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| Sunday, 23 January 2005 |
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Relief work apace in North-East The focus last week had been on relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction. From Tamil Press by S. Selvakumar The absence and re-emergence of LTTE Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and his scheduled meeting with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Peterson in the company of Anton Balasingham who was scheduled to fly in from London to participate in the meeting with Prabhakaran was also highlighted in the Tamil press. The Sudaroli on Monday led with a story that the TNA wanted an assurance from the head of the ADB that relief was equally distributed to all parts of the country divastated by the tsunami and followed it up with an accusation from Thamilselvan that international aid was not directed towards Tamil areas. The paper said military circles had speculated that the Tigers have constructed a second runway at Iranamadu and were in possession of two small aircraft. The Thinakkural said that the important task before the American marines would be over in two weeks time. In another prominent story the paper reported clashes between police and civilians in Pesalai when the LTTE attempted to hoist its flags in government controlled areas to commemorate Colonel Kittu's twelfth death anniversary. The paper also said that India would assist the Sri Lankan Navy to reconstruct its bases destroyed in the Eastern coast. The Thinakaran said the Prime Minister had assured Muslim political parties that 1000 houses would be constructed in Kalmunai to house the displaced families. The Virakesari led with incidents in Pesalai over Kittu's death commemoration ceremonies. Visiting Canadian Prime Minister, Paul Martin has said that his reason for meeting the TNA was to ensure that Canada was concerned that Tamil areas have properly received relief after the tsunami, the Thinakkural said on Tuesday. The Virakesari in its lead story quoted the US Deputy Defence Minister and said the LTTE was coordinating with the government in the relief efforts. The usually violent Pongu Thamil celebrations was held in the Jaffna University on a very low keynote for fourth year on Monday, the paper said in another story. The Sudaroli said Prabhakaran met with several tamil leaders and called upon them to harness all resources to rebuild the tamil motherland. In another story the paper complained that president Kumaratunga in her master plan to rebuild the nation failed to mention any plans for the affected northern areas and instead concentrated only on the southern and eastern parts of the country. The Thinakaran said new laws would be soon introduced to monitor the activities of NGOs, quoted Social Services Minister Sumedha Jayasena. On Friday, the Thinakaran said US would construct 2,000 pre fabricated houses in Ampara. In another story the paper quoted the Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva and said death certificates could be issued to tsunami victims after obtaining affidavits from the next-of-kin or from surviving relations. The Virakesari said Thamilselvan had requested the EU and Netherlands Ambassadors who met him to ensure the massive aid received by the government in the aftermath of the tsunami would not be utilised to strengthen the military. In another front page news, the paper said the JHU has praised the TRO's handling of relief work. The Sudaroli led with the story announcing the arrival of Anton Balasingham in Colombo on Friday. Two additional government agents have been appointed for Ampara one a Tamil and the other a Muslim, both well versed in Tamil. The Thinakkural led with the story that the government would require a massive 3.5 billion dollars to reconstruct the damaged coastal areas. The paper quoted officials and said soon after the tsunami the government expected aid to the tune of only 1.8 billion dollars to rebuild the coastal areas and since three weeks after the tragedy it has been estimated the original amount would be twice the earlier estimates. The paper also said that soon a tsunami law would be enacted to strengthen the emergency laws to prevent tsunami related crimes. All Tamil dailies carried the news that popular Tamil journalist S.M. Karmegam died in Chennai. The Thinakaran said that all medical goods donated by foreign agencies after the tsunami devastation would be released to hospitals only after tests carried but by the Health Ministry. The Thinakkural led with the news that the visiting Norwegian Foreign Minister and his team would talk only on relief efforts in the aftermath of tsunami and not on the peace process. |
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