Peace dividend delay eroding Tamils' faith in talks – Col. Karuna

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 February 2003, 16:10 GMT]
“There has been no development work in the northeast so far despite one year of peace. Our people find this disappointing; and it has eroded their confidence in the peace process,” said Col. Karuna, senior commander of the Liberation Tigers, speaking to presspersons Friday at the conclusion of the second round of discussions on ceasefire violations, human rights and Muslim affairs between the Government of Sri Lanka and LTTE in Vavunathivu, five kilometres northwest of Batticaloa town.
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SIHRN-World Bank formalize Establishing NE development fund

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 February 2003, 12:34 GMT]
The World Bank (WB) and the Sub Committee on Immediate Humanitarian Rehabilitation Needs (SIHRN) Friday signed a "Letter of Intent " as a prelude to establishing a North East Reconstruction Fund (NERF) in support of post conflict development efforts in the northeast province, a press release issued by the SIHRN said.


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Muslim parliamentarians meet Sri Lanka's PM

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 February 2003, 02:30 GMT]
A delegation of Muslim parliamentarians Thursday requested Sri Lanka's Prime Minister (PM), Ranil Wickremasinghe, for an opportunity for the Muslims to participate as an independent group in the peace talks now being held between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), sources said.
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TNA MP gets computers to Trinco schools

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 February 2003, 22:08 GMT]
Twelve rural schools from Pulmoddai in the north to Verugal in the south of the Trincomalee district have been supplied with computers purchased under the decentralized budget allocation for the year 2002 given to Trincomalee district parliamentarian, Mr.R.Sampanthan. The total cost of the computers and band equipment is about four million rupees, education sources said.
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Commonwealth Union delegation visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 February 2003, 17:07 GMT]
A four-member delegation of the Commonwealth Union, led by its Secretary General, Mr. Don McKinnon, arrived in Jaffna Thursday and held a meeting with the Government Agent and representatives of people's organizations, sources said.
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New Head of SLMM meets LTTE officials in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 February 2003, 12:49 GMT]
Tryggve Tellefsen, the new head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission(SLMM), a group of Nordic monitors overseeing the year-old truce between Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), met with officials of the LTTE at the Vavuniya SLMM office, sources said.


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Unemployed Graduates picket in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 February 2003, 01:01 GMT]
The Unemployed Graduates Association of Batticaloa (UGAB) held an hour long picketing campaign at the Kallady bridge in Batticaloa Monday blocking vehicles lined up on both ends of the bridge causing traffic congestion in the area, sources said.
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No state lands for tourism development - Trinco DCC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 February 2003, 17:58 GMT]
The Trincomalee District Co-ordinating Committee (DCC) has decided not to encourage foreign investment in the development of tourism in the east port town by granting state land. The decision was taken at the DCC meeting held Tuesday at the district secretariat on a suggestion by the Trincomalee district parliamentarian Mr.R.Sampanthan.


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NE libraries to receive Internet facilities

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 February 2003, 02:22 GMT]
School libraries of forty two schools in the eight districts of northeast province are to be provided with computers with Internet facilities before the end of this month, said Mr.N.Anandaraj, Co-ordinator of the School Library Development of the Provincial Ministry of Education Tuesday.
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Religious leaders meet in Nallur Kandaswamy Temple

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 February 2003, 17:08 GMT]
"It is the duty of the southern religious leaders to organize the masses in the south to thwart all attempts by the Sinhala hard-line Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and other forces from derailing the peace process," said Mr.C.V.K.Sivagnanam, former commissioner of the Jaffna Municipal Council and the President of the Confederation of Jaffna People's Organizations. He was speaking at a prayer meeting in Jaffna in which many inter-religious leaders from South of the island and from the peninsula participated.
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Sweden to help business, industrial development in NE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 February 2003, 19:40 GMT]
The Charge d'Affairs of the Swedish Embassy in Sri Lanka Ms Ann Marie Fallenius Sunday said in Trincomalee that the Chambers of Commerce in districts of Jaffna, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara in the northeast province would be given a boost to expand their institutional capacity and professional competence building program under an agreement the Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FCCISL) signed recently in Colombo with the Swedish International Co-operation Agency (SIDA) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Southern Sweden (CCISS), sources said.


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SLN frequently intrudes LTTE areas in Trinco north- Tilak

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 February 2003, 18:51 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Trincomalee Sunday intervened to diffuse the tension between the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) following an attempt by the SLN personnel to arrest cadres of the LTTE at Kallampathai, a LTTE held area, about forty km north of Trincomalee town, sources said.


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TNA members meet LTTE in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 February 2003, 16:31 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) today discussed modalities to be effective in raising their voices together on issues related to bringing normalcy to lives of the war affected people of North East and to promote the urgent need for rehabilitation and development activities, during a meeting between the TNA parliamentarians and officials of the LTTE that took place in Kilinochichi, sources close to the TNA said.


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Buddhists monks to hold prayer meeting at Nallur temple

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 February 2003, 13:33 GMT]
The arrival of a group of one hundred Buddhist monks from south to Jaffna Sunday has been delayed by one day. The group will arrive Jaffna Monday to hold a prayer meeting lighting oil lamps at the historic Nallur Kandasamy Temple on the same day evening, sources said.


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Hunger strike in Jaffna against inadequate CFA implementation

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 February 2003, 12:27 GMT]
A five-hour token hunger campaign was conducted in front of the historic Nallur Kandasamy Temple in Jaffna Sunday to express dissatisfaction of Tamils to the government's failure to implement the ceasefire agreement fully, sources in Nallur, Jaffna, said.


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SLA, SLN uniforms, weapons recovered from Jaffna EPDA office

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 February 2003, 12:20 GMT]
Police and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers Sunday morning forcibly opened the abandoned office of the Eelam People Democratic Alliance (EPDA), a breakaway group of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) at Vembadi area in the heart of Jaffna town and recovered weapons and uniforms belonging to State armed forces, police sources said.
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Harnessing solar energy to power NorthEast

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 February 2003, 01:01 GMT]
Lives of thousands of poor households in the remote villages of NorthEast can be considerably enhanced if one can provide them with low-cost electricity to meet their modest lighting needs. The abundance of solar energy present in NorthEast and the availability of affordable photo-voltaic (PV) technology makes this possible. An examination of the feasibility of establishing a PV industry and its sustainability, its economic viability and the possible growth of the PV industry to branch into more challenging business endeavours, follows.
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Rotary housing project for Vanni returnees at Varothia Nagar

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 February 2003, 21:49 GMT]
The Trincomalee Rotary Club Saturday laid the foundation stone for a forty-house project at Varothia Nagar, 5 km north of Trincomalee town to the returnees from Vanni region. The German Technical Co-operation (GTZ) has agreed to finance this project by allocating 3.6 million rupees, Trincomalee Rotary Community Services Director Mr.A.Z.J.Singarayer said.
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World Bank helps Vavuniya families to resettle

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 February 2003, 21:03 GMT]
As the first phase of World Bank's Unified Assistance program for helping displaced families resettle in their own villages, World Bank's resident representative in Sri Lanka, Peter Harold, presented checks of Rs.25,000 (US $250) to forty families, in a meeting held at the Vavuniya Tamil Maha Vidyalayam, Saturday, sources in Vanni said.
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SIHRN branch opens in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 February 2003, 18:58 GMT]
A branch of the Sub-Committee on Immediate Humanitarian and Rehabilitation Needs in the North and East (SIHRN) was officially inaugurated at the Vavuniya Secretariat (Kachcheri) by SIHRN's director Selvin Irenuess, Saturday, sources in Vavuniya said.


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