Archive for the 'From our own Correspondent' Category

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Kite Surf Sri Lanka

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Hannes Knolz & Marco in Action

These guys are legends in Sri Lanka! Hannes and Marco surfing off the coast of Arugam Bay!
Kiteboarding Kitesurfing Sri Lanka Surfing Sri Lanka Arugam Bay Surfing

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Daring enough to try?

If you want to learn more or inquire about training or surfing in Sri Lanka e mail or call us. Details at the bottom of webpage.

Kite Season for Sri Lanka

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December to March
No wind in April
May to October
No wind in November

Daily Sri Lanka Wind Report
Windguru

source:
http://kitesurfsrilanka.blogspot.com/2008/08/hannes-knolz-marco-in-action.html

Surf Arugam Bay

What is the surf like in August 2008?

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Take a look!A?A?Arugam Bay Surf July 2008

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Good ideas – gone wrong

CEGA Garden Project

A great idea and a great sign and business-type front!

PVC Garden Project?

This place now is sadly neglected and not maintained

Plastic recycling project by CEGA?

Maybe it’s a CEGA/ABTA PVC Recycling project?

Plants not watered for ages Order glucovance A brilliant idea - sadly gone wrong

Above is just ONE example how a very good idea has gone wrong at Arugam Bay.
CEGA established a Herbal Garden in the back of AbTa’s new, unmanned office building.
This demonstration plot was useful, well thought of and very well established.
But: So was the idea of Tourist Guides, Trash removals, etc…..
However, perhaps unknown to the kind donors of Bergamo, Italy it appears that the wrong local partners were selected:
For many months now, this project has been neglected and the garden is a wasteland.
Nobody watered the plants, nobody seems to be interested in keeping this good projedct going.

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Do not expect to come from any civilized Country and establish ANYTHING in Sri Lanka and then walk away from it!
Like the Tourist Guide project, the rubbish removal system & donated tractor and dozens more:
Nothing will ever work unless a system is left in place to continue the operation.

Sad but true!
What to do?
(As one says in Ceylon)
written by Anil Wickramasighe, Colombo

Back from Arugam Bay

I just returned from Arugam Bay, and although I went there for entirely selfish purposes, I could not help but be reminded of the stark contrast between their lives there and our lives here and how easy it is sometimes to forget that such a difference exists. Especially for us.Travelling with those that may never have travelled to that part of Sri Lanka before, I was made aware of how ignorant people can become of what lies just outside their door. Do people not know, or do they choose to ignore? Living in Colombo, it is very easy to become like frogs in a well. But I was shocked at how shocked they were by the people in Pottuvil. Sure they stared at us. Sure they stole from us. They tried to cause trouble and ripped us off at any given opportunity. They behaved as though they didnA?a??a??t want us there. But is their behaviour really so difficult to understand? WouldnA?a??a??t you stare if you lived in a situation where electricity was a fickle luxury that could disappear at any moment, and a bunch of people turned up in a tourist coach, wore bikinis and danced to weird music for two days straight? WouldnA?a??a??t you be angry and bitter if you had a hard life, and some people turned up in your village, and had a party?

Arugam Bay Baclofen overdose how much Buy diabecon usa is not Hikkaduwa. It is still very much a village. And it is for this very reason that it is so great for us; because it is so pristine and untouched, and not commercialized like Hikkaduwa. But for many it is just a place called home.
It is this ignorance that I fear will be the downfall of Sri Lanka. This refusal of the educated and the elite to understand the lifestyle of the average Sri Lankan. To see that this life we live in Colombo is very, very different from the life of other Sri Lankans, and that we make up only a tiny minority.

Sometimes I am very, very afraid of how little we know, and how much we can so easily forget.
source:
http://electra.blogsome.com/2008/07/21/back-from-arugam-bay/

Rock the Point and Arugam Bay

Added by arugam.info reporter on 20th July, 2008

The Bay has seen the best, by far, Party this weekend!
A few hundred came all the way from Colombo andA?A? some locals also purchased a 1,000Rs./ gate ticket.
The DJ, sound and crowd was good – the setting and nature perfect.
Not everyone has recovered so far.
Below just one glimpse from the Rock the Point Party.
Others might follow – if we get permission to publish that is….
Rocking the Point

Posted on July 17, 2008 by Goofyfoot Holidays

Pottuvil Point, Arugam Bay

hi,

we are once again going to How much does clozaril cost Arugam Bay with yet another group of fun loving people. and it looks like it is going to be the weekend of the year in Arugam Bay.

the weather is good, the surf is definitely up, the biggest beach party in Sri Lanka this year is sold out and it definitely looks like its going to rock. goofyfoot holidays is going to be there and we hope that so will you.

for the first time ever in Sri Lanka you will see brand new surfboards (shortboards & funboards) making their way in the beautiful A-bay. anyone can have one. so come find us there and see what you can get. weA?a??a??ve also got real bodyboards that any pro would love to ride.

