be disciplined and any action could be taken against those persons who act against the law.

What impact has the killing of your private Secretary Krishnaswamy Nandagopan alias Ragu had overall?

His slaying is not only a great loss to me personally but also to the Tamil community on the whole. He was truly concerned about the people of the east. Money and positions were of little importance to him. He was also a knowledgable person. He was born in Batticaloa and based in Trincomalee and therefore had a good knowledge about the problems in the Eastern Province and could have done good service.

You said the killing of Ragu was not the work of the LTTE. But Karuna blames the LTTE?

I will say it again. It was not the work of the LTTE. This was definitely the work of a group who does not like to see the province developing. Very soon I will prove it. We have vital clues. Nobody knew where Ragu and I were staying in Athurugiriya, the day prior to the killing. No one knew of our movements too, except the one other person who was with us. Singulair full price

There are allegations from the Muslim community in Kathankudy, that TMVP cadres are moving into the area and intimidating and threatening them. A few Muslim civilians were shot dead too. How do you hope to foster ethnic harmony in this kind of environment?

Yes, in the past there were some incidents in Kathankudy. We have punished some of our members who were involved in such incidents. Now we have established a good rapport with the Muslims.

There is a strong belief that after Karuna returned he has been having the upper hand by using his powers and influence with the government to sideline you. What is your reaction?

The people in Batticaloa district are aware about KarunaA?a??a??s behaviour and how he betrayed his community by leaving them and trying to lead a life of luxury in a western country. That itself clearly brings out his selfishness. I am the one who helped the government forces to liberate the people of Mutur and Sampoor. Some of our cadres were even killed in the operation, but Karuna did not even express his condolences to the families of these cadres. Because of these incidents the people have lost confidence in him. I challenge him, that if has a support base in the east to come forward and contest the next parliamentary elections.
—————————————————————————-
I have confidence in the Chief Minister

Playing down the reported rift between himself and Pillayan, UPFA parliamentarian Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna said police powers to the Eastern Province were not an urgent need and priority should be given to developing the province. In an interview with The Sunday Times he said he was concerned about LTTE cadres infiltrating the TMVP.

Excerpts:

There are reports about clashes between Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan and yourself. Any comment?

We have no major problems. Some of our political opponents and the LTTE are trying to create problems between us. Some media are also involved. There are some minor problems. We are a democratic party and there are bound to be arguments and disagreements, but they are not serious.

Who are these political opponents?

I donA?a??a??t want to say who they are individually, but the TNA is one such group.

Pillayan says that your interest in restructuring the party is to get your members into the Executive committee. What is your response?

Even before I returned to the country, I advised Pillayan to call for a Central Committee meeting and restructure the party by including senior cadres of the TMVP. Presently I am in consultation with some intellectuals to reorganize the party. We will drop the name Puligal (Tigers).

How serious is the threat of LTTE infiltration in the East ?

After 22 years of fighting we cannot bring every thing under control in one year. There are small pockets of the LTTE operating there. They killed a university student and now a doctor. That doctor was loved by all the people of the area. One lady called me and said the doctor was like her son. The people have clearly rejected the LTTE, but their intelligence operatives are carrying out such brutal attacks to destabilise the east.

But, what about the infiltration into the TMVP?

We are concerned about the infiltration. We have started a screening process with the help of the security forces. We are not going to enlist any ex-LTTE cadres to the TMVP. We are also carrying out search operations.

How did your acquaintance with the Chief Minister begin ?

When I broke away from the LTTE and formed the TMVP, he was one of the people who joined me. In my absence, I appointed Kannan as the leader but, he was killed by the LTTE, then I appointed my brother Reji, but he too was killed by the LTTE. Thereafter, I appointed Pillayan to the position.

Do you have confidence in the Chief Minister ?

Yes I am happy with him. Also it is important that a Tamil person be the Chief Minister of the east. It has proved that the LTTEA?a??a??s opinion that in a de-merged north A?a??a??east the Tamils will have no representation is wrong. Under him, all the communities are working to build up a civil administration.

Pillayan says that his private secretary Krishnaswamy Nandagopan alias Ragu was not killed by the LTTE.

Clearly the killing was carried out by the LTTE. In the past two months, 17 TMVP cadres have been killed by the LTTE. They have tried to infiltrate the TMVP for some time, but have failed. He (Pillayan) made a mistake by saying the killing was not carried out by the LTTE. I regret that statement.

While Pillayan says powers to the province must be devolved under the PC system to the Eastern Provincial Council, you have been holding a different opinion.

