Up President George H. W. Bush addresses the Private Sector Summit on Post-Tsunami Reconstruction and Rehabilitation which concluded in Washington on May 12. Chairman Asia Society Ambassador Richard C. Holebrooke looks on. Down TAFREN Chairman Mano Tittawella addressing the meeting.
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Akashi said that Sri Lanka is facing a critical period in its political life. He described the situation in Sri Lanka as a state of no war and no real peace. He hoped the country would be in a state of greater stability and prosperity soon. He said they were concerned on the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, series of political killings in the east and also in Colombo. He said he was not placing the blame on either side but, noticed that political leaders had increased their security. He pointed out that killings enhanced the mutual distrust between different parties.
Speaking on the proposed joint mechanism between the government and the LTTE, the Japanese diplomat said President Kumaratunga had indicated she would make a final decision on the joint mechanism in the near future. Akashi was full of admiration for the stand Kumaratunga is taking on the joint mechanism. Akashi said he respected the position taken by the JVP and other political parties. "I expect all leaders to state their position, listen to their viewpoint and for them to find a suitable solution. I hope President Kumaratunga will make the right decision after consultations with other groups" added Akashi
The LTTE political leadership had expressed hope that the joint mechanism would be signed and implemented soon since it would be helpful in the delivery of assistance to the affected people. However, Akashi said, in the absence of a joint mechanism the government and the donor countries have to find an alternate solution.
Speaking on the donor forum scheduled to be held in Kandy from Monday, Akashi said "LTTE told me that they were not invited to the donor forum. It is up to the government to decide who should be invited. May be there is a good reason to invite them. But, we must respect the decision of the government." Akashi pointed out that Japan had a strong sense of solidarity with Sri Lanka. He assured that Japan nor will the international community not interfere in the domestic affairs of Sri Lanka.
Akashi who is here on his 10th visit to Sri Lanka as the Japanese Peace Envoy, met with the JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe, Secretary-General of the Peace Secretariat Jayantha Dhanpala, SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem, TNA parliamentarians, TULF leader V. Anandasangaree, Members of the Muslim Peace Secretariat, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, LTTE political wing leader Thamil Chelvam, He will travel to Kandy tomorrow to participate in the donor forum.
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The finance ministry says it has received commitments from foreign donors for US$1.5 billion (euro1.15 billion) out of an estimated US$2 billion (euro1.53 billion) needed for rebuilding projects over the next three to four years.
That amount is enough to rebuild coasts devastated by the December tsunami, which killed more than 31,000 people across Sri Lanka and affected 1 million others, the ministry says.
But politically, the issue at center stage is whether the Tamil Tiger rebels should have the right to control some of the aid in the areas they rule.
It's a powerful issue on this tropical island, which has seen two decades of war driven by the ethnic divide between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils. The war has left 65,000 people dead, and put the Tiger rebels firmly in control of much of the island's north and east.
International donors are meeting in this central Sri Lankan town starting Monday to review Sri Lanka's needs and discuss development issues.
By now, many thought, a long-planned joint agency between the government and the Tigers would have been created _ a mechanism to oversee the distribution of foreign aid in guerrilla-controlled areas.
Residents in those regions have long complained of a lack of assistance, but international donors are reluctant to give aid funds directly to the guerrillas, who are listed as terrorists by the United States and two other nations.
The joint body, though, remains mired in politics.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga had proposed the joint body, but the Marxist People's Liberation Front, her main ally in the coalition government, has threatened to withdraw if the plan goes ahead, saying it would help the rebels attain their goal of a separate Tamil state. The front controls 39 seats in the country's 225-member Parliament, and Kumaratunga's government could collapse without its support.
``The prime concern for all political parties has been to keep their vote bank intact. Therefore, no national party is willing to be seen to supporting a joint mechanism for Tamil areas,'' said Ilayathamby Dayananda, a Tamil analyst.
``The country is going nowhere with these politics,'' he said.
Rebel supporters see an even more ominous situation.