come back soon to hear about the weekend and see the bay in pictures,

hang loose,

Goofyfoot Holidays

source:
http://www.goofyfootholidays.com/follow-our-latest-trip-to-arugam-bay/ Cheap aristocort triamcinolone

AbaY War Zone, 2008

Pssssst!
New, and very ‘ secret’ pics Order zestril are online of last night’s Parties @ Arugam Bay!
see link below!
What a dangerous place to endure!

http://picasaweb.google.com/arugamsurf/SomlakS33rdBDayDeenSParty

A bridge too far

Sri Lanka wasn’t short of help in the aftermath of the tsunami that hit the country more than three and a half years ago. Millions of people were affected, a lucky few losing no more than worldly possessions in the waves, while so many others saw their loved ones washed away forever, and the disaster moved those watching it unfold from afar to donate an unprecedented amount of money towards the recovery of survivors. Governments gave even more. Sri Lankans got an inkling of why this extraordinary outpouring of assistance didn’t result in well-being for everybody when a leading donor completed its flagship project and a new bridge was opened at Arugam Bay.

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Pledges from overseas for the relief and reconstruction effort amounted to about $3.3 billion. Whether this all materialised is open to debate, but more important is what happened to the funds that did make it over here.

People aren’t all doing well. Newspapers occasionally carry reports of survivors who are still living in temporary accommodation or even on the streets, and a surprising number of those who were fortunate enough to benefit from a shelter scheme appear to have seen their new homes deteriorate to the point of being almost unliveable within a matter of months. Housing clearly isn’t the only difficulty. Livelihood programmes were infamous for their tendency to rely on giving away a random number of sometimes rather inappropriate items to the most obvious recipients while having no overall plan for the development of the affected sectors of the economy. Sri Lanka has probably achieved rather more than some of the other countries that were struck by the tsunami, but there are still plenty of issues waiting to be resolved over three and a half years later.

The $3.3 billion sounded like it was going to be more than enough to do the job. President Kumaratunga spoke enthusiastically on many occasions about the opportunity that such a level of international aid presented for developing the country in addition to ensuring the recovery of the affected people, and Bill Clinton was but one of the foreign voices who chimed in with inspirational words on what he was keen to refer to as building back better. It just doesn’t seem to have happened that way.

Price erexin-v Blame is popularly put on corruption. It has undoubtedly played a part but not necessarily the major role in what has gone wrong.

Non-Governmental Organisations are certainly another relevant target. Approximately $1 billion out of the total amount of assistance is said to have arrived via such channels, but much has already been said on this subject. Non-Governmental Organisations certainly didn’t spend all of their money wisely and they also managed to create a thoroughly unproductive culture of dependency wherever they set foot.

The Arugam Bay bridge has a different but equally useful story to relate. The United States Agency for International Development made the replacement of this bit of infrastructure the centrepiece of its support for the country after the tsunami and spent some $10.6 million. A total of $134.5 million was allocated as official aid by the United States. Other projects included the installation of a new water supply system, the reconstruction of ten vocational schools, the development of three fisheries harbours and the implementation of a coastal management programme. The United States Agency for International Development gave the contract for all of these projects to an American company by the name of CH2M Hill.

The United States claimed that it all exactly conformed to the expectations of survivors. Its press release on the occasion of the ceremonial opening last week professed to have held a large number of meetings with local people and community representatives in order to work everything out. Participation is a slippery concept. Arugam Bay residents might not have had much to say about what was described as a state-of-the-art design involving a composite of steel girders and concrete panels that hadn’t ever been used in this country but is often employed in the United States. The United States Agency for International Development reassured them and the rest of us that it was both less expensive and faster to build. Comparisons require a bit more information than that. The $10.6 million and three and a half years might not have sounded so wonderful if it referred to the bailey bridge that was installed in the same location within a couple of months and at minimal cost by the Indian Army.

Arugam Bay inhabitants clearly weren’t given a choice between spending on extras like guardrails and lights or something else unconnected with the bridge, and they didn’t have the chance to say that they’d rather use the whole sum on other projects and continue to use the perfectly serviceable existing infrastructure for a while. The United States thus ensured that a small town in a remote area ended up with something that wouldn’t look out of place in downtown New York.

Economic growth was brought into the debate as the ultimate excuse. The United States claimed that the bridge would help the town to retain its status as a tourist attraction and boost the local economy by providing easier access to the sixty or more hotels in Arugam Bay. Around 5,000 people and 1,400 vehicles are expected to cross the lagoon per day. Arugam Bay natives might have pointed out that visitors were already travelling along the road some few kilometres to the interior and indeed going across the bailey bridge set up by the Indian Army. Symbolism surely isn’t a reasonable explanation for inflated expenditure in an area with so much poverty even before the tsunami and it isn’t clear why anybody would expect vastly increased numbers of holidaymakers to turn up just because it is now a little bit easier to get from Pottuvil to Panama.