We have a lot of work to do in the east. There has been a war in the east for the past 22 years. While Muslims in the area managed to send their representatives to parliament, the Tamil people have been largely without representation. But now we have a chance. We have the Provincial Council administration and our priority is development work. But police powers are not an urgent need. In the past too, the mistake we made was making the same demands over and over again. But now we have to do things differently. We must develop education, sports and entertainment.

Have you discussed the law and order situation in the east with the Government ?

I have spoken to the Defence Secretary and for now we have Deputy Inspector General of Police Shankar appointed as the co-ordinator for the three districts in the east. The Defence Secretary told me there are about 1000 police vacancies to be filled in the east and Tamil youth are needed to be recruited. I have already informed the people. We must now give priority to development.
courtesy:sundaytimes.lk

source:
http://worldtamilrefugeesforum.blogspot.com/2008/11/think-about-eastern-people-first-tamil.html

From Welikade to Mutur and Pottuville

Published on 23/11/2008 in people, press coverage and Security & Safety. 0 Comments

Whither the office of the Attorney General?

sundaytimeslogo2.png
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene

The office of Sri Lanka’s Attorney General has been subjected to the tug and pull of political pressure from many decades back. Some specific instances include the actions of the Attorney General in the Richard de Zoysa case where the country’s chief law officer was severely castigated for refusing to take steps against the police officer identified by de Zoya’s mother as having been responsible for the abduction of her son. (see Weerakoon, Batty, (1991) ‘The Attorney General’s Role’ in The Extra-Judicial Execution of Richard de Zoysa, Star Press, published by the author, at page 13).

This analysis also examines in specific detail, the manner in which Parliament had been misled in this context as a result of a report presented by the then Attorney General to the then Minister, Justice (ibid, at page 17). Another instance is the role of the officers of the Department in covering up the inquiry into the massacre of prisoners at the Welikada prisons (see “From Welikade to Mutur and Pottuvil: A Generation of Moral Denudation and the Rise of Heroes with Feet of Clay’ (2007) Special Report, No 25, University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) Sri Lanka).

Negation of the theoretically independent post

A former Acting Attorney General who went on to become a member of Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has indeed pointed out that the office of the Attorney General has always been under threat from the political executive, despite the theoretical independence with which it is traditionally cloaked.

As observed; “It has been our experience that every administration wishes the judgments of the court to be in its favour. Perhaps we cannot fault politicians for this, But the Attorney General should be able to advise the executive and explain the legal basis of most judgments which have gone against the State. A?a??A?.Perhaps the Attorney General is no longer free or strong enough to advise the executive” (Kulatunge, KMMB (2001) ‘Disorder in Sri Lanka’, Gunasena Publishers, Colombo, at page 24).

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The attempts made at rectification by the 17th Amendment

It must be fairly said that at times, the holders of the office of Attorney General in this country have attempted to perform their duties according to law and as justly as possible but have been impeded by political constraints, though perhaps a newspaper column may not be the approriate forum for the specific discussion of these instances. The point is however that it was precisely due to these political influences that the office of the Attorney General was constitutionally sought to be insulated from political pressure by the 17th Amendment to the Constitution. Thus, the nomination had to be first approved by the Constitutional Council (CC) while the removals procedure was elevated to that of appellate court judges by subsidiary legislation passed consequent to the 17th Amendment.

However, for the past year and more, this important vetting task performed by the CC has broken down due to the CC not being constituted in its second term owing to an unconscionable negating of the 17th Amendment by the Presidency and Parliament. Though the mater has been referred to firstly, the Court of Appeal in a series of petitions and secondly, to the Supreme Court, it does not appear that the cases have reached any measure of finality. In the interim, the current Acting Attorney General who should in all respects be confirmed in his post, continues to function in an acting capacity.

Need for an independent public prosecutor?

From a different perspective and one which relates to the substantive nature of the office, arguments have been long prevalent that the separation of the public prosecution function from the Attorney General’s Department is needed. Indeed, a Public Prosecutor’s Office had been recommended as far back as 1953 when the Criminal Courts Commission advised the creation of such an office (Sessional Paper XIII of 1953). As stated by this Commission, serious weaknesses in the process of investigation on the part of the police meant that the intervention of a legal authority in this regard was called for. It was envisaged not only that such a legal authority would have the duty of giving counsel but that the police would be under a legal obligation to report cases to him/her whereupon he/she would be able to take over the conduct of the prosecution. The guidance of “trained lawyers with the ability to brush aside inessentials and drive to the heart of the case” was thought to be desirable.

