EPDP walks out from Jaffna relief meet

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 January 2005, 16:27 GMT]
Mr.T.Mathanarajah of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP), a constituent of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government walked out of the Jaffna District Task Force (DTF) meeting Wednesday evening protesting the participation of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), district secretariat sources said.


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TNA MPs pay homage to Eelathunathan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 January 2005, 16:22 GMT]
Mr.R.Sampanthan, Mr.K.Thurairatnasingham, Mr.Mavai Senathirajah and Mr N. N.Raviraj, Jaffna District Tamil National Alliance (TNA) paid homage to the departed veteran Tamil activist late Mr.S.Pathmanathan, also known as Eelathunathan, who died last Wednesday in Colombo after a brief illness and funeral was held Sunday evening amid large crowd at the Trincomalee Hindu Cemetery, family sources said.
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Estate workers down tools to protest misuse of tsunami funds

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 January 2005, 11:54 GMT]
Around 500 workers of the Doleswala Estate in the Ratnapura District are on strike since last Thursday protesting against the refusal of the Estate management to refund moneys contributed by them from their wages in aid of Tsunami victims, Ratnapura District Doleswela Estate sources said.
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Canadian PM meets with TNA, TRO delegations

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 January 2005, 14:30 GMT]
Mr. Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada, met with delegations of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) Monday at Colombo Hilton Hotel at 2.30 PM. The TNA delegation urged that all international aid, including Canadian aid, to be channeled through International Non-Governmental Organizations till a proper mechanism is set up to deal with the post Tsunami situation in the Northeast. The TNA told the Canadian Prime Minister that there was total centralization of all rehabilitation, resettlement, reconstruction and development activities in Colombo, and that this was totally inconsistent with the wishes expressed by the people of Northeast.
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Colonel Kittu remembered in Jaffna, Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 January 2005, 14:14 GMT]
Twelfth death anniversary of Colonel Kittu, senior commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and nine other cadres was observed in Jaffna and Trincomalee Sunday. They committed suicide when the Indian Navy seized the ship they travelled in January 1993.
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Fourth anniversary of Pongu Thamil Declaration held in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 January 2005, 11:26 GMT]
An event to mark the fourth anniversary of the first Tamil Resurgence Movement (Pongu Tamil) was held Monday morning in the Jaffna University premises amid large crowd. A public meeting was also held in the Kailasapathy Auditorium. Mr.C. Ilamparithi, Jaffna district political head of the LTTE delivered the keynote address, sources said.
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Centralization, control by armed forces, and equitable aid are incompatible, TNA tells ADB president

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 January 2005, 06:58 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation met the president of Asia Development Bank (ADB), Mr. Tadao Chino, on Sunday and highlighted the context and the developments in the country that are detrimental to the equitable distribution of tsunami relief. The TNA, which has 22 of the 31 parliamentary seats from the northeast, told the president of ADB that the present activities of the government did not represent the democratic will of the people of the northeast and urged the ADB president to ensure that international aid was equitably distributed.
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Acute shortage of medical facilities in Muttur-TNA MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 January 2005, 23:07 GMT]
Tsunami victims staying in welfare centres located in Muttur and other Trincomalee district villages, and others staying with their relatives and friends are undergoing immense hardship in obtaining proper medical attention due to acute shortage of drugs, ambulances and staff in rural hospitals, stated Trincomalee district parliamentarian Mr.K.Thurairatnasingham in a letter faxed to Health Minister Mr.Nimal Sripala de Silva, sources in Trincomalee said.
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Delays in relief worsen woes of Batticaloa affected- MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 January 2005, 14:17 GMT]
Senior Parliamentarian of Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Joseph Pararajasingham talking to TamilNet Saturday charged that the reconstruction and relief in the Batticaloa district are being carried out at "Snail's Pace"' despite the presence of deputy minister of relief' reconstruction and rehabilitation D.M. Dassanayake in the area.
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Eelathunathan demise irreparable loss to Tamil nation- Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 January 2005, 16:45 GMT]
The sudden death of Mr.S.Pathmanathan also known as Eelathunathan, President of the Trincomalee district branch of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and a member of the central working committee of the TULF has come as a great shock to Tamils of the country, said Mr.R.Sampanthan, Secretary General of the TULF and parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in a condolence message issued Saturday.
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ADB President to visit Trinco Saturday

