Norwegian ministers to visit Hambantota and Mullaithivu next week

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 January 2005, 09:42 GMT]
Foreign Minister Jan Petersen and Minister of International Development Ms Hilde Frafjord Johnson will visit Hambantota and Mullaithivu to study the ground situation and to gain a first hand impression of how the relief work is proceeding for the people struck by the natural disaster, according to a press release issued by the Norwegian Embassy. Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen and Special Envoy Erik Solheim will also take part in the visit, it added.
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Mullaithivu, a model for structuring relief efforts- Rotary DG

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 January 2005, 06:18 GMT]
Mr. Lucky Peiris, Governor of Rotary District 3220 Sri Lanka, speaking to journalists in Trincomalee Friday evening, praised the commitment and devotion shown in the Mullaitivu district in providing relief to the Tsunami victims. LTTE cadres got into action and cleared debris to assist affected people within minutes after tsunami struck Mullaithivu district. This efficiency is urgently needed in other parts of the country, he added.
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Macroeconomic approach should govern reconstruction - Don

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 January 2005, 00:53 GMT]
Professor V. Nithyanantham of the Dept. of Economics, Jaffna University, talking to TamilNet on the socio-economic setting in NorthEast and problems facing the residents in the post Tsunami period, said that planners should adopt a macro-economic approach to reconstruction taking into account relevant humanitarian and social factors.
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Damage to Northeast hospitals yet to be assessed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 January 2005, 14:53 GMT]
No estimate has yet been carried out about the damages caused by the tsunami to hospitals at Velvetithurai, Mullaitivu, Ninthavur, and Pothuvil and the rural hospitals at Chalamimadu and Kuchchaveli. Sources at the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medicine of the Northeast said that four district hospitals, six rural health centres, one rural hospital and two terminal health units have been destroyed in the tsunami disaster in the east.
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Counseling coordinators to start public awareness campaign

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 January 2005, 14:10 GMT]
Importance of urgently starting a public awareness campaign on the counseling needs for the survivors of tsunami disaster was discussed in a coordinating meeting of representatives of humanitarian organisations held Tuesday 2 pm at the North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR) located at Karadipokku in Kilinochchi, sources in Kilinochchi said.
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USAID funds SLRCS tsunami relief project

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 January 2005, 12:46 GMT]
The US Agency for International AID & Development (USAID) has granted US$ 350,000 to Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) for a Relief and Assistance Project for those affected by the recent Tsunami disaster. This project will focus on four components -Cleaning the environment and removal of debris, distribution of Non Food Relief Items (NFRI), Increase Health Awareness regarding water and vector borne diseases and re-establishment of livelihood, states Mr Harasha Gunawardene, Director Communications of the SLRC.
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TNA parliamentarians boycott Governor's Jaffna visit

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 January 2005, 14:54 GMT]
Jaffna district Tamil National Parliamentarians Monday boycotted the first official visit of Mr.Tyronne Fernando, Governor of the Northeast Province in protest to the government's refusal to allow Mr.Koffi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations to visit Tsunami destroyed Northern coastal areas, including Mullaitivu district, TNA sources said.
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Colombo tries to shift blame on mishandling Annan's itinerary

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 January 2005, 23:47 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry in a statement issued on Sunday tried to shift the blame on mishandling itinerary of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's visit, which sparked controversy that Colombo blocked him from visiting LTTE-controlled areas in the Northeast to witness the devastating tsunami destruction. The Foreign Ministry said that the final itinerary was drawn only after the government authorities and UNDP's Resident Representative's Office reached an agreement in Colombo.
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TRO Executive meets with UN Secretary General

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 January 2005, 13:43 GMT]
The Executive Director of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), Mr. K. P. Regi, met with United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, at a meeting Sunday convened for a selected group of civil society representatives, sources in Colombo said. Mr. Regi handed over an appeal to the Secretary General. Some of the participants expressed the view that the centralised set-up planned by the Government of Sri Lanka is not effective, contains many bureaucratic bottlenecks and not sufficiently transparent to direct an equitable distribution of relief.
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Dismal state response reveals need for ISGA - TNA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 January 2005, 11:36 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government’s insensitive and ineffectual relief efforts in the Northeast in the wake of the Asian tsunami disaster has reinforced the need for an interim administration for the region as demanded by its residents, Tamil parliamentarians argued Sunday.
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Kofi Annan consoles Trinco Tamil, Muslim Tsunami victims

