• Jaffna de-mining stuck
• Where will the old Tristars go?
• Troops repulse major midnight attack
• Commissioners want two ministers out
• Grain giant suspended over alleged maize racket
• Saudis to reduce intake of Lankans
• President to meet media after summit
• No go for Wijeweera birthday TV show
• 'Police uncles shot me, I don't like them' - How sweets
  turned to gunshots at Katubedda checkpoint
• Bid again says saphire owner
• Dead asked to pay GST
• Sri Lanka takes over from Maldives
• Ranil on politicians and horoscopes
• Check your flights
• Complaints go 'unheeded'
• Now it's Andare column liyuwa vagei - From the Green Corner
• SAARC: Pakistan wants Kashmir on SAARC agenda
• No tension with Pakistan says India
• The facts are...
• SAARC: road to success is thru' Kashmir
• The border flashpoint

Jaffna de-mining stuck

By. Frederica Jansz

The Mine Action Project in Jaffna is temporarily halted as a request for high sensitive communication equipment has not yet been approved by the Defence Ministry.

Peter Witham, Resident Representative for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said that the project initiated by his agency had been held up because of a delay in getting government clearance for the use of communication equipment essential to the project.

He said the project had not been suspended but only delayed till clearance was given.

Defence sources said the government was hesitant to give approval because it feared such sensitive equipment could go into the hands of the LTTE.

David Taylor, Co-ordinator for the de-mining project in Jaffna, has arrived in Sri Lanka to begin recruiting local staff and getting together an international team of experts for the mission.

Mr. Witham said they hoped to bring in specially trained sniffer dogs to detect mines. Most of the recent mines were of plastic and could not be found by using a metal detector.

Asked if the UNDP was receiving any co-operation from the LTTE to help identify areas, where the rebel group would have laid mines, Mr. Witham said there was no official dialogue between the UNDP and the LTTE. However the project relies on local individuals to point out areas where there are landmines.

The project is expected to take a minimum of two years to accomplish. The Mine Action Project is a small but vital component of the UNDP's other initiatives in Jaffna affecting sustainable resettlement and rehabilitation in the area.

Where will the old Tristars go?

AirLanka's Tristars which are on their last laps of operations will not be allowed to fly over Indian air space from January 1 next year unless they are equipped with highly expensive collision avoidance gadgets, aviation sources disclosed.

A civil aviation requirement issued by India's Director General of Civil Aviation says, "unless otherwise authorised by the director, no person shall operate in the Indian airspace, after December 31,1998, an aeroplane having a maximum certified passenger seating configuration of more than 30 or a maximum payload capacity of more than 3 tonnes, unless such aeroplane is equipped with an Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS)".

Last year, a near miss is reported to have occurred between a KLM aircraft and an AirLanka aircraft. It was averted by evasive action by the KLM crew which was possible because of the collision avoidance system installed on KLM aircraft.

Although the AirLanka Airbuses are equipped with TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems) Tristars are not equipped with any Airborne Collision Avoidance System.

The Tristars are scheduled to be phased out of operation from October 1999. The question is whether the Tristars will be fitted with ACAS before they are phased out or if not where can they fly from January 1999, avoiding Indian airspace.

The cost of the equipment required is around US $200,000 a unit inclusive of installation and calibration. Since the deadline is fast approaching, a decision needs to be taken soon.

A spokesperson for AirLanka, when contacted, replied that Air Lanka will comply with the Indian Civil Aviation Requirement and did not elaborate.

Troops repulse major midnight attack

Heavy fighting broke out between Tamil rebels and security forces in the northern Jaffna peninsula when LTTE cadres infiltrated the mainland and launched a major assault Friday midnight.

Reports from the area said heavily armed LTTE cadres stormed the Gurunagar area through the Siruthivu area — a section of the Mandathivu island and — started attacking the troops.

Troops fought back and repulsed the attack forcing the rebels to withdraw by 5 a.m.

The attack was described as the biggest attempt by the LTTE to infiltrate the Jaffna peninsula which is now under the control of the security forces.

