Fighters killed in Vavunathivu SLA camp attack remembered

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 March 2003, 03:35 GMT]
The last day events of the sixth year memorial ceremony for the 103 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters, including Lt. Colonel Balendra and Lt.Colonel Mathana, who died during the attack on the Vavunathivu Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp, began at 6am Thursday at the Tharavai grounds in Batticaloa district, sources said.
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NE Music, Dance, Drama festival to be held in Trinco

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 March 2003, 16:56 GMT]
A five day North East Tamil Music, Dance and Drama festival is to commence on March 20 in Trincomalee. Around four hundred artists are expected to participate in the festival.
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IDI team visits Trincomalee to identify district development needs

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 March 2003, 00:51 GMT]
The nine-member team of the Infrastructure Development Institute (IDI) of Japan, which is on a fact-finding mission in the northeast province since February 28, visited Trincomalee Monday. The IDI team held wide ranging discussions with central and provincial level officials in the Trincomalee district at the North East Health Ministry Auditorium Monday morning, sources said.


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MSF to wind up operations in NorthEast

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 March 2003, 00:40 GMT]
MEDICINS SANS FRONTIERS (MSF), an international non-governmental medical and humanitarian organisation which is providing medical assistance to people in the northeast province Monday expressed confidence that the ceasefire agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) will lead to permanent peace in the island and that their permanent presence is not required beyond 2003, sources in Jaffna said.
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Army occupation still prevails after a year of peace - Ramesh

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 March 2003, 14:02 GMT]
"Twelve months have passed after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), but vast numbers of Tamil people are still living under Sri Lanka Army (SLA) occupation. Army camps are still being maintained in Tamils' homes and public buildings creating a sense of mistrust and skepticism on the strength of the MoU in Tamil peoples' mind. Only by the SLA fully complying with the provisions of the MoU can the faith on MoU be restored," said Ramesh, Batticaloa-Ampara special commander of the LTTE, addressing a meeting in Batticaloa Sunday, sources said.
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Peace dividend delay eroding Tamils' faith in talks – Col. Karuna

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 February 2003, 16:10 GMT]
“There has been no development work in the northeast so far despite one year of peace. Our people find this disappointing; and it has eroded their confidence in the peace process,” said Col. Karuna, senior commander of the Liberation Tigers, speaking to presspersons Friday at the conclusion of the second round of discussions on ceasefire violations, human rights and Muslim affairs between the Government of Sri Lanka and LTTE in Vavunathivu, five kilometres northwest of Batticaloa town.
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New Head of SLMM meets LTTE officials in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 February 2003, 12:49 GMT]
Tryggve Tellefsen, the new head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission(SLMM), a group of Nordic monitors overseeing the year-old truce between Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), met with officials of the LTTE at the Vavuniya SLMM office, sources said.


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Japanese IDI team to assess urgent needs of the North-East

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 February 2003, 16:26 GMT]
A nine-member delegation of the Infrastructure Development Institute (IDI) of Japan will visit Sri Lanka on a fact-finding mission to assess the conditions of roads, water supply and sanitation, and flood control in the North-East province from February 28 to March 6. The delegation will comprise Messrs. M.Yabe, T.Matsunaga, H.Sadamura, K.Hasegawa, T.Sakai, Yamana, R.Lizuka, I.I.Seto and A.Morikawa, sources said.
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NE libraries to receive Internet facilities

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 February 2003, 02:22 GMT]
School libraries of forty two schools in the eight districts of northeast province are to be provided with computers with Internet facilities before the end of this month, said Mr.N.Anandaraj, Co-ordinator of the School Library Development of the Provincial Ministry of Education Tuesday.
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SLA soldier dies from gunshot wounds

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 February 2003, 12:25 GMT]
Jayatillake Arachige Wijeratne (23) belonging to 8th Gemunu division of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was found dead at the guard post close to the Koliyar Kulam checkpoint in Vavuniya, Monday, sources said. Wijeratne who is from Thenuwara region in Puttalam had gun shot wounds to his head.