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 January 2005, 19:37 GMT]
Mr.Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations Saturday evening paid a thirty-minute visit to Trincomalee. He consoled Tsunami affected Tamil refugees at Alankerni Tamil School and Muslim victims sheltered in Kinniya Central College. UN officials cancelled the inspection of the Tsunami destroyed Kinniya government hospital site at last minute.
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Tsunami ravaged community in northeast pleads with UN Secretary General

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 January 2005, 15:50 GMT]
Civil organizations and churches in the northeast have appealed to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to visit the tsunami hit regions in the LTTE controlled areas as he reached Colombo Friday 6.10 PM. Rt.Rev. Dr.Thomas Soundaranayagam, Bishop of Jaffna, Rt.Rev.Dr. J. Kingsley Swampillai, Bishop of Trincomalee-Batticaloa and Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph, Bishop of Mannar urged The Secretary General to visit Mullaithivu and meet LTTE leaders and discuss with them about the future rehabilitation of the Tsunami victims. Most of the appeals have highlighted the positive effects of his visit to LTTE controlled areas in promoting peace through negotiations.
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Vanni TNA MPs oppose army take over of refugee camps

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 January 2005, 11:00 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Vanni district parliamentarians vehemently protested against the directive of the President to hand over the management of welfare centres where Tsunami victims are sheltered to the State armed forces at a conference held at the Vavuniya district secretariat Thursday with Mr.Tyronne Fernando, North east Provincial Governor in the chair, sources said.
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Security Forces continue to obstruct NorthEast relief effort- TRO

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 January 2005, 20:42 GMT]
"The Government of Sri Lanka has permitted Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) to engage in rehabilitation and reconstruction work in LTTE controlled as well as military controlled areas of the northeast. But the Special Task Force (STF) is acting as an obstacle to our mission. In Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Thirukovil, the STF personnel grabbed relief supplies from us and diverted them to other refugee camps of their choice," said Mr. K P Reggie, Executive Director of TRO, at the press conference in Colombo on Wednesday evening.
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Kofi Annan to visit Mullaitivu and other affected areas

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 January 2005, 10:58 GMT]
United Nation's Secretary General Koffi Annan will visit 'some of the hardest hit areas' in Sri Lanka when he visits the country on Friday, UN sources said Wednesday. Foreign ministry sources said Koffi Annan will visit Ampara, Galle, Hambantatota and Mullaitivu, areas worst hit by the tsunami waves on December 26.
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Papal delegate visits Tsunami affected Jaffna coastal villages

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 January 2005, 03:29 GMT]
Apostolic Nuncio His Excellency Mario Zenari, Papal Delegate in Sri Lanka Tuesday paid a visit to Jaffna district and witnessed the destruction caused to coastal villages in the district due to Tsunami and shared the shock and grief with the victims, civil sources said
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Project to resurrect Mullaitivu fishing industry planned

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 January 2005, 11:27 GMT]
The Economic Consultancy House (TECH), a Non Governmental Organization that promotes socio-economic and technological development, and registered with the Government of Srilanka, has issued a project plan costing nearly Rs2 billion, to assist the more than 5700 fishing families in Mullaitivu district affected by the tsunami disaster to return to their traditional trade, TECH officials told TamilNet.
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Rescue workers find more bodies in Mullaitivu, Vadamaradchy East

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 January 2005, 22:53 GMT]
Rescue workers in Mullaitivu and Vadamaradchy East areas discovered ten more bodies on Sunday, officials in Vanni said. Five of the bodies were cremated immediately as they were badly decomposed and the other five were taken to a storage facility for identification.
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UNICEF official meets TRO, children in Mullaitivu

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 January 2005, 10:35 GMT]
Ms Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), travelled to Kilinochchi Monday morning around 8.30 a.m., where she met with children from Senthalir Illam who had escaped death and Mr. Reggie, Executive Director of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO).
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TNA to brief international community on northeast devastation

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 January 2005, 15:49 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will soon brief the international community about the massive needs of the north-east that suffered the worst in December 26 Tsunami disaster, TNA sources said Sunday.
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