The Director of Public Prosecutions

It was consequent to this recommendation of the Criminal Courts Commission that the office of a Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was created by the Administration of Justice No 44 of 1973. The office of the DPP was abolished consequent to the change of government in 1977 and the Administration of Justice No 44 of 1973 replaced by the current Code of Criminal Procedure Act, No 15 of 1979 (as amended).
Yet, however estimable the intention was in the creation of the office of the DPP, there is no doubt however that this office was also directly subject to political pressure during its existence. The creation of such a post in today’s highly politicized environment attracts no little dangers; indeed it may be feared that the proposed cure may be proverbially worse than the disease.

Realising the very minimum

Whatever may be the positive and negative arguments towards a radical restructuring of the office of Sri Lanka’s Attorney General, there is little doubt that there would be any movement on this score until the very minimum of constitutional appointments is realised. For that, the rejuvenation of the 17th Amendment is imperative and the need for a peoples’ movement on this basis is now exceedingly great.
The political executive must and should be shamed towards observance of the minimum of constitutional governance in this country. We cannot stand for anything less, even notwithstanding a war which, like the priestly cassock, is sought to be used sometimes to cover a multitude of sins.

 
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source:
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/081123/Columns/focus.html

Muslim Council for PottuVille & Arugam Bay?

Published on 23/11/2008 in Blogs, Money Matters, people and press coverage. 0 Comments

Ethnic based enclaves not acceptable – Prof. Warnapala

[November 22 2008]

Order cabgolin in endometriosis Ethnic based enclaves which the minority political parties have sought as units of devolution were not acceptable to the SLFP as a matter of principle, said Prof.Wiswa Warnapala, party stalwart and Minister of Higher Education, commenting on proposals submitted to the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) by the Upcountry People’s Front (UPF), Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC).

As party representative to the APRC, he will raise this matter with the party leadership and the central committee, he told the Sunday Observer. At the last APRC meeting he objected to proposals on such communal-based councils because it will cause communal disharmony and pose a threat to national integrity, he said.

Councils annexing the non-contiguous geographical areas of the respective minority people?s concentration, as units of devolution proposed by the minority political parties were not acceptable to the SLFP in the interests of national unity and ethnic harmony, he said.

The hill country minority political parties have asked for special enclaves encompassing Kotmale, Maskeliya and Nuwara Eliya and also sub-councils for other areas of domicile of their people while the SLMC has asked for a Muslim Council for Sammanthurai, Pottuvil Trileptal hyponatremia treatment and the Kalmunai areas in the east, annexing all non-contiguous geographical areas of their concentration, he said.

source:

http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2008/11/16/oostory.asp?sid=20081122_10&imid=MPWarnapala.jpg&dt=[November%2022%202008]

USAID provides safe water to … Arugam Bay ….

Published on 20/11/2008 in Blogs, Money Matters and press coverage. 0 Comments

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) yesterday completed of the Buy benemid potentiates Pottuvil/Ulla Water Treatment Plant and Ulla Supply System, to give the residents of these coastal villages safe and clean water for the first time since the tsunami.

USAID has been able to complete its investment in wells, transmission lines, the treatment plant and a large elevated storage tank with the additional grant by AmeriCares. The additional contribution has also allowed the National Water Supply & Drainage Board to work with the local users to connect the supply directly to their homes, schools, hotels and workplaces.

The new water treatment plant and distribution system have been designed in partnership with the National Water Supply & Drainage Board.

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USAID provided US$8.3 million and AmeriCares funded another US$1.0 million to extract water from untreated ground wells, clean the water, and distribute the water through pipelines to the community.

source:
A?A?http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/ASAZ-7LJF8R?OpenDocument

War wounded hit by absence of doctors

Published on 20/11/2008 in Blogs, From our own Correspondent, people, press coverage and Security & Safety. 0 Comments

By Sandun A Jayasekera

Medical officers in State hospitals in the North and East, vacating their places of work on the instructions of the GMOA, have crippled medical care services in those hospitals affecting the treatment of war wounded in particular.

The GMOA advised its members to vacate their places of duty last Monday on security grounds following the brutal murder of Dr. S.W.Pathmakumara, Medical Officer of the Vavunaitivu rural hospital in Batticaloa district on Sunday night.

GMOA committee member Dr. Chandika Epitakaduwa said doctors serving in the two provinces are reluctant to report for duty until adequate security was provided to them. The discussions so far held with the authorities had ended in failure, he said.

