Radical decentralization of relief work needed, TNA tells Dutch FM

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 February 2005, 12:49 GMT]
A delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) told the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands, Mr. Bernard Bot, when they met him Thursday that Colombo's attempt to centralize the rehabilitation work has not worked as experience from the last six six weeks clearly show that hardly any progress has been made in the restoration of the lives of the affected people. "The continuance of the present method of functioning could only result in further deterioration, and that it was imperative that the government urgently set up the required mechanism in the Northeast." the TNA delegation further told the visiting Netherland FM.


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"Disaster Relief" used to bolster Colombo's air-transport capability

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 February 2005, 00:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka has asked the USA to speed shipment of parts required to return one C-130K to flight and to review a 2004 request to obtain at least one additional aircraft from excess US stocks, Flight International, a UK based magazine covering aerospace industry news, in its Defence column of the February 1st 2005 issue, quoted Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) commander Donald Perera as saying. SLAF's two C-130Ks have been grounded for the last two months according to the report.
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Washington residents ship relief supplies

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 January 2005, 23:35 GMT]
Braving inclement weather, a group of expatriate Tamils in Washington Metropolitan area sent a 3200 cubic foot container with medicines, tents, toys and clothings to the warehouse at the Norfolk, Virginia shipyard, destined for Tamils Rehabilitation Organization's (TRO's) Colombo office for distribution to disaster victims in Sri Lanka. "What started as a small scale effort soon expanded as families and organizations called in to contribute their donations and to offer their services for free," organizers of the effort told TamilNet.
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GTZ to rebuild six schools in Vadamaradchchi east

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 January 2005, 15:54 GMT]
GTZ, a German non-governmental organization has agreed to rebuild six schools destroyed by Tsunami in the LTTE controlled Vadamaradchchi east division in the Jaffna district. This decision was taken at a conference held in the Ministry of Education in Colombo, Jaffna education sources said.
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Trinco railway workers protest over tsunami relief

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 January 2005, 12:26 GMT]
About two hundred family members of about sixty employees of the Government Railway in Trincomalee held a demonstration condemning the government's failure to provide relief since the Tsunami hit their quarters and demanding immediate relief and other assistance any further delay. They sat across the rail track blocking the morning Colombo bound passenger train from leaving Trincomalee railway station, sources said.
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Peoples Bank launches microfinance website with German support

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 January 2005, 11:17 GMT]
The People’s Bank, through its German-supported Rural Banking Innovations Project (RBIP), has launched a website on sustainable microfinance for rehabilitation of tsunami affected areas, said a press release issued by the Colombo office of the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ). The website, which can be accessed at www.microfinance.lk is intended to be a bridge between microfinance practitioners and donors, who need to work in unison in order to support the affected regions and their entrepreneurs, the Press Release noted.
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Finnish Foreign Minister to visit Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 January 2005, 11:07 GMT]
The Finnish Foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja is expected to arrive in Colombo Saturday 5 February to meet with the Sri Lanka Government officials to discuss long-term reconstruction and development programs, Sri Lanka Foreign ministry sources said.
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Navy harassment adds to fishermen's woes

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 January 2005, 11:44 GMT]
"NorthEast fishermen, already struggling to make a living after the decimation of the fishing industry by the tsunami disaster, also have to endure harassment by the Sri Lanka Navy soldiers who have imposed a pass system to restrict fishermen's freedom of movement in seas," complained representatives from Jaffna fisheries societies to the visiting fishery officials from Colombo Sunday during a conference organised in Jaffna by the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DFAR).
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Dissanayake's Rights violated, UNP to petition UN

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 January 2005, 15:51 GMT]
"Mr. S.B.Dissanayake is entitled to his salary as a parliamentarian and according to the section 89 of the constitution. The sentence of the courts does not deprive him of the seat in Parliament. The judgement is undemocratic and illegal," said Prof G L Peiris, United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian and former Minister of Constitutional Affairs, addressing a media conference held Friday at the opposition leader's office. Prof Peiris added that they were preparing a petition to be submitted to the UN regarding Mr. Dissanayake's violation of freedom of expression.
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US to complete withdrawal of Marines from Sri Lanka by Feb.15

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 January 2005, 10:05 GMT]
The Bush Administration has decided to complete the withdrawal of US Marines, arrived in Sri Lanka aftermath of the tsunami disaster, by February 15, with the US assistance program to Sri Lanka shifting from a combined military-civil relief effort to rehabilitation and reconstruction work to be carried out by civil organisations. Brigadier General Frank A. Panter Jr, said at a press conference at Taj Sumudra hotel in Colombo on Saturday that the CSG-SL has served over 1.5 million tsunami-affected Sri Lankans in nine districts, including Jaffna, Hambantota, Galle and Amparai.
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Japanese, Dutch Foreign Ministers to visit Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 January 2005, 20:10 GMT]
Mr. Shuzen Tanigawa, Senior Vice Foreign Affairs Minister of the Government of Japan is to arrive in Colombo Saturday evening on a three-day visit and Mr.Bernard Bot, Netherlands Foreign Affairs Minister will arrive in Colombo February 3rd, diplomatic sources said.
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"Colombo bent on blocking aid reaching NorthEast"- Balasingham

