World Bank funds pharmacist-training programme in NE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 December 2003, 20:00 GMT]
North East Provincial Ministry of Health launched a project called "External Pharmacist Training Programme (EPTP) 2003-2004" to train eligible persons from the NorthEast to qualify as pharmacists to prevent unqualified persons in running the private pharmacies. The project is being implemented under the North East Emergency Rehabilitation Programme (NEERP), funded by the World Bank.


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Japanese Ambassador meets Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 December 2003, 13:47 GMT]
Mr.Akio Suda, the new Ambassador for Japan in Sri Lanka met with Head of the Political Wing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the LTTE Peace Secretariat building in Kilinochchi Monday morning for discussions on current political situation and on support of the Japanese Government to the people of Vanni through United Nations agencies, LTTE peace secretariat website reported.
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"We understand the political aspirations of Muslims" - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2003, 13:58 GMT]
"It is not a problem for us to understand the political aspirations of the Muslim and to reach a solution guaranteeing their security and future interests. But this will not be possible when the Muslims are encompassed by Sri Lankan state power and seek to fulfil their aspirations having them centered within that power", said Mr. S. P. Tamilselvan, Head of the Political Wing when the Muslim Press Association of the Eastern Sri Lanka met him at the LTTE political headquarters in Kilinochchi yesterday, 19th December 2003, the LTTE peace secreatariat website said.
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Kilinochchi to get additional telephone lines

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 December 2003, 10:56 GMT]
A new Telephone Exchange capable of supporting 500 land lines to Kilinochchi district has been built in Paranthan and new telephone services are to begin starting from this Friday, said S.Kanagasooriar, Director of Sri Lanka Telecom NorthEast district.
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ADB funds new project for North-East rehabilitation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 2003, 18:18 GMT]
A new four-year development project called Conflict Affected Area Rehabilitation Project (CAARP), funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), is to be launched in the North and East with effect from January 1st 2004. The objective of the project is to support rehabilitatation of essential infrastructure and restoration of community livelihoods in the most severely conflict-affected areas of the North and East, predominantly in the districts of Jaffna, Mannar, Killinochchi, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai, CAARP sources said.
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Book on Malaria released in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 December 2003, 13:24 GMT]
''An Investigation on Mosquitos in Vanni Region,'' a book written by Ponmail Rajathurai, an entomological investigator, under the direction of Dr.K.Sujanthan, Regional Medical Offecer, Anti Malaria Campaign, Vanni Region, was released at a launching ceremony held on 14th dec 2003 at Kilinochchi.
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LTTE Education Council spotlights NE shortcomings

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 December 2003, 00:01 GMT]
" We earnestly request the international agencies and other authorities to take effective measures to remove the Sri Lanka Army from the areas in the northeast province where schools are located in the high security zones and from the vicinity of schools, so that they can function in a favorable and peaceful atmosphere," the LTTE's Education Council of Thamileelam said in a paper presented at the workshop held in Trincomalee Thursday.
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WB team inspects NEIAP focal villages in northeast

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2003, 21:31 GMT]
A World Bank team is to begin its six-day tour in the northeast province and its border areas Thursday to assess the ongoing rehabilitation and development works in the selected villages under the North-East Irrigated Agricultural Project (NEIAP), which is funded by the Bank, sources said.
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NE pre-school education development program inaugurated

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2003, 17:58 GMT]
A seven-day residential training camp for pre-school education coordinators of the education zones of Trincomalee and Vavuniya south began Wednesday in Trincomalee. The training program has been organized by the North East Pre School Education Development Council (PSEDC) and funded by the Norwegian-Swedish agency, FORUT, and the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization in the northeast province, TRO sources said.
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SLA prevents student leader from entering Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2003, 16:44 GMT]
Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army located at Muhamalai sentry Tuesday evening prevented a delegation of the International Students Association of Thamileelam (ISAT), headed by its President, Mr.S.Gajendran, from proceeding to Kilinochchi to meet students of Kilinochchi Technical College, sources said.
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SLA soldiers remanded for firing at Jaffna civilians

