Lack of furniture, buildings hamper Thenmaradchchi education

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 July 2003, 17:08 GMT]
About sixty percent of students in Thenmaradchchi division schools study sitting on the ground due short supply of furniture and about forty percent of school children study in temporary sheds as they are not provided with building facilities, said a North East Provincial Education official.


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Japanese Ambassador meets Thamilselvan

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 June 2003, 14:02 GMT]
Tamil people have complained that the declarations made at the Sri Lankan donors’ Conference held in Tokyo did not provide any solutions to the immediate humanitarian needs of the Tamil people, Mr. S.P. Thamilselvan, the leader of the LTTE’s political division, told the Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr. Seiichiro Otsuka, when the Ambassador visited the Vanni on Monday, sources said
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Security concerns force Buddhist prelate to cancel Jaffna visit

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 June 2003, 19:48 GMT]
The Mahanayake Thera of Asgiriya Chapter Venerable Udugama Sri Rathnapala Buddharakita cancelled his participation at the second day proceedings of the workshop of the World Solidarity Forum held Sunday at the Veerasingham Hal. "I have been adviced by the security forces against coming to Jaffna. I regret very much for this," said Asgiriya Mahanayake Thera in his message to workshop which was read out, sources said.
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‘Let my people lead normal lives’

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 June 2003, 20:01 GMT]
“My people have endured great agony and suffering for twenty years. Let them lead normal lives like those in other parts of the country”, the Bishop of Mannar, Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph told a delegation of Sri Lankan armed forces and officials that is on a fact finding visit to the district on the island’s northwestern coast Tuesday. “It is imperative that they shouldn’t be made to wait any longer for their rightful share of the peace dividend which everyone outside the northeast has enjoyed for more than an year”, the Bishop said.
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Vesak Massacre remembered in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 May 2003, 18:19 GMT]
In Aayiththiyamalai, a village in the district’s interior, 16 kilometres west of the eastern town, a special service was held Saturday at the local church for ten orphans who were massacred by Sri Lanka army soldiers and Policemen during the Vesak festival in Batticaloa town three years ago on 17 May. Sri Lankan armed forces, however, celebrated Vesak, the annual Buddhist light festival as usual in Batticaloa this week.
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Sri Lanka's govt. abandons Trinco coal power plant project

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 May 2003, 12:39 GMT]
The United National Front (UNF) Government has abandoned the proposal to construct a thermal coal power plant in Trincomalee following strong protests by environmentalists and the people of Trincomalee. The 300 megawatt plant is now planned for construction in Hambantota, deep south of the island, power and energy ministry sources said.


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Constitutional crisis bound to disturb peace process-Bishops

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 May 2003, 16:38 GMT]
The Catholic Bishop Conference of Sri Lanka in a statement issued Wednesday expressed “profound disappointment” over the present political situation especially about the current standoff between Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister and President over the latter’s decision to take over a ministry amid objections and protests by the ruling party.
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Akashi visits Muttur, Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 May 2003, 10:48 GMT]
Japan’s special envoy to Sri Lanka, Mr. Yashushi Akashi held discussions with Tamils and Muslims in Muttur and with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and the Peace Committee in Batticaloa Tuesday. The discussions were largely focussed on recent developments in the east affecting the peace process, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) officials in Batticaloa said. SLMC leader, Mr. Rauff Hakeem, accompanied Mr. Akashi.
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Meeting resolves to prevent communal unease in Musali

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 May 2003, 13:07 GMT]
Representatives of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, the Catholic Church, the Liberation Tigers, Sri Lanka Police, several civil society groups and local community leaders met Saturday in Murunkan in the Mannar District to discuss measures to promote and cement Tamil, Muslim amity in the Musali region. Tension prevailed in the area last month following the murder of a Tamil farmer allegedly by a Muslim believed to be an ex home guard. Musali is in the southwestern part of mainland Mannar where Muslim refugees have been resettling and cultivating their lands since last year.
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Large peace demo in Mannar town

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 May 2003, 09:40 GMT]
More than 3000 people demonstrated in support of peace in Mannar Saturday, demanding full implementation of the ceasefire agreement between Colombo and the Liberation Tigers. At the conclusion of the meeting, a memorandum was submitted to the additional government agent of Mannar. The memorandum states, among other things, that the Tamils and the LTTE have bitter experiences of being “deceived and hoodwinked in many previous peace talks” and that “in the circumstances it is not unreasonable on their part to adopt a policy of caution."
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Late Bishop's services recalled at funeral