A?a??A?We had a discussion on Tuesday with Health Ministry officials and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa but could not reach a settlement.

Though Mr. Rajapaksa had given us many promises earlier no promise has so far been honoured. We cannot take his word to provide security to our membership as a firm assurance. We have instructed our members not to report until adequate security is in place for doctors to work without fear,A?a??A? Dr. Epitakaduwa told the Daily Mirror yesterday. War wounded The GMOA will assess the situation tomorrow before taking a decision, he said.

A?a??A?We do not intend to hold further talks with the Defence or Health Ministry officials. We informed the decision of our membership after FridayA?a??a??s discussion,A?a??A? Dr. Epitakaduwa added.

A top official of the Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry said that the situation at many State hospitals in the North and East is grave as almost all the war wounded had to be brought to Anuradhapura, Ampara or hospitals in Colombo.

A?a??A?The danger is that seriously wounded soldiers have to be provided first aid or preliminary care before they are airlifted to a major hospital. Almost all the casualties have to be airlifted to the south without casualty management under the circumstances,A?a??A? he said.

Vavuniya District Hospital acting Director, Govri Nandakumar said 12 out of 13 Sinhala medical officers including a surgeon had left the hospital and she is facing difficulty in treating patients, the war wounded in particular.

Kalmunai Base Hospital Director Bhavani Pasupathiraja said all 15 Sinhala doctors have failed to report for duty. A?a??A?I sent some wounded soldiers to Ampara Base Hospital yesterday but it is very difficult to cope with the situation given the unavailability of doctors,A?a??A? he said.

source:
Price emsam A?A?http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=32766

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Fresh Water Supply for Arugam Bay, PottuVille

Published on 19/11/2008 in Blogs, From our own Correspondent, front page, Money Matters, people, press coverage and the bay. 1 Comment

Where to buy metronidazole flagyl USAID for Ullai
Recent Archive photo of completedA?A? USAID protects at Ullai/Arugam Bay

Netcrawl found this (only) news article by Min. of Defense, Colombo:

USAID and AmeriCares provide safe water to Ampara communities

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the international relief organization AmeriCares today marked the completion of the Pottuvil/Ulla Water Treatment Plant and Ulla Supply System, to give the residents of these coastal villages safe and clean water for the first time since the tsunami.

“With the introduction of advanced water treatment technology and equipment, the new system can provide 4,000 liters per minute of clean water, benefiting over 40,000 residents, as well as local businesses and hotels,” USAID Mission Director Rebecca Cohn said at the opening ceremony. “In addition to safeguarding the health of the communities, it will contribute to stabilizing the tourist industry and help boost the local economy,” she continued.

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Thanks to an additional grant by AmeriCares, USAID has been able to complete its investment in wells, transmission lines, the treatment plant and a large elevated storage tank. The additional contribution has also allowed the National Water Supply & Drainage Board to work with the local users to connect the supply directly to their homes, schools, hotels and workplaces. The new water treatment plant and distribution system have been designed in partnership with the National Water Supply & Drainage Board of Sri Lanka, who has offered invaluable input into the project.

Minister of Water Supply and Drainage, Hon. Al-Haj A.L.M. Athaullah, M.P. and Mrs. Lisa Hilmi, AmeriCares Country Director, also took part in and addressed the opening ceremony.

source:
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20081118_05

An Outsider’s View of the East

Published on 17/11/2008 in Blogs, Money Matters, people, press coverage and Security & Safety. Closed

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The sequel November 11, 12,A?A?13th

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image001Paper making factories.

Both my visits to the field involved visiting paper making A?a??E?factoriesA?a??a??. I quickly realised that they were really what we would call a workshop.

Hand made paper is in high demand and its a good product for rural areas as its relatively cheap to transport. ItA?a??a??s also relatively easy to develop value added products made out of paper which primarily women can do from home.

DwDN is involved because both the projects involve focusing on working with disabled people especially women and making the projects disability sensitive. Certainly the buildings in both projects are accessible and you can see the photos of the ramp in one of them.

However both have been fraught with practical difficulties that its hard to manage from a great distance.

One has problems with the water supply and the other has problems getting the right current of electricity. Combine that with one of the projects only having one year of funding ( no mean thing to set up a new business from scratch in a year and then make in sustainable- it just doesnt seem a sensible way of using funds, especially when there has been such a big capital investment).

The issues around funding are just the same here as in the UK, funders with their own agenda, short term funding, hard for very small grass roots organisations to access funding.