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2003, 16:30 GMT]
The Jaffna additional Magistrate, Ms Srinithi Nandasekaran, Wednesday ordered remand till December 23 for three soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army when they were produced by the Jaffna Police in connection with the shooting incident that had taken place in Jaffna bus stand Tuesday evening, causing injuries to civilians, legal sources said.
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TNA, LTTE urge end to southern instability

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 December 2003, 15:37 GMT]
The political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Mr.S.P.Thamilchelvan, responding to a question at the press briefing he held Tuesday afternoon in Kilinochchi, said that if the current political crisis in the South were to continue indefinitely, it would seriously impact the peace process and the LTTE would carefully study its options, the Voice of Tigers radio said Tuesday.
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SLA sentry fires on paper seller, injures commuter

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 December 2003, 12:50 GMT]
A commuter in a bus was seriously wounded when a Sri Lanka army soldier opened fire on a paper seller in Jaffna town Tuesday around 5.45 pm. Police and military dispersed a group of angry civilians that surrounded the sentry point near the town’s main bus station in which the soldier was on duty. The shooting followed an argument between a person who was selling 'Eelanatham' newspaper near the sentry point and the soldier who had ordered the paper seller to leave place, commuters who witnessed the firing said.
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TNA parliamentarians meet LTTE political leadership

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 December 2003, 09:08 GMT]
Talks between Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians and the political leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) began Tuesday morning around 11 a.m. at the Killinochchi LTTE political secretariat, Vanni sources said.
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Nordic Tamil healthcare professionals confer to help North East

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 2003, 22:35 GMT]
Nordic Tamil Medical Professionals came together for a conference to discuss the health issues facing the Tamil community in the North and East of Sri Lanka. The conference was held on 6th of December. Speakers were Doctors and Dentists from Norway and the United Kingdom who had returned to the North and East of Sri Lanka during 2003 to undertake a variety of health projects. The conference was organised by the Norwegian Tamils Health Organisation (NTHO).
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Asylum seeker says EPDP recruiting in India

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 December 2003, 07:22 GMT]
The EPDP cadre who sought asylum from the Liberation Tigers in Kilinochchi, Mr. Iyampillai Yogarajah, 33, told mediapersons in Kilinochchi Saturday that the paramilitary group recruited him from a refugee camp in India eight months ago. He said the EPDP is recruiting many Tamil youth like him from refugee camps in India promising good pay and perks. The paramilitary group works closely with the Sri Lankan armed forces in psychological operations, intelligence and counter insurgency.
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White Pigeon assists Trincomalee disabled

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 December 2003, 17:53 GMT]
The Trincomalee White Pigeon Technical Institute of Prosthesis Friday morning distributed wheel chairs, tricycles and clutches to disabled persons in the area to mark the International Day for Disabled. The event was held at the White Pigeon Trincomalee office.
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SLA soldier surrenders to LTTE in Muhamalai

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 December 2003, 16:33 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army soldier has surrendered to the LTTE at their checkpoint at Muhamalai in the North Thursday, LTTE peace secretariat sources said, adding that the soldier has been handed over to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) at the Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi.
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EPDP cadre seeks asylum in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 December 2003, 10:51 GMT]
A member of the EPDP , a paramilitary group that works with the Sri Lankan armed forces in Sri Lanka’s northeast, has sought asylum from the Liberation Tigers in Jaffna, military sources in the northern town said Friday. The LTTE’s media co-coordinator, Mr. Daya Master, confirmed that a member of the paramilitary was given asylum in Kilinochchi. The EPDP is a close ally of President Kumaratunga.
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‘Flagrant discrimination’ in allocation of Health funds alleged

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 December 2003, 23:01 GMT]
The allocation of funds for a program on emergency Obstetrics and Child Health in the war-ravaged areas of the North East, jointly sponsored by the UNICEF and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), flagrantly discriminates against Tamil provinces, several health officials in the North East told TamilNet’s Vanni correspondent Tuesday.
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