Infrastructure doesn’t magically increase economic growth. East Germans can surely testify to this having seen their prospects decline and unemployment increase following a major investment drive after their reunification with the West. Examples simply proliferate on this issue.

The United States boasted that the project had at least provided jobs for the survivors. Eighty percent of the work was done by local people, but we need not waste time wondering whether this also amounted to four fifths of the wages. The American company brought their own employees to design the bridge, and an Indian company was subcontracted to supervise the masons, carpenters and others who undertook the construction. Engineers and management staff aren’t exactly in short supply in this country, yet many of these salaries and their associated company fees went straight out of the economy to India and the United States. Indonesian companies provided much of the prefabricated material needed for this particular design, so still more money went overseas. Technology transfer was supposed to be an important aspect of the project, and employees were said to have learnt a few new skills from the experience, but this might not be very useful if nobody is planning any more state-of-the-art bridges in Ampara.

Sri Lankans might wonder who actually got what they wanted in Arugam Bay. The United States is renowned for pursuing its own interests through the foreign aid it offers. Around 70% of its funds are officially tied to the purchase of goods and services from its home companies. That’s an annual average of about $7 billion. The United States isn’t the only country to do this, of course. Nine out of ten donors make at least some of their aid conditional in this way, and almost half of all aid is so affected, while the value of what is given would increase by about one third if they didn’t attach these kinds of strings. The Arugam Bay bridge was actually subject to a competitive bidding process in which firms from almost every country were eligible to participate. The United States Agency for International Development made it much more likely that one of its own corporations would end up winning the contract by making their entire tsunami programme a single undertaking with cost considered only at a later stage in the selection process.

(Coincidentally, CH2M Hill is very well-connected in Washington. It contributed the most of all construction companies to political campaigns during the Presidential, House of Representatives and Senate elections of 2004, of which 70% went to the Republican Party. The company proceeded to win a number of multi-billion dollar no-bid contracts for rebuilding work in both Iraq and New Orleans.)

The $3.3 billion promised to this country to rebuild after the tsunami starts to look a bit feeble if we bear in mind that considerable amounts ended up being spent in this way. The Arugam Bay bridge is surely not an exceptional case. Money flowed out of local communities almost as fast as it was poured in. Benefits did accrue to the survivors but many opportunities were lost as well. Aid turns out to be a rather misleading term. It may come from well-meaning people, but there is something amiss with the systems that get the money from them to the intended beneficiaries. State donors are as much to blame as Non-Governmental Organisations. Sri Lanka has plenty of evidence of that.

source:
http://www.island.lk/2008/07/09/features1.html

AbaY Walk 2008

In the middle of the year, we supposed to have “High Season” at Arugam Bay.
Every July, Arugam. info walks from bridge to bridge, simply armed with a little camera.

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From bridge end to the other end of AbaY
This year we have a new USAIDs bridge to the North of our hamlet.
The Southern, Panama end bridge remains in poor shape.
Over the years every single sign and sign post has been documented in that way.
You are welcome to compare each year and study the ‘progress’ – or the opposite thereof…!?
Since 2005 the files are in Arugam.info ‘s our Inderal shards of order Picasa Album, see link below.
http://picasaweb.google.com/arugamsurf/AbaYWalk2008

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Are you missing out?
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Security boost for PresidentA?a??a??s chopper entourage

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The Nation The Air Force has decided to take additional security precautions in an attempt to ward off any unwarranted incidents in the future, following last weekA?a??a??s incident in Arugam Bay, when President Mahinda RajapaksaA?a??a??s support helicopter came under LTTE fire.

A?a??A?There are very few precautions that can be taken, such as employing tactical flying methods in the future as an additional security measure, in order to avert such incidents,A?a??A? Air Force Spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara told The Nation.

Speaking to The Nation, Police Spokesman SSP Ranjith Gunasekera said that Ampara SSP Ananda Wijesuriya was heading the investigations into the incident and that there had been no breakthrough.

He further said that the Police and the Army should take safety measures on the ground to prevent such incidents since the area is a government-controlled, cleared area.

Meanwhile, Military Spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara told The Nation that there were some precautions that could be taken to prevent such incidents but not all such precautions would be successful since the LTTE could sometimes infiltrate to carry out attacks in spite of the security measures.

source:
http://www.nation.lk/2008/07/06/news3.htm

Storm clouds over SAARC summit

  • Police and defence spokesman go crude or cynical over attacks on journalists Deltasone how much
  • Ranil rows through party crisis but squabbles continue
By Our Political Editor

A volley of probing questions by Muralidhar Reddy, the Colombo correspondent for India’s national newspaper Hindu, brought some revealing answers from defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella.
This week’s brutal attack on journalist Namal Perera and British High Commission staffer Mahendra Ratnaweera, the journalist noted, were not isolated ones. Perera is acting Manager, Media Advocacy and Media Freedom at the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) and Ratnaweera, Political Officer at the High Commission.

