Two die in Vavuniyaa bus crash

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 January 2010, 13:46 GMT]
A private passenger bus bound for Colombo from Jaffna went off the road and crashed against a tree Sunday morning around 1.30 a.m. in Vavuniyaa. The driver of the bus and a passenger were killed on the spot and nine others including a woman were injured in the crash, according to sources in Vavuniyaa.
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SLA holds greater part of Ki’linochchi as HSZ

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 January 2010, 02:19 GMT]
Normalcy has not been restored in greater part of Ki’linochchi district as Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has declared a large area of it as its High Security Zone, sources in Ki’linochchi said. Although Northern Province Governor, Major General G. A. Chandrasiri ordered all government offices to function from 1st January, many of them being located east of A9 road, have not been opened as they are caught within the HSZ, the sources added.
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TNA MP Sathasivam Kanagaratnam released

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 January 2010, 09:39 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP for Vanni district Sathasivam Kanagaratnam was released on condition after being produced before Vavuniyaa Magistrate Alex Raja Wednesday night. Mr. Kanagaratnam was taken into custody while he was staying with his people in one of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) internment camps in Vavuniyaa, for displaced civilians from Mullaiththeevu.
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Polling cards for Vanni IDPs to be issued in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 January 2010, 02:54 GMT]
The Commissioner of Elections has announced that the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Vanni held in the detention camps in Vavuniyaa will be issued with polling cards for the presidential election, from Tuesday at Vavuniyaa Maththiya Mahaa Viththiyaalayam. However, the Election Commissioner’s announcement did not say anything about the IDPs from Ki’linochchi district who are not permitted to resettle in their own places. Ki’linochchi district falls within Jaffna electoral district and this gives room for election rigging by the ruling party, according to allegations made by Tamil political observers in Jafnna.
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TAK passes 25 resolutions in its 60th anniversary meeting

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 January 2010, 04:23 GMT]
The General Committee of Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (TAK) met Sunday in Jaffna on the 60th anniversary of its formation and passed 25 resolutions unanimously on issues related to Tamils, sources in Jaffna said. TAK said that it continues to stand firm that the Tamil ethnic issue should be resolved on the principles based on Tamil traditional homeland, Tamil Nation and self-rule based on the right to self-determination. The leader of Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R. Sampanthan presided the meeting which was held in the I’lam Kalaignar Hall in Nalloor.
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Plunder for business, double enterprise of Sri Lanka Army

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 January 2010, 16:25 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army deployed in Mullaiththeevu has started dismantling and destroying the houses belonging to the Tamils, an eye-witness who recently visited Ki'linochchi and Mullaiththeevu districts told TamilNet Tuesday. The SLA soldiers were seen shifting valuable timber used in buildings, windows and doors to other Sinhalese areas through Weli-ioya.
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No likelihood of Vanni IDPs being settled east of A9 road

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 January 2010, 04:01 GMT]
Sri Lanka government is actively engaged in resettling Vanni IDPs along A9 road from Oamanthai to Maangku'lam in an attempt to show the outside world that it is resettling Vanni IDPs in their own places, in view of the forthcoming presidential election, sources in Jaffna said. Resettlement in areas located east of A9 road in Vanni will not be possible in the near future, according to sources in Northern Province Governor's office. The IDPs taken to areas along A9 road from Oamanthai to Maangku'lam have been only allowed to live in places close to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps and sentry posts while neither the government nor NGOs provide them with any assistance, thee sources said.
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Jaffna youth reported missing on his way to Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 December 2009, 13:17 GMT]
A youth from Jaffna who travelled through A9 road on 14 December had gone missing after boarding Yaazh Theavi train to Colombo from Vavuniyaa, according to a complaint made to Jaffna police by his family memebers.
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Police arrest 6 Batticaloa Tamils

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 December 2009, 13:59 GMT]
Six Tamil farmers, two each from Unnichchai, Aayithimalai and Vavunatheivu in Batticaloa district were taken into custody by Maha Oya Police Saturday near the border of two districts Batticaloa and Ampaarai when they went in search of cattle that have strayed across the borders.
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Maha Oya Police arrest 6 Batticaloa Tamils

