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Jaffna residents appeal to Premier to stop relocation of army camp
Frederica Jansz in Colombo,
10.05 a.m. SLT Wednesday March 26.
Various welfare and other organizations in Jaffna today appealed to Prime
Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to stop the re-location of the army's Jaffna
Brigade headquarters to a new location near the Jaffna Fort.
The residents say the municipal council lands should not be allocated to
the army for a re-location of its brigade headquarters. They are also
appealing to all Tamil parliamentarians to intervene and prevent the shift.
The army meanwhile have already begun to clear the land which previously
housed the Jaffna town hall, municipal council and rest house.
The army's brigade headquarters in Jaffna is presently located at the
Gnanam Hotel in the city.
Published: Tue Mar 25 23:14:52 EST 2003
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 ASK LAKSHMAN!
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A Q&A with Sri Lanka's Former Minister of Foreign Affairs
We are pleased to introduce Mr. Lakshman Kadiragamar, former Foreign
Minister of Sri Lanka, as the 11th guest in our series of Q&A
sessions. Presidents Counsel and Member of Parliament, Mr. Kadiragamar
is currently the special adviser on Foreign Affairs to the President
of Sri Lanka. Send in your questions to Mr. Kadiragamar and receive
his answers here.
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IT'S NOT CRICKET, STUPID, IT'S COMPUTERS, LOVELY COMPUTERS
Fulbright Scholar Brings Computers to Urban Disadvantaged Children in
Colombo, Sri Lanka.
By Chulie de Silva, Colombo.
You would think on a warm Saturday morning, children in Sri Lanka
would be watching a cricket match and cheering on their heroes. No,
not in Kew Road, Slave Island, a multi-ethnic enclave just five
minutes away from the exclusive Trans Asia Hotel in Colombo's central
down town area. The cricket match played on at the Malay Cricket Club,
on Saturday 25, January but thirty children were flocked round five
computers in a little rectangular room of the Vocational Training
Center (VTC) run by the Sri Lanka Malay Association's (SLMA) Rupee
Fund. [More...]
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Fear of expression in the North is not a healthy situation- Bishop of Jaffna
Bandula Jayasekara in Colombo,
SLT 5.30 a.m Wednesday 26 March.
Bishop of Jaffna Rt.Rev Dr. Thomas Saundranyagam said that fear of
expression among the people living in the North and the East is not
healthy situation and the people living in these areas should be able to
criticize and follow their own political persuasions. He added that
there should be freedom of speech in the peninsula. The Bishop of Jaffna
said that people living in the North cannot bear the double taxation
schemes and appealed to both the government and the LTTE to look in to
the matter as soon as possible. He said that the double taxation has
slowed down the development in the area. The Bishop said, "I can only
persuade to all parties morally." Commenting on the issue of Child
Soldiers Dr. Saundranyagam said, " We are monitoring the situation very
closely. But, the LTTE says that they are not recruiting any more child
soldiers and are returning them to their parents though some children
want to join the movement due to poverty. I am opposed to use of school
children for political gains and protests." The Bishop said that he was
happy that the schools were functioning well in Jaffna since the
children of Jaffna appreciated and valued education a lot. He commended
the efforts of the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) thro the funding
made by the German government in re-building schools in the peninsula.
The Bishop also said that considering the peace process the LTTE would
have to change to a democratic set up. He added, "They will have to
change and I can see it happening. May be the world opinion have changed
them and they have opted for negotiations. But, the changes have to take
place on both sides." The Bishop accused the South of trying to promote
war and accused the media of trying to report only the negative. He
said, " That is not good. They play it down. The media must at least
highlight and acknowledge the small gains. Recently the media made a big
noise about the packages brought to Colombo by the LTTE's peace
delegation saying that they had brought arms. Thamil Chelvan told me
that they had brought clothes given to them by the expatriate Tamils"
Commenting on the current situation in Jaffna the Bishop said that
people of Jaffna were moving about freely and it was not necessary for
them to get any permits anymore and they could go to their old places
again though most of the houses were badly damaged. The Bishop of Jaffna
saw the High Security Zones as a set back to the resettlement process of
the people of Jaffna. He lamented that 30% of the people living in
Jaffna lived in the High Security Zones. The Bishop appealed to the Army
to help the people considering the matter as a humanitarian issue. He
said "We are not asking the Army to go away from Jaffna but to consider
moving to some other places" The Bishop of Jaffna said that Tamil people
were ready to accept substantial devolution if the government was ready
to satisfy their aspirations within a united Sri Lanka. " Most of us
don't want a divided Sri Lanka. We are only asking to respect our values
and our culture. This problem started because we were treated not as a
part of this country and we denied so many things." The Bishop said that
the people of Sri Lanka need a lasting peace in the 4th attempt at least
and the expectations of the people were very high. The Bishop also
pointed out that the economic development had slowed down. He said, "May
be the donor help is not forthcoming."
Published: Tue Mar 25 17:38:36 EST 2003
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Differences between TULF, LTTE come to the fore
The Hindu (International),
MARCH. 25.
Simmering differences of opinion between Sri Lanka's two major Tamil formations — the parliamentary Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) — came to the fore with the TULF president, V. Anandasangaree, asserting that his party was not prepared to be dictated to by the Tigers at every turn.
More...
Published: Tue Mar 25 16:19:33 EST 2003
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