Jaffna islets' IDPs reluctant to return

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 November 2003, 11:30 GMT]
Only less than thirty percent of the internally displaced families from the islets of Jaffna district who fled the islets following 1990 military operations by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) have returned back to their former homes since the signing of the ceasefire agreement by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), according statistics collected by civil authorities.


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Most landmine accidents in Jaffna – UN group

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 November 2003, 06:49 GMT]
The United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in Colombo said Tuesday that most of the accidents caused by mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) occurred in Jaffna this year. UNDP supported de-mining began in Jaffna seven years ago. Today there are three international de-mining groups active in the peninsula, including one from the US army. The UNDP continues support. A year ago, the region controlled by the Liberation Tigers in the north had much larger and extensive concentrations of mines, minefields and UXOs than Jaffna.
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North-South journalists meet

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 November 2003, 03:28 GMT]
The North-South Journalists Association (NSJA) of Sri Lanka has been revived after about two years. A function to mark this event was held last Saturday at the Colombo Renuka Hotel under the patronage of the National Peace Council (NPC), sources said.
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Eight-day Tamil music festival begins in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 November 2003, 02:57 GMT]
An eight-day Tamil music festival ' Rama Nama Ganamirtham,' organized by the Colombo Kamban Kazhaham began Monday evening in Colombo at Wellawatte Ramakrishna Mission Hall. The Supreme Court Justice, Mr. C.V.Vigneswaran, inaugurated the festival.
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Resettled Kanniya farmers to get paddy store

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 November 2003, 17:46 GMT]
The resettled farm families in the Kanniya village, about six km north of Trincomalee town on the Trinco-Anuradhapura road, are to get a new paddy store and co-operative retail shop. Earlier the paddy store and retail shop were completely destroyed without any remains at the site in the 1990 violence by Sri Lanka’s armed forces after entire villagers fled and sought refuge in the Vanni and other areas including in India, civil sources said.
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Book on "Ceasefire 2001-Lessons for the present” released

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 November 2003, 17:17 GMT]
"The time has come for all the lovers of peace to engage in a serious dialogue by contributing their share in solving this vexed [ethnic] problem by studying the [LTTE's] proposal and arriving at a consensus to implement it,” said Professor S.K.Sitrampalam, Professor of History and Dean for Graduate Studies at the University of Jaffna, addressing the introductory event of the book “ Ceasefire 2001-Lessons for the present” held at the Colombo Sri Lanka Foundation Institute Friday evening, sources said.
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I shall take the defense of the country - SL president

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 November 2003, 16:46 GMT]
"The Ceasefire Agreement between the UNF government and the LTTE will continue and the Norwegian monitors will be allowed to function with clear instructions. The Sri Lanka Army will be instructed to strictly abide by the ceasefire agreement. The Prime Minister can continue with the peace process. I shall take the defense of the country," said Sri Lanka's President, Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge, in her televised address to the country Friday night at about 9:45 p.m.
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No return to hostilities - PA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 2003, 14:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President, Ms.Chandrika Kumaratunge, is committed to the continuity of the ceasefire agreement and to keeping open the channel of communication with the LTTE with the objective of arriving at a negotiated settlement within a united country, the Presidential Secretariat said in a press release issued Thursday evening. "The President wishes to assure the people of the country that there will be no return to hositilities," said the press release.


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Coconut trees in 20,000 acres destroyed in Trinco district

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 2003, 04:25 GMT]
The Coconut Cultivation Board (CCB) Tuesday inaugurated its seedling distribution to coconut growers in the Trincomalee district from its nursery after about twenty years. "Since 1983, coconut trees in more than twenty thousand acres of land have been destroyed in the two-decade-old war in the Trincomalee district," said the CCB’s Chairman, Mr. Lincoln Fernando, addressing the inaugural event held Tuesday in the premises of the CCB office at Kumburupiddy.
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Sri Lanka crisis draws global media attention

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 2003, 00:10 GMT]
Tuesday’s sacking of key ministers of defense, interior and information by Sri Lanka’s President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, and her prorogation of parliament and subsequent declaration of emergency have elicited concerns from several Western governments and prompted global coverage in leading newspapers.
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TNA parliamentarians extend support to UNF government