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 December 2009, 12:35 GMT]
Six Tamil farmers, two each from Unnichchai, Aayithimalai and Vavu'natheevu in Batticaloa district were taken into custody by Maha Oya Police Saturday near the border of two districts Batticaloa and Ampaa'rai when they went in search of their strayed cattle.
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2 Tamil youths arrested in Katunayake, Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 December 2009, 12:43 GMT]
Colombo Police's 'Terrorist Intelligence Division' arrested a Tamil youth in Vavuniyaa and another at Katunayake International Airport Tuesday when he was about to take a flight to India.
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Colombo-Vavuniyaa mail train derailed, 20 injured

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 December 2009, 12:33 GMT]
About twenty passengers were injured when the Colombo bound night mail train from Vavuniyaa derailed at Galgamuwa Wednesday night, the Railway control room said. The injured were admitted to nearby hospitals.
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Dengue on rise in Vavuniyaa, 15 reported dead

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 December 2009, 07:15 GMT]
Health officials in Vavuniyaa say they were struggling to control the spread of Dengue fever in the district. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan health ministry sources in Colombo said the spread of the fever has been brought under control in Matale and Colombo districts, but situation in Vavuniyaa is getting out of control.
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Passengers from Jaffna through A9 road subjected to inconvenience

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 December 2009, 07:53 GMT]
Though Sri Lanka government and its ministers say that all restrictions imposed on persons travelling from Jaffna to Vavuniyaa have been completely lifted they continue to experience undue delay and inconvenience, sources in Jaffna said. The buses carrying the passages from Jaffna have to wait at Jaffna esplande first and then allowed to go in convoys under military escort, the sources added.
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Restrictions on travel through A9 road to Jaffna lifted

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 December 2009, 02:49 GMT]
All restrictions hitherto imposed on travel and transport between Jaffna and Vavuniyaa are lifted in keeping to a directive from Jaffna Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander, Jaffna Government Agent said in a media report Thursday night. The lorries transporting goods to Jaffna will, however, be permitted only in convoys with SLA escort as usual, the report said.
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More than 1000 families displaced due to floods in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 December 2009, 02:17 GMT]
More than a thousand people have sought refuge in churches and school buildings due to floods caused by relentless rain in Jaffna peninsula. 1329 persons of 374 Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) families brought from Vavuniyaa camps and settled in the abandoned tsunami shelters in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) occupied Maruthangkea’ni area in Vadamaraadchi had to leave the shelters and seek refuge in churches and schools, according to Jaffna Government Agent, K. Ganesh.
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Floods displace many in Vadamaraadchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 December 2009, 11:39 GMT]
Continuing rain and floods in Jaffna peninsula, particularly in Vadamaraadchi North and East, have caused people from the coastal areas to seek shelter in Churches and public buildings, sources in Jaffna said. The most affected are the people brought from Vavuniyaa camps and resettled in the abandoned tsunami shelters in Ma’natkaadu in Vadmaraadchi and those who have no relatives to take responsibility of them, the sources added.
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SLA, police extort money from passengers to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 December 2009, 02:34 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and police personnel manning the bus terminal at Vavuniyaa demand money from the people travelling to Jaffna, who have to report for checking before travel, sources in Vavuniyaa said. The bus travel being the cheapest, people choose it rather than ship or flight which are run by agencies of prominent persons of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA). The demand for bribe from passengers at Vavuniyaa appears to be a ploy to divert them to travel by ship or planes, the sources further said.
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Heavy floods in East, 3 killed, IDP camps under water

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 December 2009, 09:37 GMT]
Lightning claimed the lives of three people and more than 25,000 have been displaced due to heavy floods as cyclone 'Ward' entered the Eastern coast Monday night. Vaakarai, Vaazhaichcheanai, Kaaththaankudi and Vavu'natheevu are among the worst affected areas in Batticaloa. Meanwhile, all the huts of 'welfare centers' located in Moothoor East and Eechchilampattu in Trincomalee district where hundreds of internally displaced Tamil families, still sheltered awaiting resettlement in their own villages, are under water due to torrential rain now being experienced. Roofs of these huts have been blown off due to gale winds due to depression that moves along the coast of North and East.
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Grenade attack on UNP district office in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 December 2009, 11:12 GMT]
Unidentified persons lobbed a hand grenade Sunday around 10:40 p.m on the United National Party (UNP) office located in the residence of UNP Batticaloa district branch president and member of Eastern Provincial Council, Arasaratnam Sasitharan, Batticaloa police said. None was injured in the blast but the office has been damaged a little.
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