“These incidents have been occurring regularly and the Police have not got any lead. How do you ensure security during the summit later this month of leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC)? Those attending the summit could become possible targets,” he said. The loquacious defence spokesman and Minister, Rambukwella, who has “ready made” answers to questions, responded, “What does SAARC have to do with this? It could even be a personal issue.”
The assault by goons who came in a white van with tinted windows occurred barely 100 metres outside the Military Police Headquarters at Kirullapone. It was also the same distance from the Ministry of Information (and the Government Information Department) from where many a dignitary of the Government piously pontificates on media freedom and vows to protect both democracy and journalists.
Details of the latest incident appear elsewhere in this newspaper. However, Reddy’s question and the answers Rambukwella gave are among major contributory factors that have triggered off concerns in the diplomatic dovecotes of SAARC countries. With only 22 days to go for the summit, some of the key players, The Sunday Times has learnt, are re-assessing the security environment and whether the climate would be safe for their leaders.

New IGP’s assurance

In the case of the assault of the duo, as has been in many other similar incidents, contradictions in statements by those in Government are galore. Medical personnel at a private hospital were still fighting to stop blood oozing out of the wounds of Perera and Ratnaweera, when then senior DIG Jayantha Wickremeratne arrived at the scene that Monday night. In the next few hours, he was assuming duties as the Inspector General of Police.

Speaking to British High Commissioner Peter Hayes outside the rooms of the two victims on the first floor of a private hospital, Wickremaratne said Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, had sent him there. That was to assure that a full investigation would be carried out to arrest the assailants. The same assurance was given to the two victims. He said the owner of the white van had been traced. It later turned out that the number plates (with different numbers in the front and the rear) were fake. One vehicle for which the number was assigned lay at a garage with its engine removed several months earlier. Another, was from a vehicle a hundred miles away.

The bashful or hearty laughter of UNP national organizer S. B. Dissanayke in response to a remark by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Frday may add fuel to the political rumour mill which is already awash with speculation about his political moves. Mr. Dissanayake along with Ministers Mahinda Wijesekera and Bandula Gunawardena met the President to discuss events related to the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Vidyodaya University from which the trio graduated and the President was a young library assistant.

Later, as Police Chief Wickremaratne was to tell the media it was difficult to track down white vans. At any given time over a 500 of them were moving around in city roads. The Police spokesman held another view. SSP Ranjith Gunasekera told the media that some media personnel were using reported threats or assaults to claim asylum abroad. However, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who declared open the US aided bridge at Arugam Bay said the assault was part of a conspiracy to embarrass the Government.
His remarks were to heighten concerns. If there were indeed conspirators who moved around with impunity past checkpoints and the presence of troops/policemen in the City, and could successfully evade arrest, whether security in the City of Colombo and suburbs was adequate was the question. Therefore, could those conspirators endanger the SAARC delegates and the large media contingent who will be there to cover the event?

Of course, security during SAARC has become the nightmare of the authorities. Latest proposals under consideration are to severely restrict entry and exit into the City of Colombo. Ministers and officials taking part in the SAARC summit are also likely to be booked into City hotels and provided security cover during their journey to the conference venue. Among the other security concerns for some SAARC countries is whether Tiger guerrillas will trigger any incidents either before or during the summit. Government officials have allayed their fears with assurances that fighting now is restricted to the Wanni. They have said the guerrillas will no longer be able to carry out any major attack.

Yet, the incident where the guerrillas fired at a helicopter of the Air Force VIP squadron over the skies of Kokkadicholai this week was also cause for concern. This helicopter was one of the ‘chasers’ to the helicopter in which President Rajapaksa flew for the ceremonies connected with the opening of the bridge at Arugam Bay. It had later flown to the SLAF base in Ampara (Uhana) to re-fuel when it was hit by small arms fire and forced to make an emergency landing.

Election fever

On the political front, Government leaders believe that the successful conduct of the SAARC and the “imminent successes” in the campaign against Tiger guerrillas in their stronghold of Wanni would augur well for the upcoming elections in the North Central Province and Sabaragamuwa provinces.

ominations concluded on Friday and both elections will be held on August 23. The twin issues, Government leaders argue, will be disadvantageous to the main opposition United National Party (UNP), which is already plagued by an internal crisis.

In the Opposition UNP, the rumblings seem to simmer down a bit, though its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is not entirely out of the woods. On Tuesday, the Working Committee met, and it was former Health Minister Dr. Ranjit Atapattu from Beliatte who interrupted Wickremesinghe to ask him what the Committee of party seniors set up to study the grievances of a reformist group had come up with.