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 2003, 16:16 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians Thursday decided to support the motion of vote of confidence in the United National Front government, led by its Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, in Sri Lanka's parliament when it meets after prorogation. The notice of the motion is likely to be handed over to the Speaker Wednesday with signatures of about 130 parliamentarians, the UNF Chief Whip and Minister Mr.Mahinda Samarasinghe said Wednesday.
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TNA urges Sri Lankan President to respect people's verdict

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 2003, 10:31 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance Wednesday urged Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge to respect the verdict of the people at the parliamentary election held in December 2001. “Violation of democratic rules of Governance will inevitably lead to a situation of chaos and anarchy in the whole country,” the TNA said in a press release.
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Struggle to take Sri Lanka Parliament gathers pace

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 2003, 06:02 GMT]
Tamil and Muslim MPs and the Sinhala nationalist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna are set to play a key role as frantic efforts by President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s People Alliance and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Front to cobble together a majority in Parliament before 19 November gathered momentum in Colombo Wednesday. Mr. Selvam Adaikalanathan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP for Vanni told TamilNet: “We won’t go for horse deals. The TNA will take a principled stand in the interests of peace”.
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Rotary housing project for IDP's opened in Varothia Nagar

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 November 2003, 08:26 GMT]
A housing project comprising thirty-five houses constructed at a cost of about 3.46 million rupees for the returnees of internally displaced Tamil families implemented by the Trincomalee Rotary Club with the financial assistance of German Technical Co-operation (GTZ) was declared open Saturday at Varothyanagar, a suburb in Trincomalee town by the Rotary Governor Mr. Gamini Jayawardene.
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The way forward lies through direct discussion - GoSL

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 November 2003, 20:26 GMT]
The government of Sri Lanka in a statement issued today said that the proposals "differ in fundamental respect" from the proposals submitted by the government of Sri Lanka. However the GoSL statement said that ''the government is convinced that the way forward lies through direct discussions of the issues arising from both sets of proposals.''
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Tigers release proposal for Interim Self Governing Authority

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 November 2003, 06:25 GMT]
The Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposed by the Liberation Tigers will have plenary power for the governance of the northeast, including powers in relation to resettlement , rehabilitation, reconstruction and development, raising revenue, law and order, and over land, according to the LTTE document released on Saturday. The ISGA will continue until a final settlement to Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict is reached and implemented, according to the document.
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Aussie MP meets Jaffna LTTE political head

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 October 2003, 15:57 GMT]
Australian parliamentarian Mr. Alan Griffin Wednesday held discussions with the Jaffna district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Mr.C.Ilamparuthi, the women's political wing head, Ms. Kalaivizhi, and activist Mr.Manivannan at the district political office of the LTTE located at Kokkuvil, sources said.
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Norwegian FM responds to SL President's letter

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 October 2003, 15:45 GMT]
The Norwegian Foreign Ministry in a press release Wednesday said that the Foreign Minister, Mr. Jan Petersen, has responded to the letter from Sri Lanka’s President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, in which she referred to incidents on October 16, 2003, involving the Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). The response described the steps the Government of Norway (GoN) would take in response to her complaints and said that the SLMM would continue its monitoring without change while the GoN looks into the complaints of Ms. Kumaratunga.
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Subsidy to Thenmaradchi farmers refused

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 October 2003, 04:41 GMT]
The Sri Lanka's Department of Agrarian Services has refused to provide subsidies for seed paddy and fertilizer to farmers to cultivate paddy lands adjoining the high security zones in the Thenmaradchi division in the Jaffna district, as the Sri Lanka Army has not officially informed the department of its decision to release one fifth of the roughly five thousand acres of land in the HSZ, representatives of several farmers organizations said Monday.
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SLMM says ceasefire monitoring will continue

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 October 2003, 18:12 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Sri Lanka said Saturday that the President's letter asking the Norwegian Prime Minister to remove the SLMM head would not affect the SLMM monitoring activities in the island, the State controlled Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation reported in its evening news broadcast Saturday quoting the SLMM spokesperson Ms Agnes Bragadottir.


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