``As the proposed joint mechanism ... remains mired in Sinhala political maneuvering, deep skepticism has replaced early optimism among the Tamils,'' said the pro-rebel TamilNet Web site, in an analysis of the situation. ``More ominously, a belief is rapidly taking root that Colombo is playing for time and keeping the northeast in the economic and social doldrums while developing the Sri Lankan military for a new war.''
As the extent of tsunami's devastation unfolded in both government and rebel-held areas, many Sri Lankans hoped the tragedy would help the two sides work together.
``When the tsunami struck, help came spontaneously from people irrespective of ethnic, religious or political differences,'' said Kanagalingam Sivajilingam, a lawmaker from the Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance.
``But from the moment politics came into play, there has come a situation where people are not getting any relief whatsoever. This is a serious humanitarian issue, where petty politics should not come in,'' he said.
Suspected rebels kill former fighter in eastern Sri Lanka, military says
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Ponniah Thamilvanan, 27, was gunned down in Batticaloa district, 220 kilometers (135 miles) east of the capital Colombo, military spokesman Brig. Daya Ratnayake said.
Thamilvanan left the group a few months ago and spurned the Tigers' requests to rejoin, said Ratnayake.
Tamil Tiger officials were not immediately available for comment.
Sri Lanka's east has been a hotbed of violence since a senior Tamil Tiger commander broke away from the group last year with some 6,000 fighters in an unprecedented split.
The mainstream Tigers have accused the renegade faction's leaders of collaborating with government forces to attack them.
Continued violence has threatened to derail a cease-fire signed three years ago by the government and the rebels that halted a two-decade civil war.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam began fighting in 1983 to create a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils, accusing the majority Sinhalese of discrimination. About 65,000 people were killed before the truce.
Peace talks have been stalled for more than two years due to differences over how much power should be devolved to the island's Tamil-majority north and east.
Khalid
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President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has sent a message of congratulation to British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The message: "I am pleased to convey my best wishes and warm congratulations on the victory the Labour Party has gained in the General Elections and your election as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for a historic third term.
Relations between Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom are characterised by a long tradition of friendship and close cooperation, sharing common democratic values and perspectives on a broad range of global issues.
While reiterating the great importance Sri Lanka attaches to its relations with the United Kingdom.
It is my sincere desire to work closely with you to further consolidate this relationship and intensify our cooperation during your new tenure of office for the benefit of our two countries.
Please accept, Excellency, my warm personal greetings for your good health, happiness and continued success".
Khalid
GCE Advanced Level candidates in tsunami affected districts will receive certain exemptions on school project work to compensate for the circumstances under which they have to face the examination in June.
Additional Secretary M.G.T. Navaratne said they have proposed maximum benefits for the disadvantaged students in the tsunami districts but there was no plan to postpone the exam further.
"We will conduct the exam as planned from June 6 to July 1," he said adding that there has been no requests to the Ministry or the Examinations Department to postpone the exam. The individual and group project work as well the school based assessment grades which have made compulsory from 2005, go on record in a special booklet provided by the Examinations Department along with their final exam results.
"The project grades are basically meant to give some insight to the special talents and skills of students and is career related. These grades will have no bearing on university admission," Examinations Commissioner Mahinda Wijayasiri said.
There were about 30 schools with GCE A/L classes out of the 174 schools destroyed in the tsunami. The Ministry launched a special programme with the help of Western province schools, headed by Nalanda College, to help affected AL students to cover the syllabus before June.
The program involved distribution of notes and special classes while the Ministry enroled some of the students in other non-affected chools in the area. At the time of the tsunami on December 26, these students had completed three terms of the first academic year.
The examination was postponed from April to June, changing the initial arrangement to hold two exams, one in April for all students and another later for tsunami candidates. The examinations commissioner said the number of candidates registered for this year's exam has increased slightly over 2004. This year the Department has received 245,657 applications, a little over 5000 as against 240,653 in 2004. The number of school candidates this year is 197,088.
The Department has increased the number of Exam centres to 1785, with 35 new ones.
Lanka will negotiate with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for an increased salary of SR 600 for its housemaids from June.