This Committee comprises those elected to Parliament in 1977 or before that, and is headed by John Amaratunga, a former Minister of Interior. Amaratunga himself was abroad, and Wickremesinghe had to stop in mid-stream and say he would deal with the subject later.

When later came, Wickremesinghe said the Committee was finalising its report, and that he was prepared to go along with its recommendations – provided there was unanimity in the way forward. Differences of opinion and pitting one against the other are now becoming legendary — and Wickremesinghe knows only too well that personality clashes will prevail over issue-based politics.
For instance, the recommendations of the three chief ‘reformists’ – Lakshman Seneviratne (Moneragala), Johnston Fernando (Kurunegala) and Jayalath Jayawardene (Gampaha) are to change the party constitution and clip the powers of the all-powerful party leader; and for the appointment of a new party chairman, deputy leader and three assistant leaders.

The vexed issue of whether Wickremesinghe should continue as both, the Opposition Leader and party leader has now been all but settled, with the demand to oust him from the latter post now fizzling out.
For party deputy leader (the post held by Karu Jayasuriya before his defection), the name recommended is incumbent party Chairman Rukman Senanayake. He was not present on Tuesday, but while there is no apparent objection to this move, the suggestion to make Joseph Michael Perera, the party chairman has run into a wall.

Jayalath Jayawardene had originally objected to this move. Both are from neighbouring constituencies of Ja-ela and Negombo, but the good doctor had later relented. However, Perera’s nomination was opposed on the grounds that he is a Catholic and the party is already under a cloud with the Buddhist majority having lost their confidence to some extent.

Then, there was the suggestion to make S.B. Dissanayake, the National Organiser who spends most of his time in Australia nowadays, Jayawickrema Perera from Kurunegala and young Sajith Premadasa from Hambantota as assistant leaders. There again, while Jayawickrama Perera was not an issue, there were some murmurs about Dissanayake because of his civic disability, and Premadasa due to his young age.

Dissanayake has been asking the leadership for a place in Parliament once his civic disability period is over – and the vacant seat of Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauf Hakeem, but Hakeem seems to want to return the National Legislature, and this will put paid to Dissanayake’s re-entry to where he once held forth.

In the meantime, he has kept a line open with President Rajapaksa, earning the displeasure, and mistrust of UNPers. The point that young and not-so-young MPs who see themselves as future leaders were not even in the running for these posts – Ravi Karunanayake, Vajira Abeywardene etc., was also a matter for consternation in some quarters.

And so, the debate went on in the corridors and within the Working Committee of the Grand Old Party, and Wickremesinghe thriving on the differences said that the discussions should not revolve around persons but positions. But what he did not say, nor the party think of discussing, was that what was most important was neither persons nor positions, but the issues that the UNP had to take cognizance of if it was to reverse the losing trend, and start winning elections once again.

Lakshman Seneviratne, one of the frontline ‘reformists’ said he wanted to clarify matters. He had been talking behind closed doors that he felt the party leadership had ‘planted’ a story in a popular Sinhala daily that he was acting as the cat’s-paw for the 17 UNPers who abandoned the UNP and joined the Rajakapsa administration. Inside the Working Committee he rose to deny this, and said that he was a UNPer, would stand by the leadership and only wanted to ensure the party’s victory at future elections.
In this general state of confusion, Ranjit Atapattu, the elder statesman who raised the issue first, could only say that he had his own views to make to the Committee, and he was asked to convey them in due course. Wickremesinghe said the Committee should identify common issues and the party must come to some general agreement on these common issues, and with that neatly rode the rough waves against him to beach safely.

One of the most vociferous critics of Wickremesinghe, Johnston Fernando, a former Youth and Sports Minister had his lips sealed. There was not a word, not a hum from him right through the proceedings. Clearly, someone had advised him to keep mum.

Campaign funds

As the coming weeks will see heightened activity in the Sabaragamuwa and North Central Provinces in view of the August 23 elections, it was natural for the party hierarchy to discuss how best they were going to meet the challenge.

For the NCP, the UNP had a fairly powerful candidate in Major-General (Ret.) Janaka Perera, who was returning from Australia (this is not a new phenomena – most modern Sri Lankan politicians, Government and Opposition, seem to be having homes in foreign lands and politicking here) to his baptism in politics.
Perera had been testing the murky political waters for some time, dipping his toe, and running back to Australia. But now he has committed himself to the deep end of Sri Lankan politics, and he has taken upon himself an assignment no second to those he would have faced fighting the LTTE during his career in the army.

Before his arrival in Colombo, Perera has been asking whether he will have the financial resources from the party to mount what would be a fairly expensive campaign. He was assured party funds, but later began complaining that tight-fisted party managers were depriving him of funds. Now that he has got some of it, he has been told not to squander all of it in the first month itself, and to save some for closer to the polls date.