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 January 2005, 16:21 GMT]
Mr. Tado Chino, President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to pay a one day visit to Trincomalee Saturday to witness the destruction caused to coastal areas hit by Tsunami and visit welfare centres sheltering victims of the natural disaster, sources said.
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Singapore Education Minister visits Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 January 2005, 13:46 GMT]
Mr.Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister of Education in the Government of Singapore Wednesday paid a visit to Trincomalee district and witnessed the destruction of coastal areas in the north of east port town caused by Tsunami and consoled victims sheltered in welfare centres located in Nilaveli Mosque and Adambodai village.
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Kumaratunga appoints EPDP to tsunami Task Force

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 January 2005, 02:23 GMT]
Representatives of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) have been appointed to the District Task Force (DTF) established in Jaffna, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Amparai districts to coordinate relief and rehabilitation of tsunami victims who are sheltered in welfare centers, on a directive from Sri Lanka’s President, Ms.Chandrika Kumaratunga, civil sources said.
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TNA parliamentarians boycott Governor's Jaffna visit

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 January 2005, 14:54 GMT]
Jaffna district Tamil National Parliamentarians Monday boycotted the first official visit of Mr.Tyronne Fernando, Governor of the Northeast Province in protest to the government's refusal to allow Mr.Koffi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations to visit Tsunami destroyed Northern coastal areas, including Mullaitivu district, TNA sources said.
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Dismal state response reveals need for ISGA - TNA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 January 2005, 11:36 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government’s insensitive and ineffectual relief efforts in the Northeast in the wake of the Asian tsunami disaster has reinforced the need for an interim administration for the region as demanded by its residents, Tamil parliamentarians argued Sunday.
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Annan wants to come back to visit entire country

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 January 2005, 11:24 GMT]
Diplomatically ducking a question whether he regretted that he could not visit the LTTE-controlled areas, visiting Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, said in Colombo today he was "hoping to be able to come back and visit all parts of Sri Lanka, not just to visit but to celebrate peace." Visibly frustrated with his itinerary set by the government of Sri Lanka that banned him from seeing the enormous devastation caused by tsunami terror waves in the LTTE-held areas, he said that the UN was not a "one man show" and there were number of people attached to the UN agencies working in parts of the country, including the LTTE-held areas.
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Annan hails LTTE-led relief efforts

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 January 2005, 05:41 GMT]
UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, hailed the relief efforts led by the Liberation Tigers in the wake of the Asian tsunami of December 26th and expressed his disappointment over the Sri Lankan governments veto of his plans to visit LTTE held areas devastated by the waves, when he met Tamil parliamentarians Sunday.
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Inquiry fixed in HC applications against army officials

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 January 2005, 14:06 GMT]
Corporal Somaretna Rajapakse of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) who was sentenced to death in the Krishanthy Cumaraswamy rape and murder case submitted his objection in the Jaffna High Court Wednesday in several Habeas Corpus (HC) applications regarding missing persons after the arrest by army soldiers during the period 1996-1997. Corporal Somaretna Rajapakse is the first respondent in these HC applications and other respondents are former army commander Lionel Balagalle and SLA officials.


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Vanni TNA MPs oppose army take over of refugee camps

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 January 2005, 11:00 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Vanni district parliamentarians vehemently protested against the directive of the President to hand over the management of welfare centres where Tsunami victims are sheltered to the State armed forces at a conference held at the Vavuniya district secretariat Thursday with Mr.Tyronne Fernando, North east Provincial Governor in the chair, sources said.
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TNA decries SLA's taking over of NorthEast Welfare camps

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 January 2005, 16:09 GMT]
"The Armed Forces taking over the management of the Welfare Camps in the Northeast would be counterproductive and would destabilize all arrangements hitherto made at the district level in the Northeast to address the several consequences of the calamity," said Mr. Sampanthan, Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian in a letter addressed to the Sri Lanka President requesting her to rescind the order given to the Armed Forces to take over the management of the Welfare Camps in the Northeast.


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