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 January 2005, 10:43 GMT]
"The Sinhala government is bent on diverting foreign aid, meant for the tsunami affected people, to strengthen its military apparatus and also to stabilize its political power. Our leadership is taking all possible efforts at international level and with the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure an equitable distribution of funds to the affected people in all areas. The funds for NorthEast will be immmediately used for rehabilitation and and to improve the living standard of our people," said Mr. Balasingham speaking to a group of tsunami victims in Mullaithivu Thursday.
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Pirapaharan's top priority is reconstruction, not politics, says Anton Balasingham

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 January 2005, 07:45 GMT]
"This is not the time to engage in political haggling and our National Leader has prioritised rehabilitation and reconstruction of the devastated Tamil Homeland and thereby give you all a better life, creating the right conditions that would redeem you from the state of dependency attached to a displaced life" quoted LTTE Peace Secretariat website Mr. Anton Balasingham, LTTE Political Advisor, as saying while addressing a group of Tsunami displaced people in the welfare centre at Mulliyawalai, Mullaithivu Friday.
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Protest in Mannar against Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 January 2005, 07:36 GMT]
More than four thousand people marched in Mannar town Friday in protest against the Sri Lankan government for denying equitable distribution of Tsunami aid to Northeast. The march and brief rally were led by Vanni district MPs and civil society groups in Mannar.
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Tsunami relief to northeast inadequate- Chandrasekaran

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 January 2005, 03:46 GMT]
"The distribution of relief to Vanni region by the Sri Lanka government is not satisfactory and urgent needs of the Tsunami affected people are not being met adequately. No responsible government official has visited Jaffna, Vanni and other affected districts in the NorthEast after Tsunami disaster to see the ground situation there," said Mr.P.Chandrasekaran, leader of the Upcountry Peoples Front (UPF) and Nuwara Eliya district parliamentarian addressing the National Mourning Day meeting in Trincomalee esplanade held Wednesday evening.
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'Hotel Tsunami' welcomes no more in Arugambay

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 January 2005, 15:08 GMT]
"The government’s treasury is brimming with Tsunami aid money. Here only our eyes brim with tears. The government has not given us anything in aid. We are living mostly on handouts by NGOs and others who come to see the plight of this place", M.L.M Haniffa, a farmer in Ullai, considered one of the ten best surfing spots in the world, told TamilNet Wednesday. The forty eight year old Muslim farmer who lost his wife, daughter and two sons, lives alone in an open tent near the ruins of what once a popular beach front guesthouse in Ullai – Hotel Tsunami.
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PAFFREL to monitor Tsunami relief fund distribution

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 January 2005, 14:46 GMT]
PAFFREL, a non-governmental organization specialised in monitoring elections is to deploy five thousand volunteers to monitor the distribution of relief supply and foreign aid to Tsunami affected districts in the island. The monitoring will commence on February 1, said PAFFREL Chairman Mr.Kingsely Rodrigo Thursday at a press briefing held in Colombo.


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All foreign assistance should be directed through state, says Harim Peiris

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 January 2005, 17:26 GMT]
''The government has a policy that all foreign assistance should be directed through the state and not through any non-state actor'', said Mr.Harim Peiris, Presidential media spokesman and an advisor to Ministry of Refugees Resettlement and Rehabilitation responding to a question at a press briefing held at the Center for National Operations (CNO) in Colombo Wednesday. ''As far as the government is concerned, the policy still remains the same'', he said. ''This [the negotiation process] is totally different from the political peace process, this is not about political peace but about humanitarian peace,'' he said claiming that the talks with the LTTE is ''progressing and advancing''.
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Battered Komari fears long years in refugee camps

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 January 2005, 10:58 GMT]
Komari is a village settled mostly by families that came to work at a British Royal Air Force runway on Sri Lanka’s remote southeastern coast during World War II. It is a narrow but densely populated promontory sandwiched between a lagoon and the sea. During the Eelam Wars (1983-2002), Komari was ruthlessly controlled like an open prison by the Special Task Force (STF), the elite counter insurgency wing of the Sri Lankan armed forces. Last month the place was literally flattened by the Tsunami. The STF camp in Komari’s midst is now a heap of rubble. “Will we ever get permanent homes?” is the fear echoed by many refugees here who spoke to TamilNet Tuesday.
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Tamil youth shot, injured in Wellawatte

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 January 2005, 17:40 GMT]
A Tamil youth identified as Jegan (32), has been shot and injured near 33rd Lane in Wellawatte, Colombo 06 on Monday night by unknown gunmen, security sources said.
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