Year on the Web
Year on the Web
Heavily fortified with additional bunkers, barricades and sentry points, the Batticaloa town looks like a fortress, but the scenario less than 10 kilo metres away, is entirely different.
Instead of the armed policemen, soldiers and STF commandos, LTTE cadres armed with AK-47 rifles patrol the roads in the villages on the other side of the lagoon.
In the Batticaloa town the Government is making a valiant attempt to maintain civil administration but on the other side of the lagoon, the LTTE runs a parallel administration operating its own 'police', collecting taxes and conducting its own 'courts'.
Food, fuel and medicines in the LTTE area remain scarce in the LTTE dominated villages of Kockadicholai, Thandiady, Palukamam, Manmunai, Aiyathiyamali and Illupattachchenai.
One of the marked contrasts between the two sides, is that in LTTE - controlled areas civilians move freely even late in the night, despite a ban on carrying torch batteries and liquor from the Government controlled areas to the LTTE dominated areas.
Farming in the areas go on late into the night, making the maximum use of the day light but due to restrictions placed by the security forces, fertilizer is not available.
The LTTE also conducts its 'kangaroo courts' in these villages where all Government offices have ceased to function, a scenario similar to what existed when the LTTE was in control of the Jaffna peninsula, the only difference being that civilians were not confined to the areas under LTTE control. Some of them cross the lagoon daily to make a living in the army controlled areas. School children are among those who cross the lagoon in a ferry. But they are frequently late as the ferry services are permitted only after 8.00 a.m.
Education, public transport and medical services in the LTTE dominated areas are deteriorating in the absence of much state support.
Nevertheless life goes on in the areas with the Tigers in full control of the situation in the villages with civilians caught in the centre of a war that sees no clear victor nor the vanquished.
Shankar, a senior LTTE member said:"There is no civil administration in Batticaloa. The army runs the civil administration in this region. The government agent has no power and his work has been taken over by the military. The army is involved in the mysterious killings and the raping of women that are taking place in the Batticaloa district. We totally condemn such atrocities. The people living in areas controlled by the LTTE in the northeast are facing a lot of hardships due to the harsh economic embargo that has been imposed on these areas.
"The government is doing this because it thinks that if it sends medicine, fertilizers, fuel and food to the people we would take most these goods. But the truth is that we have our own ample stock of food, fuel and medicine. We have our own regular international suppliers.
"Therefore there is absolutely no need for us to depend on supplies sent by the Sri Lankan Government to the civilians living in areas controlled by us. For example the Government claimed that we lost four hundred of our fighters following our attack on the Paranthan Elephant Pass base and it also claimed that more than five hundred of our cadres were wounded. But not even one of these were admitted to a civilian hospital. The MSF, I understand, has told that we did not admit any one of our fighters to a civilian hospital or medical centre in the Vanni in the aftermath of the Paranthan - Elephant Pass attack. This shows how the Government's ban on medicine does not affect us but is actually intended to make the people suffer.
"Your can also see for yourselves that life on the other side of the Batticaloa logoon where the army controls certain areas, life comes to a virtual standstill by six o'clock in the evening, whereas on this side which we now completely control, people are able to move about at any time of the day and freely get on with their daily chores."
"More than six hundred people have gone missing in the Jaffna since they moved into various parts of the peninsula. There have been twelve cases of rape by the security forces in the Batticaloa district in the last three months. This is the way the Government treating the Tamil people," he said.
Meanwhile the additional GA for Batticaloa Mr. C. Shanmugam told The Sunday Times "the four AGA divisions of Vakarai, Vavunathivu, Pattipalai, Vellaveli in the district are not controlled by the security forces. Though the Government has gazetted only firearms and explosives as banned items in the district, even essential items such as medicine, fuel, cement and fertilizers are allowed only in very limited quantities to many parts of the district. This has severely hampered a lot of development work in the region."
What on earth has happened to the proposed 684 million rupee World Bank funded land filling and garbage disposal project at Welisara?
An official of a US-Canadian Consortium, which was the only bidder for this tender two years ago said they had already spent millions of rupees on feasibility studies to determine modern methods of disposing all the garbage from Colombo city in the 200 acre site at Welisara. But Government officials were now tight lipped on the project amidst rumours that another site at Hanwella was also being considered for a garbage disposal project.
The official said they had written to the President and Government Ministries seeking clarification on what was happening regarding the matter, but no reply had been received.
Housing Ministry Secretary K.A.S. Gunasekera told The Sunday Times there appeared to be some inconsistancies in the proposed project and a statement on it would be issued within a week.
Environmentalists said the Welisera site had been prepared for the high technology garbage disposal project and moving to a new site would mean a delay of a few years during which Colombo might sink in its own garbage.
The United National Party is collecting material evidence from each district regarding intimidation and violence committed against its candidates and supporters during the recent local government polls, Parliamentarian K.N. Choksy revealed.
Leader of the Opposition, Ranil Wickremesinghe, UNP's General Secretary, Gamini Athukorale and National List MPs Anura Bandaranaike and K.N. Choksy met last Sunday to ascertain the possibility of filing election petitions on this ground.