To face fire with fire, the government has put forward a wounded soldier, the sole survivor of the 1992 deaths of the country’s top-most Generals in the island of Kayts off Jaffna. This is proof that the government is not taking Maj-Gen. Perera’s entry into politics from the UNP lightly.

Sabragamuwa scenario

The UNP’s nominees for the Sabaragamuwa province however had a little coup de theatrics. Taken unaware by the announcement of the election, the UNP was obviously caught flat-footed. Its MPs from the area, Ms. Thalatha Atukorale and Dunesh Gankanda were thrust into the forefront by the party in the absence of a second rung of politicians. Atukorale had just returned from a visit to the US, and neither she nor Gankanda were keen to sacrifice their parliamentary seats, even if it meant being an apparent Chief Minister candidate for the entire province.

In to this vacuum, actor Ranjan Ramanayake threw his hat in from the blues – or in this case, the greens. According to party insiders, his candidature has been supported by Sudath Chandrasekera, a personal friend of his, and who wears the hat of private secretary to Wickremesinghe. A press interview had been arranged for Ramanayake where he said he was willing to come forward.

The party leadership, desperately searching for a team leader for Sabaragamuwa was delighted at the response. Atukorale and Gankanda were the first to lend their support, but it seemed that was more to get out of the situation themselves rather than any love for Ramanayake.

Former Diyawadana Nilame Neranjan Wijeyeratne also offered to contest if he was to be given the Chief Ministership should the UNP win. His long years as DN of the Sri Dalada Maligawa, the temple of the Tooth, would stand him in good stead in a mainly Sinhala-Buddhist province, whose centre of gravity is the holy Maha Saman Devale’ in Ratnapura.

However, Wijeyeratne’s candidature was shot down as soon as it took off. Those supporting Ramanayake, who ironically hails from the Catholic belt of Katana in the western province, with no connections whatsoever in Sabaragamuwa argued that should Wijeyeratne contest, the incumbent DN, Neelanga Dela Bandara would throw his weight against Wijeyeratne.

This is going on the basis that Bandara will not otherwise throw his weight behind the Rajapaksa administration, which fully backed his own candidacy when he was elected for the post he now holds.
The UNP hierarchy insists that Ramanayake can win the youth vote and with the traditional party votes, can make the difference.

Others think otherwise, and fear the party coming a cropper. To make matters worse, the party left out an up-and-coming grass-root level politician named Manju, a Praadeshiya Sabha member from Mawanella, whose inclusion was reportedly objected to by Kabir Hasheem, MP from Mawanella.

The UNP has to contend with some heavy-weights like Ministers John Seneviratne, Pavitra Wanniarachchi, Susantha Punchinilame and Mahinda Ratnathillake, seasoned politicians working the government machinery in the province.

The UNP was crowing over the fact that Punchinilame’s brother cum private secretary is going to be a UNP candidate. “He has crossed over”, said one prominent UNPer, but others said that the Punchinilames are UNPers anyway, just that Susantha Punchinilame joined the government, and it makes good insurance policy to hedge the bets.

The UNP also appointed two committees to spearhead the campaign in the two provinces. Rukman Senanayake will be the chief campaign coordinator for the North Central Province with Gamini Jaywickrema Perera being the Anuradhapura district coordinator and Lakshman Kiriella being the Polonnaruwa District coordinator. Others in the NCP campaign committee are Sajith Premadasa, P. Harrison, Earl Gunasekera, Chandrani Bandara and Dr. R. John Pulle.

The UNPA?a??a??s Sabaragamuwa campaign committee is headed by National Organiser S. B. Dissanayake with Ravindra Samaraweera being the Kegalle District coordinator and John Amaratunga Ratnapura coordinator.

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Others in the Sabaragamuwa campaign committee are: Thalatha Athukorale, Kabir Hashim, Dunesh Gankanda, Champika Premadasa and P. D. Kurukulasinghe. Not to be distracted though from the main objective of the Opposition, to oppose the government especially in Colombo, the UNP has also worked in a frenzy-like mood.

It has appointed its Kandy leader Lakshman Kiriella to ‘carry the party message’; Wickremasinghe himself will take charge of the ‘Ops Room’; there will be people tasked for ‘Fund Raising’; and next Wednesday (July 9) they will start recruiting volunteers who will take an oath to engage in Gandhian style (or JR style?) non-violent protest “until freedom is obtained”, as one party leader acclaimed.

Meanwhile, the violence has already begun. In Anuradhapura, three UNPers have been attacked, and in the recently liberated Dimbulagala, a sub-inspector of police and a police party arrived to arrest a UNP organiser – one policeman wearing the telephone number of the Opposition leader on his uniform lapel instead of a real number.
source:
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/080706/Columns/political.html

Rock the Point – Party in Arugam Bay

Posted on July 1, 2008 by goofyfoot

A road trip to a sexy weekend of sun,surf,and moonlit rave set on one of the most exotic & beautiful places in Sri Lanka is on the cards for 100 very lucky people!!!