As I think I may be fundraising for these projects it was good for me to get a sense of what the challenges are, but they are also the kind of projects which funders like trusts are more likely to find than our network.

image0081

image0031

image0021Some machinery at the paper making workshop and aboveA?A? some of the workers

image016Above is the workshop building near Batticaloa, the soil is sandy as it is very near the coast

image0171

The garden of the DESMIO office, the NGO that is supporting one of the paper making workshops, showing their well.

The meeting there was in sinahla and tamil, with a bit of English thrown in, so tookA?A? a while to make sure everyone has understoood.

Travelling in the Eastern province.

The Eastern Province only came under government control just over a year ago so the security situation is still fragile.

We could only enter the province with a permit, which we had to get at the A?a??E?borderA?a??a?? This then had to be shown at all check points. We were only actually stopped at three and then only one were the bags searchedA?A? (not mine as a foreigners dont experience the worst of it) On other days peopleA?A? we knowA?A? had worse experiences and travelling by ordinary bus can be very difficult.

Driving to Battilacoa there was lots of evidence of the recent conflict, with many derelict houses with bullet holes visible. There was also evidence of resettlement with plots of land being fenced off, corrugated iron shacks put up and some with half built brick houses at the front. The government gives money for materials for house building, but families have to rebuild themselves. Those few miles in from the border, there still didnA?a??a??t seem to be much cultivation, the land is fertile but needs irrigation.

All along the roads were sentry posts, often just one soldier, these seemed very isolated, but at least they were sheltered from the sun.

Driving through villages has a different feel, because there are fewer buddhist temples, more Hindu temples and some mosques. A couple of towns on the east coast driving to Ampara were majority moslem and one town had a magnificent structure with four posts at a crossroads and the four small minerets on top.

People in the east still have limited travelling opportunities so doing any business development and finding markets is very difficult. The east suffered badly from the Tsunami and the tourist industry is now non existent so not surprisingly many international donors are focusing more on the east.

Much as I would have liked to have photos, there wasnt really the opportunity , anyway, sometimes its just important to be in the moment.

On leaving Ampara we also had to get a permit as the security forces like to know which vehicles have entered and which are leaving the area. They also check the registration and the chassis no connect as stolen vehicles often find their way into the east.

This entry was posted on November 16, 2008 at 7:10 am and is filed underCarol,A?A?Photos,A?A?VSO,A?A?field trips. You can follow any responses to this entry through theA?A?RSS 2.0A?A?feed. You canA?A?leave a response, orA?A?trackbackA?A?from your own site.

http://carolandjoeburns.wordpress.com/2008/11/16/the-sequel-november-11-12-13th/

Veddahs have disappeared from Arugam Bay

Published on 17/11/2008 in Money Matters, people, press coverage, the bay and wild life. Closed

VeddahsA?a??a?? world is a no manA?a??a??s land
CitizensA?a??a?? rights continue to elude LankaA?a??a??s original inhabitants. Many of them live at poverty level, and do not possess birth or marriage certificates
By Sujiva I. Kumari

The countryA?a??a??s oldest residents, a people whose history goes back a couple of thousand years at least, are in the humiliating position of not being even able to call themselves proper citizens of this country.A?A?
The Veddhas, Sri LankaA?a??a??s Aborigines, live much as they did generations back, in comparative poverty, and shunned by the rest of society, except for the occasional tourist, or journalist who meets them out of curiosity.

Most Veddahs do not have birth certificates, and few Veddah parents possess marriage certificates.
Meanwhile, little or nothing has been done by the authorities to improve the lot of the Veddahs, or to make them feel a part of Sri LankaA?a??a??s multi-ethnic community.

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AbaY Veddah
Veddahs: a neglected people

Once upon a time, the Veddahs lived largely along the Mahaweli River. Up to around 1945, a community of Veddhas lived in the Bibile area. In more recent times, the Veddahs have moved out to districts such as Moneragala and Ampara, living in remote villages such as Rathugala and Nilgala.Some 78 Veddah families live in Rathugala.

Sudubandiyala Aththo, one of the Rathugala residents, said his father came to the village from the Senanayake Samudraya area. He said the it would take the Veddahs years, even generations, to catch up with the modern world.

Veddah children, he said, face many obstacles in getting an education. They are shunned at school by the other students, and are made to sit at the back of the class. They are called names and taunted. Many Veddah children refuse to go to school because of the unkind treatment they get.Sudubandiyala says he has to travel 50 miles in order to collect get his Samurdhi allowance from the state.

