SLA constructs new camps, sentries in Vadamaradchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 June 2003, 15:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Thursday commenced constructing new camps and sentries in Amban, Kudathanai and Manalkadu areas in Vadamarachchi division in Jaffna district, civil sources said.


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Tamil students uprising celebrated in Northeast

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 June 2003, 14:03 GMT]
Thousands of Tamil students in the Northeast Friday celebrated the day of Student Uprising participating in processions and holding public meetings in several parts of the Northeast, sources from different districts in Northeast said.
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Vadamaradchi youth abducted

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 May 2003, 12:03 GMT]
Sivapalasingham Saravanan (25), son of Valvettithurai Town Grama Sevaka Officer (village level official), was abducted by a group of unidentified persons who came in a Hi-Ace van and in three motorbikes Saturday evening at Polikandy area in Vadamarachchi division, police said.


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Moolai hospital struggles to get back on feet

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 April 2003, 00:15 GMT]
Moolai Hospital in Jaffna, the only large co-operative society medical facility in the northeast, lies largely useless today owing to the lack of doctors, patients and the presence of the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in its environs. Like most schools, hospitals, other public utilities and temples in the northeast, 16 months of peace and many rounds of negotiations between the Liberation Tigers and Colombo have done little to improve the fortunes of this unique achievement of Jaffna’s co-operative movement.
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Tamil fishermen complain of assault by southern fishermen

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 April 2003, 18:42 GMT]
Two Jaffna fishermen were assaulted while fishing in the Vadamaradchi sea Thursday morning by Sinhalese fishermen who came from the south of the country in ?tank boats" to fish in the northern sea, fisheries co-operative federation sources said.
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Persisting pass control spoils Jaffna fisheries growth

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2003, 14:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka army sentries on Jaffna’s Vadamaradchi coast are still insisting that fishermen in the region should possess the special identification passes it has issued them despite agreeing last February to accept identity cards issued by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (MFAR) in Colombo, a spokesman for the region’s federation of fishermen’s societies told TamilNet Monday.
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SLA puts up sentries on Vadamaradchi reef

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 April 2003, 15:14 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army has tightened security along Jaffna’s Vadamaradchi coast by setting up sentry points in the sea, fishermen said. The sentries have been built on the reef which runs parallel to this coast, at the openings through which fishing boats enter shallow waters near the beach for mooring.
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HSZs, scant funds slow resettlement in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 March 2003, 15:09 GMT]
The flow of refugees returning from the Vanni to resettle in Jaffna has slowed down because the fate of their villages and towns occupied by the Sri Lanka army (SLA) inside High Security Zones in the northern peninsula still remains uncertain, a senior government official said Monday.


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Vadamarachi Palm Co-ops demand return of Thikkam distillery

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 December 2002, 17:21 GMT]
Several hundred people Wednesday launched a picketing campaign in front of the Palmyra Development Board office in Jaffna demanding that the distillery at Thikkam in Point Pedro area should be returned to the administration of the Federation of Vadamaradchi Palm Co-operatives Societies, sources said. Presently the Thikkam Distillery is under the administration of the Palmyra Development Board (PDB).


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Vadamaradchi traders to observe 'hartal' against police firing

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 December 2002, 18:36 GMT]
Nelliady and Puloly Traders Associations in the Vadamarachchi division in Jaffna district Tuesday decided to observe hartal (general shut down) in their respective areas Wednesday protesting against the police firing on traders this afternoon on hundreds of civilians picketed the office of the para military Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), sources said.
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Vadamaradchi EPDP head attacked

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 November 2002, 07:35 GMT]
An unidentified group of persons Thursday night attacked the acting head of the para military Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), Vadamarachi branch in Jaffna district. Mr.Arafath has been admitted to the Manthikai government hospital in Point Pedro with cut injuries, medical sources said.
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Colombo’s CFA obligations list remains long