A?E?A?A?E?A?A?E?A?A?E?A?A?E?A?LetA?a??a??s rock that point!A?E?A?A?E?A?A?E?A?A?E?A?A?E?A?

Tickets are limited! ~ Invitees only!
There will be NO tickets sold at the gate!!
Please Chloramphenicol price in india request invitations if you wish to bring a friend along.

Let the Rave Bus take you on a riotous road trip to an outdoor beach/lakeside rave on the beautiful East coast of Sri LankaA?a??A?

Dj Shiyam & Dj Yazz will be messing with your head, sending shivers down your body with grooves from heaven & hell from Friday night onwards!!!

Surfing ,swimming & water fun finds a new meaning on this beachA?a??A? (bring your own gear)
Frolick around beach bonfires under a moonlit skyA?a??A? A?E?A?
Reasonably priced food & beverages available on site.

Camping areas & showers are available on location
A sleeping bag will do if you fancy chilling under the stars as the weather is great! A?E?A?
Please bring your own tents if you wish to camp out.
DonA?a??a??t forget your swimming gear !!!

The Rave Bus A?E?A? A?E?A? A?E?A? takes off from MacDonaldA?a??a??s Rajagiriya @ 9.00 a.m. on the 17th of July 2008.
Complimentary refreshments will be served on the bus for the onward journey.
Bring all you need along with you as there will be limited stops.
(No shopping stops!)
The return journey will start @ 10.00a.m. on Sunday the 20th of July 2008.
Please be on time as there will be no refunds on tickets if you miss the bus at either point!
The bus will terminate at MacDonaldA?a??a??s Rajagiriya.

Tickets : Entrance only ~ Rs: 1000/-
Rave bus return ticket only~ 3500/-

TICKETS SALES WILL BE FROM THE 27th OF JUNE TILL THE 10th OF JULY ONLY!!!
Arugam bay residents please call
Nuria (0776958407) or Susana (0779497005) for tickets. Please call in time to avoid disapointment.

source:
http://www.goofyfootholidays.com/rock-the-point/

Rock the Point

Daily Telegraph -UK-

PottuVille Point

A famous, most beautiful surf (& Party-!) spot in eastern Sri Lanka just to the north of Arugam Bay.

Here is YOUR chance to enjoy the beautiful setting of The Point!
The resort has been selected to host a private, three day Party in mid July, 2008!

Tickets to the event as well as transport from Colombo are by INVITATION only.
Details, contact numbers and full information, see link below:

http://www.facebook.com/inbox/#/event.php?eid=17541337053 Buy flomaxtra
Non Facebook users may need a password to see the above page.
Available from the Rock-the-Point hot line:( +94…)

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Phone:
0777284720
Email:

The above photo was selected by the the Daily Telegraph, London and published in March, 2008; see link below.
What a location for a 3 day Party weekend!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Slideshow/slideshowContentFrameFragXL.
jhtml;jsessionidFTYQHT5AUGIGVQFIQMFCFGGAVCBQYIV0?xml=/global/
slideshow/expatworld17/expatworld17.xml&site=News

VVIP Transport hit by small arms fire

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

VVIP Transport hit by small arms fire

A VVIP transport helicopter (Bell 412) was forced to perform an emergency landing in Ampara today, when it ran out of fuel in mid air. The unexpected fuel loss was caused by a bullet that is suspected to have been fired using a low caliber weapon. The damaged aircraft is said to be in repairable condition. The chopper was assigned to facilitate VVIP transport related to the President’s visit to Arugam Bay in the Eastern province.

Meanwhile 8 bombers of the SLAF launched an air attack on a special training base of the LTTE north east of Mankulam. The raid was conducted at 6am in the morning. Casualty details are not available as of now.

In other news, the Air Force has flown several night time missions using its bombers during the past 2 weeks. The bombers flew over Kilinochchci, the de facto capital of LTTE, at least 3 times but did not engage in any bombing raids.

21 comments:

Pakka-Lanka said…
Thanks DN

Was any VVIP in the helicopter when the emergency landing took place?

Pakka-Lanka said…
“The bombers flew over Kilinochchci, the de facto capital of LTTE, at least 3 times but did not engage in any bombing raids.”

DN,

Good to know that we are keeping up with day/night air attacks.

What is the purpose of bombers flying over ‘Nochchi without any raids? Is it to demoralise the enemy by demonstrating our air superiority? Or are they mere practice runs in the night before the fire works are dished out? Value your comments.

Cheers.

Pakka-Lanka said…
If the chopper was damaged by small arms fire, it means there is a residue of LTTE activists in the liberated areas who could pose a significant threat. What if the chopper caught fire and was destroyed? We must act as if the chopper was destroyed and do whatever we can to rid the cleared ares of any residue of LTTE.