Thalabanda, one of the village elders, said life in the modern world was difficult, and finding the basics a challenge. A?a??A?I am the leader of the Pollebadda tribe of Veddhas, and it is true that we have a very hard life,A?a??A? he said. A?a??A?Sometimes I wonder whether it would not be better to go back to our ancient bow-and-arrow way of life,A?a??A?

In 1997, ThalabandaA?a??a??s tribe gave up its traditional habitat and moved into village areas to begin life as farmers. Ten Veddah families were given a 10-acre piece of land by the state. The land was inadequate for the Veddah community. There was only one well for irrigation purposes, and this would run almost dry in the dry season.

Meanwhile, the VeddahsA?a??a?? movements are strictly restricted to the land they have been allotted. If a Veddah is found to have strayed outside the limits of the reserve, he or she is liable for a fine of between Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 50,000. Veddahs do not have this kind of money to pay penalties, and so errant Veddahs end up in prison.

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The Veddahs also have a housing problem. There are only 22 permanent houses, and the other 78 living spaces are mere shacks. The villagers wonder how they will manage with the limited land when the village population expands.

Worst of all, most Veddahas have no birth or marriage certificates. The lack of documentation means they face insurmountable problems when they try to find employment or interact with society at large.
A Veddah youth said it was time the Veddahs were given a better deal and treated like other Sri Lankan citizens.

A?a??A?The authorities should give us our rights,A?a??A? the 24-year-old said. A?a??A?We deserve better. We too are human, like the rest of society.

source:
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/081116/News/sundaytimesnews_21.html

Bears, Tigers near Arugam Bay

Published on 17/11/2008 in Blogs, From our own Correspondent, people, press coverage, Security & Safety and wild life. Closed

Bear saves monk from clutches of Tigers
By Wasantha Chandrapala Cost of floxin otic

A monk who went missing on Tuesday in the deep jungles of Ampara was found two days later by security personnel who were on a search operation but his true liberator was a bear, the shaken monk told The Sunday Times.

S.Dammasiri-himi
The monk receiving treatment at the Ampara Hospital ICU

Rev. Sivuralamulle Dhammasiri Thera, now receiving treatment at the Ampara hospital ICU said he was returning from the Kudumbigala Aranya Senasanaya, a hermitage, about 120 miles away from his abode when he was accosted by an armed gang. The monks screams had alerted some people in the environs and soon a massive a search operation was launched in the vicinity of the sanyasanaya.

A?a??A?I had taken alms to the monks at Kudumbigala and was returning when I was waylaid by armed terrorists. I was threatened and then dragged into the thick surrounding jungle,A?a??A? the Ven. Thera said.

He said the men questioned him and inflicted cut injuries on him, before two of them dragged him to a spot where he thought he would be killed. However, at that moment a bear pounced on one of the kidnappers and the monk took the opportunity to flee, while the other kidnapper turned to help his friend.

On Thursday morning security men who were on a search operation came across the monk who was making his way out of the jungle. The monk was admitted to Panama hospital and later transferred to Ampara hospital as his condition was serious.

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Cut injuries on the monkA?a??a??s arm Search operations underway

source:
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/081116/News/sundaytimesnews_19.html

Arugam & PottuVille: Best Sunsets!

Published on 16/11/2008 in Blogs, front page, people, press coverage and the bay. 1 Comment

Thera found (nr. Arugam Bay)

Published on 14/11/2008 in Blogs, people, press coverage and Security & Safety. Closed

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Abducted Thera found

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Ven. Sivuralamulle Dhammasiri Thera, Viharadhipathy Kudumbigala Aranya Senasanaya who was abducted by suspected LTTE cadres on Tuesday evening was found in a jungle patch one kilometer away from the STF camp in Pottuvil last morning.

Police Spokesman SSP Ranjith Gunasekera said Ven. Dhammasiri Thera who was in the temple vicinity had gone missing at around 5.30 p.m. on Tuesday in Panama, Kudumbigala in Ampara.

Subsequently, a person who heard a noise near a well rushed to the scene at the temple found a pair of slippers and a bag belonging to the Thera, the SSP Gunasekera said.

source:
A?A?http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/11/14/news23.asp Order ceftin uses

‘Missing’ Monk found near Arugam Bay

Published on 14/11/2008 in Blogs, people, press coverage and Security & Safety. Closed

By Norman Palihawadena
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Ven. Sivuramulle Dhammasiri

The monk who went missing at Panama, Pottuvil on Tuesday evening was yesterday traced by the STF.

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He was holding onto a tree and moaning apparently in pain but did not tell the STF as to what happened to him.

