UNHCR deputy head to visit Sri Lanka next week

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 January 2005, 12:34 GMT]
Deputy head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Mr. Kamel Morjane, will be visiting Sri Lanka next week from Tuesday to review UNHCR's work on the ground behalf of people displaced by the tsunami and the conflict.
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SLMM head witnesses army harassing Elilan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 January 2005, 14:32 GMT]
Monitors of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) led by their head Major General (Retd) Trond Furuhovde personally came to the rescue of LTTE Trincomalee district political head Mr.S.Elilan when the latter was stopped by the Sri Lanka military police at Kaddaiparichchan army camp Thursday around noon for about thirty minutes for failing to get down from his vehicle and showed his identity and his baggage at the checkpoint. This incident took place after about one hour Mr.Elilan complained to SLMM head about the harassment by army during the talks SLMM head held with LTTE Trincomalee district military commander Colonel Sornam, sources said.
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Macroeconomic approach should govern reconstruction - Don

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 January 2005, 00:53 GMT]
Professor V. Nithyanantham of the Dept. of Economics, Jaffna University, talking to TamilNet on the socio-economic setting in NorthEast and problems facing the residents in the post Tsunami period, said that planners should adopt a macro-economic approach to reconstruction taking into account relevant humanitarian and social factors.
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Canadian parliamentarian visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 January 2005, 19:04 GMT]
Mr.Jim Karygiannis, Canadian parliamentarian, arrived in Jaffna with a team to witness the destruction caused by Tsunami of December 26 and console the victims. They visited the coastal areas of Valvettithurai, Athikovilady villages and welfare centres sheltering tsunami victims. He met with Mr.C.Ilamparithi, Jaffna district LTTE political head and visited the office of the Jaffna District Task Force, which is co-ordinating all relief and rehabilitation works in the district in Nelliyady.
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Singapore Red Cross conducts medical camp in Nilaveli

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 January 2005, 18:52 GMT]
Fifteen-member medical team of the Singapore Red Cross Society (SRCS) has been conducting a medical camp in the Tsunami victim welfare centre, which is located in Nilaveli Mosque premises, north of Trincomalee district since last week. The services will be provided till 28th of January, said Mr.Leong Seong Kwok, Manager of SRCS Services Division.
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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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Government submits estimates to donor countries

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 January 2005, 14:46 GMT]
Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has submitted a special report to donor countries outlining plans and estimates for tsunami relief work. The report's estimated total for tsunami relief work is Rs. 1.5 billion. Report was prepared by the Department of National Planning within the ministry of Finance and Planning.
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Canadians mourn tsunami victims at Tamil vigil

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 January 2005, 23:24 GMT]
Thousands of Canadians from all walks of life braved chilling temperatures to show solidarity with the victims of the Asian Tsunami disaster at a vigil at Nathan Phillips Square at the Toronto City Hall organized by the Canadian Tamil Congress on Saturday, sources in Canada said.
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International Red Cross President meets Prime Minister

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 January 2005, 11:11 GMT]
Mr.Juan Manuel Suarez Del Toro Rivero, President of International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) Monday paid courtesy call on Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse at the latter's official residence Temple Trees. Mr.Juan Manuel Suarez del Toro Rivero who is currently in the island meeting with Red Cross officials and reviewing ongoing Tsunami relief and assistance programmes.
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Colombo tries to shift blame on mishandling Annan's itinerary

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 January 2005, 23:47 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry in a statement issued on Sunday tried to shift the blame on mishandling itinerary of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's visit, which sparked controversy that Colombo blocked him from visiting LTTE-controlled areas in the Northeast to witness the devastating tsunami destruction. The Foreign Ministry said that the final itinerary was drawn only after the government authorities and UNDP's Resident Representative's Office reached an agreement in Colombo.
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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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World Bank chief says tsunami assistance could go upto USD one billion

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 January 2005, 19:15 GMT]
Reserving over USD 100 million to Sri Lanka from the existing projects for immediate recovery work and to rebuild the devastated homes and spectrum of livelihood, visiting World Bank chief D. Wolfensohn hinted in Colombo Saturday that the post tsunami relief assistance of the Bank to rebuild the devastated region could well go upto the mammoth USD one billion mark. He said in addition to the already released USD 10 million to Sri Lanka, an emergency credit of not less than USD 75 million, of which 40 percent would be a grant, would be made available to enable the government to begin recovery work.
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Civil organizations in northeast submit their pleas to Kofi Annan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 January 2005, 16:51 GMT]
Civil organization representatives in northeast accompanied by a large crowd met Ms Penny Brune, UNICEF representative for Vanni, in Killinochchi on Friday and handed her written appeals from civil organizations. The appeals urged the visiting UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, to visit Vadamaradchi East and Mullaithivu areas that have been devastated by the tsunami attack. Ms Penny Brune after receiving the appeals said that she will ensure that all the appeals reach the UN Secretary General the same day.
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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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Sri Lanka Armed Forces take over refuges, harass TRO

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 January 2005, 07:30 GMT]
In a sudden move, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces are manning the refugee camps in Amparai, Batticaloa and Trincomalee since Tuesday. The Special Task Force (STF) in Thirukovil, Amparai have hijacked two tractors of TRO relief supplies and distributed them after removing the TRO labels. "The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Special Task Force (STF) have stepped up their harassment of workers of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO)", Mr.K.P.Reggie, Executive Director of the TRO, told TamilNet on Wednesday. The TRO has called for an urgent Press Conference today at 6pm at its Colombo office.
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PDS gears for phase two & three of tsunami relief in Northeast

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 January 2005, 16:45 GMT]
"The LTTE with its quick deployment ability and the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) with generous assistance from the Tamil Diaspora and the international NGOs, are tackling the immediate Tsunami relief needs, the first phase of the relief efforts. The Liberation Tigers are calling for international assistance to meet phase two and three of the relief effort", LTTE's Political Head Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan told TamilNet following a conference with Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr Hans Brattskar, in Killinochchi where they discussed the proper channeling of aid to northeast for phase two and three of Tsunami relief as being planned by PDS.
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PDS sends Australian and Korean doctors to the East

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 January 2005, 12:46 GMT]
Two teams of doctors who arrived in Kilinochchi on Monday from Australia and Korea have set off to the East. On Monday, Tamil Eelam Health Service (TEHS) in the East issued an urgent warning as heavy rains in Batticaloa-Amparai have increased the danger of infectious diseases. The medical teams were briefed by the Planning and Development Secretariat (PDS) on the ground situation in the East.
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PDS sets in motion the needs assessment for tsunami relief

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 January 2005, 06:39 GMT]
The Planning and Development Secretariat (PDS) of the Liberation Tigers has already set in motion the needs assessment process for Tsunami Relief in the northeast, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, Head of the LTTE's Political Wing told TamilNet Tuesday.
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Rescue workers find more bodies in Mullaitivu, Vadamaradchy East

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 January 2005, 22:53 GMT]
Rescue workers in Mullaitivu and Vadamaradchy East areas discovered ten more bodies on Sunday, officials in Vanni said. Five of the bodies were cremated immediately as they were badly decomposed and the other five were taken to a storage facility for identification.
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Advisory issued against seafood consumption in NorthEast

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 January 2005, 13:21 GMT]
The Thamileelam Health Services Department Saturday advised the people of the North East province not to eat seafood until further notice as the sea is highly polluted after Tsunami, which hit the coastal areas of the island from northeast and south. Tsunami killed about thirty thousand people and about six thousand are still missing.
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