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 November 2002, 15:04 GMT]
The Sri Lankan military occupies 216 temples and churches and at least 45 schools in Jaffna. In scores of other schools and places of worship in the northern peninsula the Sri Lankan armed forces have vacated only buildings but are camped in or around the same locations. The Sri Lankan government agreed to pull out its armed forces from schools and places of worship in the island’s Northeastern province when it signed a ceasefire agreement (CFA) with the Liberation Tigers in February 2002.
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SLA soldier assaults Vadamaradchy fishermen

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 October 2002, 19:03 GMT]
Two young Tamil fishermen were assaulted by a Sri Lanka Army soldier manning a sentry in the coastal village of Katkovalam in Vadamaradchi, Wednesday night, fisheries co-operative sources said. SLA officials at the 52-4 Brigade apologized to the injured, saying that the said soldier was mentally deranged.
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SLN blocks Delft islanders at sea

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 September 2002, 19:11 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Navy stopped civilians travelling in seven boats from the island of delft in Jaffna to the island of Eluvaitheevu off Jaffna Wednesday afternoon around 4 p.m. The civilians were on their way to attend the remembrance day celebrations of Lt.Col Thileepan who fasted unto death in September 1987. The SLN attempted to board the boats and tried to force the civilians to return back to Delft, press sources in Jaffna said.
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SLA meets LTTE’s Northern Forces Commander

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 September 2002, 17:08 GMT]
(Adds: Photo) The commander of the Northern Front Forces of the Liberation Tigers, Col. Theepan, had discussions with the commander of the Sri Lankan security forces in Jaffna, Major. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, Thursday evening to discuss the opening of the Pt. Pedro – Maruthankerni Road on Jaffna’s east coast and the positioning of Forward Defence Localities in the Nagar Kovil sector.
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Hartley, Methodist re-open amid unease

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 September 2002, 19:13 GMT]
Student turn out was very low when the Sri Lanka army permitted the reopening of Hartley College and Pt. Pedro Methodist Girls High School in Jaffna Monday amid tensions, teachers said. The two schools were shut down by the SLA last week when students and parents, who were protesting against the military, urging it to remove its bunkers and defence positions around the two schools, stormed the checkpoints and demolished some.
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Hartley and Methodist Girls reopen

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 September 2002, 21:28 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army Thursday agreed to allow Hartley College and Vadamarachchi Methodist Girls High School in Point Pedro to reopen starting from Monday September 9. "These schools were shut down to enable the SLA to rebuild and strengthen the sentry and check points which were damaged by students during the agitation Monday. We have now strengthened our positions around these schools," Jaffna district SLA area commander Major General Sarath Fonseka said at a conference held Thursday at the Vadamaradchi Methodist Girls High School.
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General shut down as military closes Point Pedro schools

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 September 2002, 15:18 GMT]
(Adds: Photos) A complete 'hartal' (general shut down) was observed in Point Pedro and Manthikai areas in the Jaffna peninsula Tuesday in response to a call by the Jaffna Journalists' Association condemning the assault of two journalists and students during the picketing campaign held Monday. All shops and schools were closed down and black flags were hoisted. The military ordered the indefinite closure of Hartley College and Vadamarachchi Methodist Girls High School whose students were involved in Monday’s protests.
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Jaffna students storm SLA positions

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 September 2002, 14:15 GMT]
(News Feature) Over two thousand protesting Tamil students Monday forced their way into Sri Lanka Army positions and camps in Point Pedro in the northern Jaffna peninsula, destroying barriers, sentry points and checkpoints. Students demanding the withdrawal of troops from public places also blocked the main entrance of the SLA's 52-4 Brigade headquarters. Troops fired tear gars and live rounds and assaulted students, journalists and local officials of the Liberation Tigers' political wing who intervened.
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Civilians to picket against army presence

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 September 2002, 21:19 GMT]
The Vadamaradchi People's Movement (VPM) Sunday announced that a mass picketing campaign blocking three supply routes to the Sri Lanka Army's 524 Brigade Headquarters in Point Pedro town would be launched Monday demanding the withdrawal of armed forces from areas encompassing court house, post office, schools, rest house, places of worship and several civilian homes.
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