Ven. Sivuramulle Dhammasiri on his way to a temple from Kudumbigala escorted by home guards had told his guards that he had forgotten to bring pirith nool and returned to the temple which was only 300 meters away. He failed to return thereafter.

The STF traced him in the jungles off the temple yesterday morning around 9.30 a.m.

He was admitted to the Ampara Hospital.

Monk is found near Arugam Bay

Published on 14/11/2008 in Blogs, From our own Correspondent, people, press coverage and Security & Safety. 0 Comments

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2008

Missing monk (Ven. Sivuralamulle Dhammasiri thera ) found

Reglan prescription cost Buy imitrex generic The Buddhist monk in the Ampara district who went missing since Nov 11 evening, had been found moments ago. Police said that the monk Ven. Sivuralamulle Dhammasiri thera was found kept inside a cave in the jungle.

Missing Sri Lankan Buddhist monk found

Published on 14/11/2008 in Blogs, people, press coverage and Security & Safety. 0 Comments

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Thursday, November 13, 2008,A?A?14:21A?A?GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.


Nov 13, Ampara: The Buddhist monk who went missing from the historical Kudumbigala Temple in Ampara, Eastern Sri Lanka was found this morning.

Police sources said the monk Ven. Sivuralamulle Dhammasiri Thero was found in the jungle of Okanda in Panama area by the Special Task Force troops in a search operation.

The monk has been admitted to the Ampara hospital. According to the sources the Thero is yet to disclose the details of his abduction.

Never been to: Arugambay

Published on 14/11/2008 in Blogs, people, press coverage and presse-deutsch. 0 Comments

I have neverA?a??A?.

HmmmmmA?a??A?. Okay, I have decided to keep this light heartedA?a??A?. Purchase micronase pregnancy :)

I have neverA?a??A?.

Bungee jumpedA?a??A?. but hope I will do that someday

Scuba DivedA?a??A?. and probably never will after a certain movie called A?a??E?JawsA?a??a??

Ridden on the back of a A?a??E?Well of DeathA?a??a?? bikeA?a??A?. and I so wanna do that!

Eaten deep fried worms, cockroaches, grasshoppers, etc

Been able to carry a tuneA?a??A?.. even if I was given a bucket

Been to Arugam Bay

Not eaten anything IA?a??a??ve personally cookedA?a??A?. and that takes a lot of determination (believe me)

Punched out anyone in officeA?a??A?.. But IA?a??a??ve come sooooooo close!!

Climbed a coconut tree

ThatA?a??a??s it for meA?a??A?. IA?a??a??m sure thereA?a??a??s loads more but this is all that comes to mind right now.

source:
http://thekillromeoproject.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/i-have-never/

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2 Responses to A?a??A?I have neverA?a??A?.A?a??A?

  1. themissingsandwich Says:
    November 14, 2008 at 7:02 am

    DonA?a??a??t lie Paul. When your parents were in Germany your mother left you a recipe for dhal which you cooked and ate for a month

  2. thekillromeoproject Says:
    November 14, 2008 at 7:11 am

    UmA?a??A?. thatA?a??a??s what I meantA?a??A? A?a??A?I have never NOT eaten anything IA?a??a??ve personally cookedA?a??A?A?a??A?. :)

Hiding away in Arugam Bay: Paul Harris

Published on 14/11/2008 in Blogs, press coverage and Security & Safety. 0 Comments

More Thrills than Skills – A Half-life in Journalism,m Part 98
Over the next few weeks, allmediascotland.com is to publish, each weekday, extracts from the memoirs of Scottish war correspondent, Paul Harris. A?a??E?More Thrills than Skills: A Half-life in JournalismA?a??a??, is being scheduled for publication next year.

I visited the east with Nanda Godage and we were joined by an Indian journalist, P K Balachandran of The
Hindustan Times. A?a??E?P.K.A?a??a?? was an old Sri Lanka hand who had been in the country several years. Affable and incisive as he was, I was never really sure why he was to join us. I knew why I was there A?a??a?? as a sounding post, with my intelligence background, for Godage.

The visit to the east convinced me more than ever that the LTTE were up to no good. In Pottuvil (March 12), the fears of the Muslim community were clearly expressed in a series of meetings at the appropriately-named Hideaway Hotel. We visited a place by the sea called Kumari and I was moved by the plight of a woman whose son had been taken by the LTTE. Ordinary people clearly feared the stranglehold the LTTE was imposing under the guise of peace. In Ampara (March 14), I was impressed by the men of the Special Task Force (STF).