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 April 2003, 20:06 GMT]
The late Bishop of Jaffna, Most Rev. Dr. Bastiampillai Deogupillai, fought until his last for the removal of the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act, said the Bishop of the Trincomalee-Batticaloa Diocese, Rt. Rev. Dr. Kingsely Swampillai, in his eulogy delivered at the Holy Mass held at the Jaffna Mary's Cathedral Monday evening prior to the burial of the religious leader’s body.
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Bishop Deogupillai passes away

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 April 2003, 15:59 GMT]
Jaffna's twelfth Bishop Most Reverend Dr Bastiampillai Deogupillai (1917-2003) passed away peacefully in the early hours of Friday at the age of 86. The entire Catholic community and Tamils, irrespective of religion, are mourning the death of a veteran Bishop who stood for justice and peace through dialogue. His funeral is to be held on Monday evening at Jaffna St. Mary's Cathedral church, sources said.


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SLA tightening its grip on Northeast - Para

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2003, 19:57 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army is strengthening its foothold where civilians live in the North-East even after the signing of the ceasefire agreement between the United National Front government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, said Mr. Pararajasingham (Para), Head of the Judicial Division of the LTTE, addressing a meeting in Jaffna town Wednesday.
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Church farm helps dispossessed, poor

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2003, 03:30 GMT]
The Methodist Church’s Jeevothayam Farm in Pariyaarikkandal, 28 kilometres southeast of Mannar town, has been a refuge for the dispossessed and the meek for more than quarter of a century. Tamils driven out of their homes in the island’s tea producing hills by Sinhala Buddhist nationalists in 1977, 81 and 83 found succour here before they went forth to settle and multiply in the inhospitable jungles of the Vanni.
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Poverty, oblivion dog rape victim

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 April 2003, 00:30 GMT]
Two years since she was brutally raped and tortured in custody, Ms. Sivamani Weerakoon, lives in abject poverty and uncertainty. The mother of three said that she was never offered counselling to help her cope with the trauma of her ordeal. Sri Lankan law is yet to bring the perpetrators of the violence committed on her to book. Ms. Sivamani said that no women’s rights group has ever contacted her in connection with her rape and torture by Sri Lankan armed forces personnel.
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Accidents on the rise on A-9 highway

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 April 2003, 14:02 GMT]
Following the re-opening of the Jaffna-Kandy road (A-9) for traffic in 2002, there have been seventy-two vehicle accidents that resulted in eight deaths within the Kilinochchi division of the Tamil Eelam Police Service (TEPS), and accidents have increased in the first quarter of this year, LTTE officials said.
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Undeterred by controls, Pt. Pedro celebrates tradition

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 April 2003, 13:40 GMT]
Pt. Pedro is the oldest harbour town on the Jaffna peninsula’s sea coast. The Portuguese called the town Puntas das Padras (rocky point) on account of the reefs that line its coast. Tamils, however, still refer to it by its old name Paruththithurai (cotton port in Tamil). This week the townspeople celebrated the annual chariot and water cutting festivals of one of their old temples that have lain long and neglected inside the SLA’s high security zone in Pt. Pedro.
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Mannar HSZs discussed as re-settler loses arm

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 March 2003, 19:12 GMT]
The Bishop of Mannar said Saturday that High Security Zones (HSZs) are necessary only during war and that displaced people should return to their homes as there is peace now. The armed forces should understand this and leave the HSZs at least in stages, Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph said, speaking at a seminar in Mannar Saturday.
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Trinco St. Joseph's celebrates 136th annual college day

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 March 2003, 22:49 GMT]
The St. Josephs' College in Trincomalee, one of the leading educational institutions in the eastern port town, Wednesday celebrated its 136th annual college day with religious observances and sports activities among teachers and students, sources said.
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Public demands urgent reconstruction of Kiran Road

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 February 2003, 15:28 GMT]
The road connecting Kiran in Batticaloa district to the Pulipainthakal to the west has become non-motorable and so badly dilapidated that even bicycles cannot be used on the road, the residents of the area said, and demanded that the government should take immediate steps to reconstruct the road.
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