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Top-level ADB officials visit Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 February 2003, 20:06 GMT]
A committee of top-level officials of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) visited Vavuniya Monday to hold consultations on planned projects on road reconstruction and electrical power distribution, sources said.
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SLA arrests 15-year old boy in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 February 2003, 19:20 GMT]
The Vavuniya district judge, Mrs. Srinidhi Nanthasekaran, ordered the police Monday to hold a 15 years old boy, arrested by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in the Iranai Illupakulam High Security Zone in Vavuniya, under the custody of the court until February 26th so that his parents could be notified.
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Sweden to help business, industrial development in NE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 February 2003, 19:40 GMT]
The Charge d'Affairs of the Swedish Embassy in Sri Lanka Ms Ann Marie Fallenius Sunday said in Trincomalee that the Chambers of Commerce in districts of Jaffna, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara in the northeast province would be given a boost to expand their institutional capacity and professional competence building program under an agreement the Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FCCISL) signed recently in Colombo with the Swedish International Co-operation Agency (SIDA) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Southern Sweden (CCISS), sources said.


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World Bank helps Vavuniya families to resettle

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 February 2003, 21:03 GMT]
As the first phase of World Bank's Unified Assistance program for helping displaced families resettle in their own villages, World Bank's resident representative in Sri Lanka, Peter Harold, presented checks of Rs.25,000 (US $250) to forty families, in a meeting held at the Vavuniya Tamil Maha Vidyalayam, Saturday, sources in Vanni said.
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SIHRN branch opens in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 February 2003, 18:58 GMT]
A branch of the Sub-Committee on Immediate Humanitarian and Rehabilitation Needs in the North and East (SIHRN) was officially inaugurated at the Vavuniya Secretariat (Kachcheri) by SIHRN's director Selvin Irenuess, Saturday, sources in Vavuniya said.


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101 Villages in NE selected for NIAP development

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 February 2003, 12:45 GMT]
The World Bank assisted North East Irrigation and Agriculture Project (NIAP) officials said that under the 2003 program for renovating irrigation tanks in NorthEast, 101 villages have been selected in districts of Vavuniya, Mannar, Trincomalee and Batticaloa where implementation activities will begin in March, sources in Vavuniya said.
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Vavuniya traders demand SLA to vacate public buildings

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 February 2003, 04:20 GMT]
In a meeting convened at Vavuniya Urban council, the traders and business persons in Vavuniya requested the officers of the Police and security forces that the Sri Lanka Army (SLA)should immediately vacate the buildings owned by the Vavuniya paddy marketing board to allow immediate procurement of paddy from Vavuniya farmers at guaranteed prices to provide a stable livelihood for the area farmers, sources said.


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Protest in Vavuniya condemns Manipay SLA assault

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 February 2003, 12:24 GMT]
More than thousand residents of Vavuniya and surrounding areas marched in Vavuniya Saturday wearing black belts in their waists protesting the attack on Wednesday 12 February on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) unarmed female cadres in Manipay, Jaffna, by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers. The marchers handed over a memorandum to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), sources in Vavuniya said.


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Unimpeded travel access authorized to South-bound lorries

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 February 2003, 01:57 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) checkpoint at Iratperiyakulam. 6 km south of Vavuniya town on highway A9, will be open 24 hours allowing lorries transporting goods to towns in the South from Vavuniya unimpeded travel facilities, said Major General Susil Chandrapala, Wednesday, in a meeting organized by Police for the traders and businessmen from Vavuniya, sources said.


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LTTE returns 3 children to their parents

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 February 2003, 16:28 GMT]
Three children who sought to join the LTTE, were handed over to their parents by Mr. S. Ezhilan, the head of the LTTE's political division in Vavuniya today, in the presence of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) members, sources said.
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