World Bank teams to assess NEIAP projects in northeast

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 May 2003, 17:23 GMT]
Two teams from the World Bank are to conduct field survey tour between 2 June and 6 June in the northeast districts to assess agricultural development and restoration works now being carried out by the North East Irrigated Agricultural Project (NEIAP), NEIAP sources said.


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GA demands action to improve Kilinochchi postal service

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 May 2003, 15:20 GMT]
Mail is not delivered to a third of the families in the Kilinochchi district, even a half-mile beyond the Kilinochchi town, and immediate action is needed to restore mail delivery, the district’s government agent (GA), Mr. T. Rasanayakam, told Sri Lanka’s Minister for Mass Communication, Mr. Imtiaz Bakeer Markar, at a meeting held at the Vavuniya secretariat, sources said.
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Displaced villagers struggle to revive Thennamaravadi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 May 2003, 11:58 GMT]
A group of displaced Thennamaravadi villagers trekked through jungles Saturday morning to visit their abandoned traditional Tamil village about seventy two km north of Trincomalee district and reported that the entire village had been destroyed and remnants of all civilian homes, school buildings and Pilliayar temple are overgrown with shrub jungles, sources said.


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Jaffna to get daily mail delivery

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 May 2003, 11:42 GMT]
Imtiyaz Bakeer Markar, Minister of Communications, Government of Sri Lanka, is expected to ceremoniously open the Vavuniya Main Post Office renovated at a cost of Rs.3m at 9.30am tomorrow, sources in Vavuniya said. A modern communication center with e-mail, internet, and telephone facilities will also be opened in another event to be attended by the Lankan minister.
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World Bank funded NEIAP lauds TRO's contribution

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 May 2003, 09:31 GMT]
In a press release issued Wednesday, officials of the World Bank funded North East Irrigated Agricultural Project (NEIAP) Wednesday commended the contribution of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) in expediting the implementation of agricultural developments projects in Mullaitivu district in the Vanni region of the northeast province.
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JVP demands debate on SLMM, Muttur violence

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2003, 19:04 GMT]
The Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) demanded in a letter to the Speaker of the Sri Lankan parliament that a special meeting of the parliament to discuss the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission’s 'Initial discussion paper' of April 03 to the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) on recognizing Sea Tigers as a de facto naval unit, and the recent incidents of violence in Muttur, Mr. Wimal Weerawansa, the parliamentary group leader of the JVP and its propaganda secretary, said at a press conference held Tuesday at the Nippon hotel in downtown Colombo.
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SLN patrols increase, UAV sighted in Mullaitivu

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 April 2003, 11:38 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) has increased its patrol activities in the Mullaitivu seas recently, and five fishermen who were threatened and had their boats inspected by the SLN this week while fishing in Mullaitivu seas have made complains to the local authorities, sources in Mullaitivu said.


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Body washed ashore in Mullaitivu awaits identification

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 April 2003, 11:22 GMT]
The body discovered in Mullaitivu shores Monday last week and sent to Colombo for identification was not of one of chinese fishermen killed in a recent incident at Trincomalee seas according to Chinese Embassy officials, sources in Colombo said.
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Bullock cart 'buses' Mullaitivu school children

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 March 2003, 16:09 GMT]
Students in Meelivanam village located 5km from the Karipattamurippu Government mixed school in Mullaitivu district will use an improvised bullock drawn carriage as transportation to and from their school, sources in Mullaitivu said.
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Killinochchi, Mullaitivu teachers join Trincomalee protest

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 March 2003, 01:19 GMT]
Volunteer teachers from Killinochchi and Mullaitivu Wednesday joined their counter parts in the east in the sit-in-protest campaign now being held in front of the North East Provincial Ministry of Education for the twenty fourth day demanding that all the thousand volunteer teachers in the northeast be made permanent without delay and as promised by the government earlier, sources said.


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Sea Tigers deny involvement in trawler sinking

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 March 2003, 11:09 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Friday denied accusations by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) that they were involved in the sinking of a Taiwanese trawler about 40km off the Mullaitivu coast. International monitors were investigating the incident in which seventeen Taiwanese sailors are said to have died. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said information was sketchy and investigations were continuing.
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Names of Sea tigers killed in merchant vessel announced

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 March 2003, 01:18 GMT]
The names of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) sea tigers killed in international waters 220 miles from Trincomalee shores when the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) fired on their merchant vessel on March 10 were announced by the LTTE Wednesday, sources in Vanni said.
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Monitors says no evidence sunk ship carried weapons

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 March 2003, 09:42 GMT]
Concluding an investigation into the sinking last week of an LTTE-owned vessel by the Sri Lanka Navy, international ceasefire monitors Monday confirmed the ship was a merchant vessel and said there was no evidence it was carrying weapons as claimed by the Navy. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said it had not been informed in time of the interception of the vessel by the Navy and could not rule on the incident as it occurred almost 200 miles from Sri Lanka’s shore, in area where the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea applied.
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SLA imposes 6 pm curfew around Weber stadium

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 March 2003, 18:39 GMT]
The 23-3 Brigade of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) which is located in close proximity to the Weber stadium in Batticaloa, has prohibited the use of the Weber stadium sports facilities after 6 p.m, sources said. Youths and other users of the playing fields are also being subjected to severe body search, added sources.


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Unmanned Vehicle seen in Killinochchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 March 2003, 12:06 GMT]
An Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) was seen in skies above Kilinochchi and Mankulam, circling and flying in different directions around 10 am for half an hour Friday, sources in Kilinochchi said.
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‘Peace talks to go on despite challenges’ – PM

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 March 2003, 13:46 GMT]
"The ethnic problem in this country can be solved only by talks, and there is no other way; hence, whatever the challenges and road blocks the peace talks will face, we cannot abandon the talks," said Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe, addressing the general meeting of the United National Party (UNP) held in Kandy Wednesday evening.
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SLMM head holds talks with senior LTTE leaders

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 March 2003, 17:35 GMT]
The new head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Mr.Triggve Teleffsen Wednesday arrived in Killinochchi to hold discussions with senior leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) regarding the attack by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) on a LTTE merchant vessel off Mullaitivu Monday, sources in Vanni said. The LTTE had earlier condemned the attack as "a grave violation of the ceasefire agreement,” and warned that “this grave incident will have far reaching implications for the peace process.”


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Vavuniya Hospital to provide expanded health services

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 March 2003, 13:05 GMT]
Vavuniya Government Hospital is to be upgraded to a General Public Hospital by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) said H.A.P. Gajantha Liyanage Health Services Commissioner. Dr. Arumugam Ketheeswaran, the Vavuniya district assistant Commissioner of Health services, confirmed that the facilities and additional medical equipment required for the upgrade will be implemented immediately, said health sources in Vavuniya.


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Busy schedule awaits Balasingham in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 March 2003, 19:34 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) theoretician and leader of the LTTE negotiating team in the current peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the LTTE, Mr. Anton Balasingham, arrived in Kilinochchi 4 pm Sunday with his wife and Secretary to LTTE peace delegation Adele Balasingham, sources in Vanni said.


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Impact and Issues of Forestry on Northeast Coastal Resources

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 March 2003, 23:00 GMT]
There is an urgent need for protection of mangroves, estuarine and swamp forest/vegetation as important components of the northeast coastal resources of Sri Lanka together with fisheries, coral reefs, seagrass, beaches and sand dunes, amongst others if we are to preserve the environment of Northeast for future generations. An examination of forestry issues that impact the conservation and management of North East coastal resources follows.
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