A Defence Ministry statement said, according to a terrorist transmission monitored, nine LTTE cadres were killed and more than 25 wounded during the attack.

Two soldiers were killed and five others and one civilian were injured during the confrontation.

Commissioners want two ministers out

The crisis-ridden Permanent Commission set up to probe bribery and corruption has called for the removal of Ministers G.L. Peiris and Jeyaraj Fernandopulle from a parliamentary select committee looking into a motion for the removal of the commissioners.

In a letter to the Speaker, the Commission's Chairman T.D.S.Wijeysundara and member Rudra Rajasingham have given several points to support their claims that the two ministers are biased and thus disqualified from sitting on the select committee.(See excerpts of letter in political column.) PSC sources said that according to standing orders no one could remove the two ministers from the select committee but they could voluntarily withdraw.

Grain giant suspended over alleged maize racket

By M. Ismeth and Mel Gunasekera

Shares of Ceylon Grain Elevators (CGE) were suspended by the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) on Thursday over a controversial sale of poultry feed to local traders.

Customs imposed one of the biggest ever penalties of Rs. 1,194 mn on CGE, and the company has been given 14 days to pay it.

"We have called for explanations from the company on this matter. The suspension will be lifted if the company's response is acceptable," CSE Director General Hiran Mendis told The Sunday Times.

CGE was incorporated in 1982 following an agreement between the Sri Lankan government and Prima of Singapore. The agreement gave CGE the right to mill and produce poultry and animal feed. Subsequently, CGE was given a virtual monopoly to import maize duty free and the company was importing it by the shiploads, market sources said.

When the Triposha factory was set up eight years ago, maize had to be imported as the local product could not be used due to a viral problem. Therefore, on the request of the Health Ministry, the company supplied maize to the Triposha programme for which about 12,000 metric tonnes were approved, market sources said.

Later, approval was given for another 4,000 MT, but this was withdrawn as the Health Ministry decided to call for a fresh tender.

Though many applications were received, customs sources said, CGE had used a Pettah trader - Paramount Exports - to submit a quotation as well. Paramount Exports won the tender as they were quoting a duty-free price - which the other applicants could not compete with.

According to customs sources, the duty exemption is for maize as poultry feed, not for human consumption.

Further, CGE was also selling maize on the Pettah open market, it is alleged.

CGE has the right to appeal first to the Director General of Customs, then to the Trade Minister or go to courts.

The company recorded an after-tax profit of Rs. 204 mn in 1997/98. First quarter profits for 1998 were Rs. 95 mn. Over 75 per cent of its turnover come from feed sales and it currently controls an estimated 60 per cent of the 308,000 tonnes a year feed market. CGE is also involved in breeding day-old-chickens, shrimp farming and trading operations via its subsidiaries.

CGE also runs a lucrative transshipment business, where grain is imported in bulk, bagged and re-exported to overseas markets.

According to a top Customs official, the whole maize crisis is largely due to the haphazard manner in which the Ministry of Livestock Development has been issuing licences to all and sundry including Pettah merchants.

The Customs does not levy a duty from those who have licence issued by the Ministry for the import of maize.

The official said such licences should be issued only to those who manufactured poultry or animal feed and for those in the poultry business.

However, the Customs had noted that even merchants in Pettah are were given such licences, and got the duty waiver. This had been going on since 1986 until the Customs detected the recent alleged maize import scam. But still the licences are being issued.

It is learnt the customs had repeatedly told the Ministry not to issue licences to all without checking their credibility as the Customs and the country would lose 35 percent duty when even those who were not manufacturing poultry feed or running poultry farms got a duty waiver.

In the meantime it is learnt that an attempt had been made by some powerful persons to get the Customs Import Division Investigation team that detected the maize scam transferred to another division. But President Kumaratunga herself intervened to foil that attempt.

More News/Comment * Saudis to reduce intake of Lankans * President to meet media after summit * No go for Wijeweera birthday TV show * 'Police uncles shot me, I don't like them'

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