TRO starts housing project for Thiriyai resettlers

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 March 2003, 01:55 GMT]
Trincomalee district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Mr.R.Sampanthan, at twelve noon Thursday, laid the first foundation stone for the first house for resettled families at Kaddukulam in Thiriyai village, forty-two km north of Trincomalee town. Trincomalee district office of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) is building five hundred houses as part of this housing project, sources said.
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Farmers’ protest brings civil admin to standstill in Mannar

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 March 2003, 13:38 GMT]
More than 1500 farmers in Mannar demanding fair prices for their rice harvest and the removal of Sri Lankan armed forces units which continue to occupy fields and buildings in the region blockaded the District Secretariat Wednesday and brought all government administration in the Northwestern island town to a standstill.
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'Tamil voters' fundamental rights violated' -- Supreme Court

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 March 2003, 20:15 GMT]
The Supreme Court Tuesday held that the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army and the Commissioner of Elections had violated the fundamental rights of the voters in the LTTE held areas of the North-East province by preventing them from casting their votes at the last general elections held in December 2001, legal sources said.
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PM urged to stop SLA camp in Jaffna municipal land

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 March 2003, 19:37 GMT]
An urgent appeal has been made to the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, Tuesday on behalf of the people of Jaffna that the Sri Lanka Army should not be allowed to relocate its Jaffna brigade headquarters in the municipal council land close to the Jaffna fort, sources said.
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SLA to establish camps in Council land in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 March 2003, 19:38 GMT]
The reconstruction project of the Jaffna Subramaniam Park is likely to be abandoned following the action taken by the Sri Lanka Army to shift its Jaffna brigade headquarters to the surrounding lands, which belong to the Jaffna Municipal Council, sources said.
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Volunteer teachers extend their protest to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 March 2003, 19:25 GMT]
The five zonal education offices in the Jaffna district did not function Monday following the sit-in-protest by volunteer teachers who demand that they should be made permanent as approved by the cabinet and the newly formed Public Services Commission of the central government, sources said.
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Sinhala settlers occupy Uyanthapadu beach in Trinco

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 March 2003, 12:43 GMT]
An appeal has been made to the Hindu Affairs Ministry and Local Government Ministry of the United National Front (UNF) to take immediate steps to relocate Sinhala fishermen who settled illegally in the Uthayanpadu beach of the Back Bay sea in Trincomalee to their own homes in the outskirts of Trincomalee and to declare the beach a sacred area where Hindu temples in the east port town have been conducting their annual festivals and other religious rites for centuries, sources said.


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Monks demonstrate demanding consultation with Maha Sangha

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 March 2003, 04:31 GMT]
"Constitutional reform of any form should be carried out in consultation with the Maha Sangha and should satisfy the aspirations of the Sinhala nation. The Sanga Sammelanaya will institute a National Constitutional Reform Commission to fulfill this task," said spokesperson for the Buddhist Monks who held a religious demonstration in Colombo Saturday afternoon.


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SLMM chief meets Trinco LTTE commander Pathuman

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 March 2003, 15:45 GMT]
The new head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Major General Triggve Teleffsen, Friday afternoon held discussions with the Trincomalee area commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Colonel Pathuman, and Trincomalee district political head, Mr.Tilak. The discussion centred regarding the movement of LTTE cadres in the Trincomalee district, 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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Trincomalee Koneswaram temple festival begins

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 March 2003, 22:29 GMT]
The annual twenty two-day festival (’Mahotsavam’) of the historic Koneswaram Temple in the east port town of Trincomalee began Tuesday with the flag hoisting ceremony. The water cutting festival will be held on April 4 at "Papanasa Theertham" (sin destruction holy well), which is located inside the Fort Frederick where Koneswaram temple is also situated. The "Boat Festival"(Theppath Thiruvizah) will be held on April 6, temple sources said.
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Japan deepens Sri Lanka peace role

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 March 2003, 11:55 GMT]
Along with hosting the sixth round of direct talks between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government, Japan this week signaled its determination to play a leading role in bringing peace to the strife-torn island when one of its top diplomats joined Norwegian officials at the negotiating table. Japan’s deepening involvement in the peace process was this week welcomed by the Liberation Tigers.
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20-year-old ban on Palaithivu church festival lifted

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 March 2003, 15:17 GMT]
Agreeing to a request by the Jaffna Bishop House, the Sri Lanka Army has lifted the twenty-year-old ban on visiting Palaithivu, an islet located in the Jaffna lagoon, to hold the annual festival of the St.Anthony's Church located there, sources in Jaffna said.
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Record crowd at Amman temple water cutting ceremony

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 March 2003, 12:09 GMT]
More than twenty thousand devotees participated in the water-cutting festival of the historic Trincomalee Pathirakaliamman temple held Tuesday morning at the traditional ’Uyanthapadu Theertha Kadatkarai’ (Back Bay sea) in the east port town sources said.
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SLA vacated schools in HSZ still closed

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 March 2003, 23:31 GMT]
The Eluthumadduval North Maruthankulam Government Tamil Mixed School in the northern Jaffna district has not started functioning even after the Sri Lanka Army troops who occupied the school premises have vacated. Villagers complain that the school authorities are unable to repair the damaged buildings and restart the school, as the school is located in the Sri Lanka Army High Security Zone (HSZ).
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Historic Trinco temple chariot festival draws large crowd

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 March 2003, 23:28 GMT]
Several thousand devotees from all parts of the island participated at the Chariot (Ther) festival of the historic Trincomalee Pathirakali Ambal Temple held Monday. Three chariots were taken in procession around the temple while devotees chanted 'Arohara,' sources said.
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Interactors pledge to promote mutual understanding

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 March 2003, 23:23 GMT]
The fourth annual zonal Interact conference held for two days in Trincomalee came to a close Sunday evening as Interactors from Jaffna, Batticaloa and Trincomalee districts expressed their firm commitment to promoting a better understanding, thus ensuring progress of their societies and the country at large, sources said.
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NIE discriminates Tamil medium education -CTTU

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 March 2003, 18:59 GMT]
The Ceylon Tamil Teachers' Union (CTTU) has requested the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to take up the problems confronting Tamil medium education in the Northeast province at the next round of peace talks which is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Japan this week.
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Trinco Rotary holds Zonal Interact conference

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 March 2003, 11:56 GMT]
Students from schools in Jaffna, Trincomalee and Batticaloa are participating in the fourth Interact Zonal conference which is being held in Trincomalee St.Joseph's College hall starting Saturday for two days. The theme of the two-day zonal conference is "Progress and Understanding," said the conference secretary Mr.G.K.Joel Janantan.


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