Hospital struggles without adequate medical supplies

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 December 2003, 19:51 GMT]
Senior Physician at the Kaluvanchikudi Hospital in Batticaloa district, Dr.S.Vaseekaran, told TamilNet that although there has been steady increase in the number of patients, lack of medical supplies in the hospital has seriously hampered providing proper medical care to the patients.
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Parents of missing Jaffna youth to meet Sri Lanka’s President

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 December 2003, 14:13 GMT]
The parents and relatives of the young men and women who went missing after they were arrested by the Sri Lanka army in Jaffna in 1996-97 have been invited by President Chandrika Kumaratunga for a meeting with her on 31 December, a spokesperson for the Missing Persons Guardian Association (MPGA) said Wednesday. Members of the MPGA and the Jaffna Mother’s Front will travel to Colombo in a bus provided by Sri Lanka’s Minister for Hindu Affairs, Mr. T. Maheswaran.
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SLA closes Muhamalai point at usual time

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 December 2003, 14:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka army closed the only entry point to Jaffna on the A9 highway at the usual hour on Wednesday evening despite the announcement by the Liberation Tigers that they would have their side of the border open until 9.30 p.m. for the convenience of people travelling to the peninsula on Christmas Eve and Christmas. A Sri Lanka army officer at the SLA’s Muhamalai entry point told TamilNet’s Jaffna correspondent Wednesday evening that there were no orders from his high command to reciprocate the LTTE’s gesture for Christmas and New Year.
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Education Conference urges speedy resolution of political crisis

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 December 2003, 13:20 GMT]
9 million member Asia Pacific Region branch of Education International (EI), in a resolution adopted at the Fourth Asia Pacific Regional Conference held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan from 10th to 12 th December, urged the Sri Lankan President and Prime Minister to bring the current political impasse to an end without further delay and to invite the Norwegian facilitators to carry forward the peace process and to restore normalcy in the northeast province by handing over schools located in the high security zones in the Jaffna district, attendees to the conference said.
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Commemoration of Major Murali held in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 December 2003, 12:14 GMT]
"The Indian government should recognize the self determination right of Tamils and come forward to assist them to reach a fair and just political solution to meet their legitimate aspirations," said the President of the Jaffna District National Resurgence Forum Mr. P.Kanagalingam Tuesday addressing the sixteenth death anniversary commemoration event of Major Murali and nine other LTTE cadres who died in a battle with the Indian Peace Keeping Force on December 23, 1987 at Urumpirai in Jaffna district.
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HSZs not a matter for GA - Maj. Gen. Chandrapala

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 December 2003, 08:10 GMT]
Maj. Gen. Susil Chandrapala, the new Sri Lankan security forces commander for Jaffna, told TamilNet Wednesday that the question of Sri Lanka army high security zones in Jaffna is not a matter for the district’s Government Agent but it is one that’s under his purview. He was speaking to the local press after a meeting between civilian officials and the military at the Jaffna District Secretariat Wednesday morning.
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Colombo-Batticaloa train service restarted

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 December 2003, 00:00 GMT]
The train service between Colombo and Batticaloa has been restarted and the first train from Colombo reached Batticaloa Tuesday morning. The train started its return journey in the evening on the same day, sources said.
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LTTE says Pullumalai bunker in area under its control

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 December 2003, 16:08 GMT]
The bunker of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Pullumalai in the Batticaloa district, about which the Sri Lanka Army has complained to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, lies within the LTTE-controlled area, the LTTE has told the SLMM, according to a spokesman at the SLMM’s Batticaloa office.
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Student peace education workshop held in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 December 2003, 12:24 GMT]
Two-day residential workshop on peace education organized by the Trincomalee zonal education of the North East Provincial Ministry of Education, for Tamil, Sinhala and Muslim students was held in Trincomalee Sri Vigneswara Maha Vidiyalayam on Saturday and Sunday, civil society sources said.
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Tigers to open more hours for X’mas , New year

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 December 2003, 10:51 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers will keep their entry points to the Vanni open until 9.30 p.m. for Christmas and New Year for the convenience of the people during the festive season, Mr. Daya Master, the LTTE spokesman told TamilNet Tuesday. The entry points are normally open from 7 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. The LTTE’s entry points at Muhamalai, Puliyankulam and in Mannar would be open to the public until 9.30 p.m. on 24 and 25 of and 31 December and on 1 January 2004.