In Batticaloa, the security forces seemed under no illusion as to what was going down. What they could not understand was what Colombo was up to. On March 16, we crossed into LTTE territory in the company of the local MP, Krishnapillai. The most interesting thing about the meeting was the appearance of his wife. She soon broke down into tears. The price of LTTE support for her husbandA?a??a??s election to parliament had been their eldest son. They had handed him over to the LTTE for military training.

As Nanda spoke with the Peace Secretariat and the Prime MinisterA?a??a??s office on a Sunday morning (March 17) from Trincomalee, the sound of cannon fire broke the still. I assumed they were practice rounds but the firing went on for a quarter of an hour or so and I could see puffs of smoke in China Bay. LTTE gunboats were probing the harbour defences.

In Muttur on March 19, the local Sinhala community revealed they had met and voted to a man, and a woman, for that matter, to leave if the security forces were to withdraw their protection.

Our trip to the east was rounded off on March 20 with an impressive briefing at military headquarters in Minneriya by Maj Gen Sunil Tennakoon, himself a former intelligence officer. In the cool of his air-conditioned office, he gave us a two hour-long briefing and left us in no doubt as to his own views and, indeed, those of the military establishment generally. The LTTE were gathering men and materiel for war.

At NandaA?a??a??s request, I compiled an intelligence report for the Prime Minister drawing together all the strands of our visit and culminating in a risk assessment.

I wrote a couple of articles for the Mirror and my Telegraph articles were re-published in The Island. It seemed to me that the real Achilles Heel of the LTTE might be the organisationA?a??a??s lack of a sense of humour. In my perception, it was an unreformed and anachronistic revolutionary movement spawned a quarter of a century previously in the school of Castro and Guevera. I wrote a number of wry, mickey-taking articles. It seems that these essentially harmless, humorous article really hit home, which was, I suppose, what I wanted.

The intro to one of my Mirror articles raised hackles………..

‘These LTTE people are oh, so charming. With their cheery smiles, mild manners, warm open features and welcoming handshakes they are straight from the Saatchi & Saatchi public relations manual for Transformation of Terrorist Leaders into Genial Uncle Figures. They make the government Information Department chaps look like grumpy ogres. Who could possibly think that friendly, limping man Mr Thamil Chelvam was such a rotter? Then thereA?a??a??s that nice man Mr Karikalan who holds court over the eastern province from his remote fastness in Kokkadicholai.

‘He greets you with a firm handshake, beaming genially from behind a pair of designer spectacles. He reminds you of Mole, rather than Ratty, from Wind in the Willows. Such a nice man . . .Somewhere in the background is that rather tasty looking girl, Banuka.

‘I first noticed her at the Batticaloa Pongu Thamil. She gave a dynamic, powerful performance haranguing the crowd. It was infinitely more effective than that of all the politicos put together. And it was oh, so sexy. A sort of beautiful version of Margaret Thatcher. I have definitely developed a crush on her (Banuka not Margaret Thatcher). SheA?a??a??s an absolute cracker. In more ways than one. Apparently, she sends the female cadres out into the eastern province to deal severely with male A?a??E?eve teasersA?a??a??. They beckon rude boys into back streets for hoped-for hanky panky, then beat them to pulp with karate chops. On second thoughts, I think IA?a??a??ll leave her alone. But IA?a??a??ll still have fantasies about her . . .’ Order differin cream online

Satire is, of course, well established in Britain as both a literary form and a political tactic. It is in its infancy in Sri Lanka and I did not then realise the truly devastating effect my piece would have. The day the article appeared A?a??a?? April 1, appropriately enough A?a??a?? the phone rang from early morning.

Several journalist colleagues wanted to know if the rumour that I was having an affair with LTTE womenA?a??a??s leader, Banuka, was true. What had been meant as wry humour became instant rumour. Nanda Godage was shocked. A?a??A?I hear youA?a??a??ve dared to call Thamil Chelvan a rotter and Karuna a bad egg.A?a??A?

He opined that there could be A?a??A?very serious consequences.A?a??A? At the time, I found that rather amusing in itself. But I was still on the learning curve. . . Within days Prabhakaran had called both Karikalan and Banuka to his jungle fastness in the north for some meaningful discussions.

But the article which seemed to find its mark, long before it was published thanks to surreptitious emailing around the world by the magazineA?a??a??s staff, was one I wrote for Lanka Monthly Digest……

* Send your Scottish media news and gossip, in the strictest confidence, to info@allmediascotland.com

Or phone us on 07710 721 478

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