Pakka-Lanka said…
This post has been removed by the author.
ranilb5 said…
Mannar and Vavunia fronts are merged into a single battle front ranging over 75km according to Defence.lk

This is a great news I have been waiting to hear for a long time….
Now we are strong and have lesser chances to failures…

Looser fakakaran, our boys are coming!!!!

abarip said…
pakkaya-lanka,
It was a VVIP chopper because it had a VVIP on board. If not it would have been a ‘nikang’ chopper!

DefenceNet said…
“What is the purpose of bombers flying over ‘Nochchi without any raids?”

Perhaps for testing purposes.

DefenceNet said…
“Was any VVIP in the helicopter when the emergency landing took place?”

No it was returning to the ceremony after re-fuelling.

“It was a VVIP chopper because it had a VVIP on board. If not it would have been a ‘nikang’ chopper!”

It was a VVIP chopper because it was assigned for VVIP transportation. That does not mean a VVIP has to be present inside the chopper all the time 🙂

lankanews said…
DN,

Is it a Bell 212 or 412?
http://www.army.lk/fulsit.php?idx=989
says it is a Bell 412.

Thanx

LKDOOD said…
DN thanks for the update

Theraputtha said…
why 8 bombers? was the target area wide-spread? or SLAF wanted no near-death escape for any of enimies?

Qrious said…
Thanks Defencenet,

At least we know what happened.

Strategic Thinking said…
did anyone see the bbc article that one of the airforce bombers dropped one near the ICRC office in Omanthai?

DefenceNet said…
“Is it a Bell 212 or 412?’

A 412 as mentioned in the article.

lankanews said…
A 412 as mentioned in the article.
Thanx DN.

ICRC temporarly withdraw from Omanthei entry/exit point after SLAF attacked today evening.

lankadeepa.lk

LKDOOD said…
DW:

“..The chopper was shot four times on one of its fuselages using an MPMG while it was flying over Kanjikudichchiaaru..”

Army must flush out the attackers in Kanjikudichchiaaru

Thambapanniya said…
Sign up
http://www.defence.lk/rsa/reportknowledge.asp

silentknight said…
Thambapanniya,

welcome to DN!…

lets destroy these ltte MF’s using a collective technological knowledge base,…..

if SLAF needs help with a home varient of a “spooky” ,..count me in,…..

jolly good son!,….

hemantha said…
Weapons captured in Mannar.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=MSM15tklLQM

LKDOOD said…
[tamilnet]

A9 gateway to Vanni closed after SLAF attack

Following the closure of the gateway, all transportation including civilian transportation and humanitarian supplies have come to a halt.

LKDOOD said…
with the A9 closed

new front opening along the A9 ?

“Chopper hit by LTTE”

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An Air Force helicopter Bell 412 of the VIP Squadron was grounded by LTTE fire soon after it had participated in a flight carrying President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his party to the Arugam Bay bridge opening ceremony yesterday. At the time of the incident the only occupants in the helicopter were were the crew, Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said.

Two helicopters had left for Arugam Bay from Colombo, transporting President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his entourage to the ceremonial opening of the reconstructed Arugam Bay bridge scheduled for yesterday afternoon.

Nanayakkara said the aircraft which developed mechanical problems was the helicopter which transported the Presidential aides.

Police said that the Bell 412 had been hit by gunfire from LTTE when it was returning over the Kanjikudichchhciaru jungles and made an emergency landing in Pottuvil.

According to eyewitnesses the gunfire had hit the under carriage of the aircraft and fuel was leaking from the tank.

“Prior to PresidentA?a??a??s arrival in Pottuvil, the Tigers had fired seven rounds of mortars at the Sengamuwa STF camp but no damage was caused,” a senior Police office said.

A team of investigators and engineers had left Colombo for Pottuvil at the tme this edition went to press.

source:
http://www.island.lk/2008/07/02/news1.html

Helicopter fired upon in Ampara

* Update: Sri Lanka Air Force helicopter fired upon in Ampara
Tuesday, July 1, 2008, 15:51 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

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July 01, Ampara: The Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) says an unknown party fired upon an Air Force helicopter while it was flying across the Ampara area this afternoon.

According to sources, the US-built Bell 414 helicopter made an emergency landing at Arugam Bay due to a sudden loss of fuel detected by the pilots. Later, it was found that the helicopter had been hit with a few gunshots. The Air Force suspects that the helicopter had been fired upon while it was on its way from Ampara to Arugam Bay.

The MCNS said the helicopter had been deployed for logistic movements in connection with the opening ceremony for the newly constructed Purchase alavert Arugam Bay Bridge. It had been returning to Arugam Bay after being refueled at Ampara.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa today declared open the new Arugam Bay Bridge, which was reconstructed with aid from the United States.

source:
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_08/July1155152JR.html