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| Sunday, 27 July 2003 |
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US team conducting discussions UN peace-keeping centre here by Ramani Kangaraarachchi Sri Lanka is all set to enter big time international 'peace keeping' with its very own training centre for United Nations Peace Keeping forces. The UN has already given the green light for the centre,which will train not only local soldiers but also servicemen from other countries in the Asian region. Sri Lanka Army has already identified Kukulegama bordering Sinharaja forest as the suitable location to set up the training centre. Representatives of the Army and the UN visited the land last week and were quite satisfied with its suitability. A presentation on this venture by an American team was held at the Army Headquarters on Friday, where local Army top brass were present. Major General Lohan Gunawardena, Chief of Staff of the Army said that Power and Energy Minister Karu Jayasuriya had agreed to allocate the Kukulegama land for this purpose. Two other plots attached to Kukulegama will also be obtained later on, to expand the centre. The land already has several resources required for the centre. It is a matter of improving on what's already there. Gen. Gunawardena said that the first training program is sheduled to commence in mid 2004, once the 20 officers who are presently under training in Bangladesh for this purpose, return. Instructors for the proposed training centre will be selected from the 20. The UN will assist in the training program. Soldiers from Nepal, Butan, Pakistan, India and the United States are expected to participate in the initial two week course conducted by the UN. According to Gen. Gunawardena, at present four officers have been sent to Saudi Arabia and Congo as peace keeping observers for a duration of one year. The future plan is to train soldiers in battalions at the centre and the government will be able to send trained personnel on peace keeping missions, which will also bring in foreign currency to the country. This will also give local soldiers an opportunity to get a new experience and other financial benifits, a senior officer said. A training course first time ever in Sri Lanka for United Nations Peace keeping forces was held at the Pegasus Reef Hotel recently where members from 16 countries participated. It was the first time that a training course was conducted for the peace keeping forces in Sri Lanka. |
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