17 Indian fishermen injured

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 March 2003, 11:51 GMT]
Seventeen Indian fishermen who tresspassed into Sri Lankan waters 7 pm Monday were injured during clashes with fishermen from Pesalai, Mannar district when the local fisherfolks rounded up Indian fishermen and brought them to Pesalai shores, sources in Mannar said.


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IDI team visits Trincomalee to identify district development needs

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 March 2003, 00:51 GMT]
The nine-member team of the Infrastructure Development Institute (IDI) of Japan, which is on a fact-finding mission in the northeast province since February 28, visited Trincomalee Monday. The IDI team held wide ranging discussions with central and provincial level officials in the Trincomalee district at the North East Health Ministry Auditorium Monday morning, sources said.


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Army occupation still prevails after a year of peace - Ramesh

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 March 2003, 14:02 GMT]
"Twelve months have passed after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), but vast numbers of Tamil people are still living under Sri Lanka Army (SLA) occupation. Army camps are still being maintained in Tamils' homes and public buildings creating a sense of mistrust and skepticism on the strength of the MoU in Tamil peoples' mind. Only by the SLA fully complying with the provisions of the MoU can the faith on MoU be restored," said Ramesh, Batticaloa-Ampara special commander of the LTTE, addressing a meeting in Batticaloa Sunday, sources 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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Hindus observe the Maha Sivarathiri day

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 March 2003, 21:33 GMT]
Hundreds of thousands of Hindus in Sri Lanka Saturday night observed the Maha Sivarathiri day with great devotion. Special poojahs and religious discourses are being held throughout the night in several leading Hindu temples in the island, especially in the North-East province, exhorting Hindus to lead their lives according to the teachings of Saiva saints and philosophers, sources said.
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Fourth SIHRN meeting in Kilinochichi

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 February 2003, 17:41 GMT]
Fourth meeting of the SIHRN took place in Kilinochchi at the premises of SIHRN secretariat. Mr. Bernard Gunatillake headed the Government delegation and S.P Thamilchelvan lead the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) delegation. Ambassador Jon Westborg facilitated the meeting on behalf of the Norwegian Government. Ambassador Seichro Otsuka of Japan participated on behalf of Mr. Yasushi Akashi, principal advisor to the Sub-Committee.
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New Head of SLMM meets LTTE officials in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 February 2003, 12:49 GMT]
Tryggve Tellefsen, the new head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission(SLMM), a group of Nordic monitors overseeing the year-old truce between Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), met with officials of the LTTE at the Vavuniya SLMM office, sources said.


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Japanese IDI team to assess urgent needs of the North-East

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 February 2003, 16:26 GMT]
A nine-member delegation of the Infrastructure Development Institute (IDI) of Japan will visit Sri Lanka on a fact-finding mission to assess the conditions of roads, water supply and sanitation, and flood control in the North-East province from February 28 to March 6. The delegation will comprise Messrs. M.Yabe, T.Matsunaga, H.Sadamura, K.Hasegawa, T.Sakai, Yamana, R.Lizuka, I.I.Seto and A.Morikawa, sources said.
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NE libraries to receive Internet facilities

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 February 2003, 02:22 GMT]
School libraries of forty two schools in the eight districts of northeast province are to be provided with computers with Internet facilities before the end of this month, said Mr.N.Anandaraj, Co-ordinator of the School Library Development of the Provincial Ministry of Education Tuesday.
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SLA tightens security at Muhamalai, Uyilankulam checkpoints

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 February 2003, 17:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers manning Muhamalai check point have tightened their checks and interrogation after the Manipay incident in which LTTE women cadres, civilians and journalists were assaulted by the SLA soldiers and police, sources said.
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101 Villages in NE selected for NIAP development

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 February 2003, 12:45 GMT]
The World Bank assisted North East Irrigation and Agriculture Project (NIAP) officials said that under the 2003 program for renovating irrigation tanks in NorthEast, 101 villages have been selected in districts of Vavuniya, Mannar, Trincomalee and Batticaloa where implementation activities will begin in March, sources in Vavuniya said.
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Protest in Vavuniya condemns Manipay SLA assault

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 February 2003, 12:24 GMT]
More than thousand residents of Vavuniya and surrounding areas marched in Vavuniya Saturday wearing black belts in their waists protesting the attack on Wednesday 12 February on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) unarmed female cadres in Manipay, Jaffna, by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers. The marchers handed over a memorandum to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), sources in Vavuniya said.


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Urgency to complete NIAP projects on schedule stressed

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 February 2003, 11:10 GMT]
Officals working on North East Irrigation and Agriculture (NIAP) which is being carried out with the assistance of World Bank should ensure that the projects are completed according to established schedule, said Mr. S. Rangarajan, the Primary Secretary North East Province, in the eleventh Progress meeting held at the Vavuniya secretariat Monday morning, according to sources in Vavuniya.
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16 South Indian fishermen caught fishing illegally

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 February 2003, 03:57 GMT]
Local fishermen from Mannar rounded up and brought to shore sixteen South Indian fishermen in four boats for illegally entering and fishing in Erukalambity seas in Mannar, sources said.
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NorthEast Province receives 9 ambulances from WHO

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 February 2003, 13:55 GMT]
The World Health Organization (WHO) Friday donated eight ambulances worth fifteen million rupees to the Tamil dominated northeast province to provide better medical services to the people in the remote villages who have suffered years with lack of medical attention, provincial health ministry sources said.
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WHO to donate eight ambulances to NE

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 January 2003, 01:41 GMT]
The World Health Organization (WHO) is to donate eight ambulances, each costing about Rs 1.8 million, to the North East Provincial Council to conduct mobile medical services in remote villages and difficult areas in the northeast province, provincial health ministry sources in Trincomalee said.
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ADB provides agricultural machinery to NE agencies

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 January 2003, 02:02 GMT]
The North East Community Restoration and Development (NECORD) project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Wednesday distributed agricultural machinery, implements and lorries worth around 117 million rupees among the implementing agencies in the districts of Mannar, Vavuniya, Killinochchi and Batticaloa, sources said.
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ADB provides assistance to NE agriculture, health

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 January 2003, 13:22 GMT]
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded North East Community Restoration and Development Project (NECORD) is to distribute several hundred thousand rupees worth of agricultural machinery, implements and lorries among the implementing agencies to facilitate the resettlement and reconstruction programme in the districts of Mannar, Vavuniya, Batticaloa and Killinochchi, sources said.
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SLA intelligence said bullying Mannar farmers

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 January 2003, 16:16 GMT]
The Mannar Farmers' Federation said Friday that soldiers from the Sri Lanka army's intelligence unit in the district were harassing and threatening local cultivators and agrarian officials to dissuade them from attending public functions in which representatives of the political and development divisions of the Liberation Tigers take part.
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Downward trend in ceasefire violations seen - SLMM

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 January 2003, 13:02 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Commission (SLMM) in a press release issued today observed that the positive and ongoing development in the ceasefire during the last several months has been the decrease in the number of ceasefire violations. Most number of violations occurred in December was in Batticaloa(61) followed by Jaffna(46), Vavuniya(16), Ampara(7) and Trincomalee(1), the release said.
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