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Volunteer Health workers picket in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 December 2003, 00:01 GMT]
Volunteer health workers in the Batticaloa district held a picketing campaign Monday in front of the office of the Deputy Provincial Director of Health Services (DPDHS) in the district, demanding that they be given permanent appointments.
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Indian coast guard escorts boats to Jaffna seas

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 December 2003, 16:37 GMT]
The Indian coast guard escorted ten fishing boats from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka’s maritime boundary in the Palk Strait Monday. The Indian fishing boats were received by the Sri Lanka Navy and were guided to the island of Delft (Nedunthivu) off Jaffna Monday evening.
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Japanese Ambassador meets Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 December 2003, 13:47 GMT]
Mr.Akio Suda, the new Ambassador for Japan in Sri Lanka met with Head of the Political Wing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the LTTE Peace Secretariat building in Kilinochchi Monday morning for discussions on current political situation and on support of the Japanese Government to the people of Vanni through United Nations agencies, LTTE peace secretariat website reported.
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IFSP winds up its rehabilitation activities in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 December 2003, 21:40 GMT]
The Integrated Food Security Programme (IFSP) sponsored by the Federal Republic of Germany’s Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development and implemented through the German Agency for Technical Co-operation (GTZ) in the Trincomalee district will be officially closed on December 31.
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MPGA seeks action on Jaffna disappearances

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 December 2003, 16:58 GMT]
The Missing Persons' Guardians Association (MPGA) in Jaffna, in a letter to Sri Lanka’s Minister of Justice, Mr. W.M.Lokubandara, has reminded him that no action has been taken on the disappereance of more than 600 persons in Jaffna after being arrested at checkpoints or abducted from their homes by the Sri Lanka Army in 1996, and demanded to know what happened to the youths.
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LTTE opposes land ministry mobile service in Kantalai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2003, 18:29 GMT]
The Trincomalee political secretariat of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Saturday condemned the decision of the Land Minister to hold a mobile service to resolve disputes related to State land matters of the Seruvila electorate of the Trincomalee district. “ Holding of such mobile service would seriously damage the progress of the peace negotiations,” said the LTTE Trincomalee political secretariat in a statement issued Saturday.


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Thamilchelvan outlines condition for future talks

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2003, 16:31 GMT]
“We are ready to negotiate with anyone who comes to power at a general election in Sri Lanka as long as he or she is a person ready to work towards an agreement on the political aspirations and expectations of the people living in the unified northeast region with commitment and sincerity,” said Mr. S. P Thamilchelvan, the head of the political division of the Liberation Tigers, during wide ranging discussions with a group of Muslim and Tamil journalists from the eastern province on Friday night.
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Police suspects in Mannar torture, rape to be indicted

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2003, 15:57 GMT]
The Attorney General has decided to indict four of the six suspects in the Mannar torture and rape of two married Tamil women S.Sivamani and Vijikala by several police officials and soldiers in March 2001 while the women were being held by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of Mannar Police, legal sources said.


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"We understand the political aspirations of Muslims" - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2003, 13:58 GMT]
"It is not a problem for us to understand the political aspirations of the Muslim and to reach a solution guaranteeing their security and future interests. But this will not be possible when the Muslims are encompassed by Sri Lankan state power and seek to fulfil their aspirations having them centered within that power", said Mr. S. P. Tamilselvan, Head of the Political Wing when the Muslim Press Association of the Eastern Sri Lanka met him at the LTTE political headquarters in Kilinochchi yesterday, 19th December 2003, the LTTE peace secreatariat website said.
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ADB funds Jaffna Water, Sanitation study

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2003, 11:45 GMT]
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded Conflict Affected Area Rehabilitation Project (CAARP) will undertake a feasibility study for Jaffna peninsula water supply and sanitation at an estimated cost US $ 1.2 million, Jaffna Secretariat officials said. Of this amount ADB will provide one million US dollars and the remainder will be contributed by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL). The study will be implemented over nine months commencing from 1st April 2004, a project official told Tamilnet.


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