Mr. Choksy told The Sunday Times that most probably these petitions would be filed in the course of this week.
Meanwhile, Chief Opposition Whip, Wijepala Mendis has complained to President Chandrika Kumaratunga of acts of blatant violation of election laws, terror, intimidation and rigging at the polling centres in the Katana Pradesiya Sabha and Katunayake-Seeduwa Urban Council areas on the polling day. He has alleged, inter alia, that these widespread electoral malpractices had prevented almost all voters in Thoppuwa, Raddoluwa, Ethgala, Welihena and Kaluwairuppuwa from freely exercising their right to vote.
"Looking at the past pattern of voting in these areas, even under the worst political conditions the UNP polled nearly 40 percent of votes. However, as a result of the open operation of ballot rigging by the People's Alliance obviously with the full knowledge of government high-ups in the area, the UNP was deprived of getting even a minimum of votes. The voters were terrorised and prevented from coming to the polling centres. In fact, even some of the UNP candidates could not cast their votes as they had been impersonated" Mr. Mendis has told the President.
Government's new proposals to improve rural schools have adversely affected the development of central colleges which are being ignored, principals of central colleges have complained.
Principals of Central colleges told The Sunday Times said their schools were being neglected as a result of the attention being given to rural schools.
"We lack playgrounds, laboratories and many other facilities. Though the government has put Rs. 1.2 million for laboratories we have seen none", said Alawwa Central College Principal S.R. Podiralahami, - a colleges of 1700 students where A/L and O/L courses are conducted.
"If the Provincial Council cannot afford the expenses we have requested that the school be made into a national school funded by the central government. But that request has been ignored. Nor are they willing to meet the immediate needs of the school", he said.
Principal of the Kularatna Central College in Sabaragamuwa province W.P.P. Warnakula said their request to be turned into a national school was turned down the Provincial Council though they had similar problems.
Under the new proposal a number of schools have been recognized as those that need to be developed immediately. These recognized schools may not even consist of large number of students for they are rural schools unlike central schools.
Schools that have been upgraded into national schools too complain that even though they have been granted this privilege they too are in need of basic needs for the continuation of work. District officials however had stated, according to these principals, that they did not have the authority to provide schools with some of these demands of the central schools.
Minister of Education and Higher Education, Richard Pathirana commenting on the issue said that schools they feel are necessary to be developed are included in the development project and that though the government too has requested for some schools to be turned into National Schools as a solution to the problem the Provincial Councils have not had an enthusiastic response.
The first meeting of the newly-elected Councillors of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) will be held on April 21, political sources said.
At the end of the proceedings, all will sit down to a 'Kiri bath' treat by the CMC employees.
The United National Patty which captured power in the CMC at the recent local government elections has informed the Commissioner of Elections of the appointment of UNP Chairman Karu Jayasuriya as mayor and a senior councillor, Omar Kamil, as deputy mayor, UNP sources said.
Accordingly Mr. Jayasuriya is scheduled to take oaths before Chief Minister A. D. Susil Premjayanth on April 15. Later on the same day all councillors will be sworn in by the Mayor at his chambers in the Town Hall.
The Mayor, Deputy Mayor and all Councillors will be received by CMC heads of departments and employees and new councillors will be introduced to department heads, CMC sources said.
The People's Alliance will stage a strong May-Day rally this year campaigning for nothing but the political package, Deputy Media Minister Alawi Moulana said.
Mr. Moulana said he would arrange for all the trade unions to participate in the campaign which is to be themed 'through peace - development'.
He said that with the resounding victory of the PA in the local government elections, it is now possible for them to push for the package in the north-eastern provinces. "The people have restored their reliance in the Alliance," he said.
The Association of Licensed Aircraft Engineers of AirLanka, referring to a news item in The Sunday Times of March 16, has said that they had not made any representations to the management as referred to in the article.
The Sunday Times in its news item said that, the Associations of AirLanka Technicians and Engineers, had made representations to the management, about foreigners blocking promotional prospects of local officers. The representations had been made by the Association of Aircraft Technicians of AirLanka and not the Engineers' Association.
The AirLanka spokesman however, when contacted, denied that any representations had been made about the matter by the unions.
AirLanka Technicians Association sources confirm that the Aircraft Technicians' Association had made representations to the Chairman about the alleged discrimination against the local staff in February, and that therefore the AirLanka spokesman has misled The Sunday Times with a false representation of fact.
More than 400 students at the Ayurvedic Medical School claim that students have been denied the right to education due to lack of lecturers at the institution at Rajagiriya.
The students claim that there is a shortage of lecturers at the institution because the Sri Lanka Medical Council has asked doctors registered under the council not to lecture. They claim that since then, lecturers had been prohibited from entering the institution for lectures with the threat that their registration would be cancelled if they continue to lecture there.
Vice Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya said "the reason for the prohibition was that the lecturers who taught western medicine subjects at the institution were not degree holders but only diploma holders. The certificate is issued by the university. Therefore the university cannot allow a certificate to be awarded". he said
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