A government official said that the country was not against any real experts coming in to the country to do genuine work but, was not pleased about expatriates coming to the island to do jobs when local expertise was available freely. He said “It is also good for experts to come and train local people and then hand over responsibilities to them. We are worried that the money which is due to the country will go back as salaries to these experts and if that is happening its not fair by the country and by the people who donated the money to help the affected people in these countries” There is also a call by many expert Sri Lankans to recruit Sri Lankan experts, others and even Sri Lankan professionals living abroad to ensure that money is retained in the country.

Most foreign expats working in Sri Lanka on Tsunami related work are paid huge salaries with some of them drawing about 8000 to 10,000 USD (SLR 800,000 to 1,000,000) per month with rent and other allowances. A Senior South Asian journalist told The Lanka Academic “This is what happens after disasters. These people come to affected countries like hawks and vultures, do nothing, earn huge sums and live luxurious lives. The whole INGO business is very Eurocentric and its time that this situation changes. The Sri Lankan government must take proper control of situations like this.” A report in the government owned Sunday Observer quoted a Finance Ministry official yesterday that there was no way to monitor the Tsunami rich. The report stated that millions could be pocketed by them by submitting bogus cost estimates and various other methods. Published: Sun Feb 13 18:54:02 EST 2005

Unidentified assailants lobbed a grenade at a Tamil Tiger office late Saturday, killing one person and wounding two others including a rebel member in a northwestern town. The attack came just days after a top insurgent leader was gunned down with five others.

``We recognize that the cease-fire is under great strain,'' said Helen Olafsdottir, spokeswoman for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.

She said the rebel leadership had raised ``serious concerns'' over the grenade attack that took place in government-held Mannar town.

Tensions between the government and the rebels worsened Tuesday after the guerrillas blamed the government for the slaying of E. Kausalyan, the most senior rebel leader slain since a 2002 cease-fire, and five others.

A breakaway rebel faction, the Tamil National Force, has claimed responsibility for the ambush in the island's restive east. The mainstream Tigers blamed government-backed paramilitary forces for the attack and warned that it could disrupt post-tsunami rehabilitation and the peace process.

However, Olafsdottir said both parties were still committed to the truce although the violence ``makes it more difficult for the parties to sit down and talk.''

Scores were killed - including military personnel and rebels - after a top guerrilla commander broke away form the mainstream group last year. The rebels accused the government of supporting the renegades, an accusation Colombo denies.

Although tensions rose to a furious pitch prompting war fears, the Dec. 26 tsunami that struck an equal blow to both sides raised hopes of the parties shelving their antagonism to resurrect from the disaster.

But the latest violence had raised fresh fears for Sri Lanka's peace.

The Tamil Tigers began fighting in 1983 to carve a separate state for ethnic Tamils in the north and east of the country, claiming discrimination by the majority Sinhalese.

The Norwegian-brokered truce stopped the fighting that killed some 65,000 people, but subsequent peace efforts have been halted since 2003 over rebel demands for wide autonomy and attempts to revive negotiations have so far failed. Published: Sun Feb 13 04:52:04 EST 2005

Japan which was Sri Lanka - 's single biggest aid donor was contributing massive resources on a grant basis to alleviate the human distress caused by the tsunami. But they had to ensure that the funds were efficiently utilized.

''This is our taxpayers' money and we have the responsibility to see it's not wasted,'' he said. ''We will do that.'' Published: Sun Feb 13 13:14:56 EST 2005