"These maids are receiving SR 400 at present deserve an enhanced wage in the present circumstances," the Lankan Consul General in Saudi Arabia, A.M.J. Sadiq told the Daily News.
Sadiq who will assume duties as Lankan ambassador in Riyadh early next month, said Lanka would supply skilled domestic aides and in return expect an enhanced salary for the benefit of the maids who come there for employment.
Referring to the relocation of the counsalate from Al Salama district, Sadiq said that it was done to offer better services in a cosy environment.
"The new place is strategically located in the heart of the town, in the vicinity of the community school, and in proximity to Sri Lankan settlements in the city, he said. Around 150,000 of Lankan population in the Kingdom live in the Western province.
The diplomat said that the construction of the labour wing of the new consulate costing Rs. 1.6 million was financed by a Lankan expatriate Shahul Hameed Salih, while Dr. Mohideen Mahroof spent Rs one million for the safehouse of the distressed housemaids who seek the mission's help when they are in trouble.
President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga visited the Sripura and Padaviya areas after participating in the inaugural ceremony of the Dahask Maha Wew program on Sunday. Here President Kumaratunga engaged in a discussion with villagers.
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One Tamil man was killed and another wounded on Monday when security forces fired on a crowd of about 300 demonstrators, including some schoolchildren, who demanded that a security checkpoint be removed.
Security officials had blamed the Tamil Tiger rebels for organizing the rally.
The Tiger rebels condemned the shooting on Tuesday blaming Sri Lanka's security forces, and warned the government against banning demonstrations by ethnic Tamils.
``Blocking peaceful protest by the people using arms and violence ... will affect the validity of the cease-fire agreement,'' a rebel statement said. ``We fear that incidents like this will ... create anger among the people and will lead to increased tension in the prevailing fragile situation.''
A 2002 Norwegian-brokered truce has been under increased strain recently with scores killed in violence since a split in the main guerrilla group a year ago.
The strike in the Tamil-dominated city of Jaffna, 300 kilometers (190 miles) north of the capital Colombo, was called by pro-rebel Tamil groups. Reports of similar strikes also came from the predominantly Tamil cities of Trincomalee, Batticaloa and parts of Ampara districts.
The rebels have been fighting since 1983 to carve out an independent homeland for the island's minority Tamils, who claim discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. Nearly 65,000 people were killed before the truce, however, peace talks have been stalled for the past two years.
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``It will be the beginning of the division of this country if this joint mechanism is signed, so we will not allow it,'' Somawansa Amarasinghe, leader of the Marxist People's Liberation Front, told the rally at a square in Colombo.
Thousands of party members shouted slogans against the proposed deal.
The Marxist party has threatened to withdraw from the coalition government if it sets up the joint aid-distribution group with the guerrillas, saying it would help the rebels attain their goal of a separate Tamil state.
The party has 39 seats in the country's 225-member Parliament, and President Chandrika Kumaratunga's government could collapse without its support.
``As long as this coalition government is in force there will be no joint mechanism,'' party senior politburo member Tilvin Silva said. ``If it does take place that would mean the coalition no longer exists.''
Sri Lanka was the second-worst affected country after Indonesia by the December tsunami, with more than 31,000 people killed and nearly 1 million made homeless. The country's northeast, some of which is under rebel control, was hardest-hit by the powerful waves.
Little aid has reached victims of the tsunami in rebel-held areas. International donors are reluctant to give aid funds directly to the guerrillas, who are listed as terrorists by the United States and other nations.
The rebels have sought to receive foreign aid directly as a step toward self-rule.
The Tigers began fighting in 1983 for a separate state in the Tamil-majority north and east, claiming discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. The conflict left 65,000 people dead before a cease-fire was signed three years ago. Subsequent peace talks broke down a year later.
Khalid
President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga cutting the first sod inaugurating the second stage of 10,000 tank restoration program opposite the Loolnewa tank in Kahatagasdigiliya in Anuradhapura yesterday.
A high level team of experts from the South African water sector visited Sri Lanka recently to assist the Southern and Eastern Districts affected by the tsunami.
In response to a request received from the Government of Sri lanka through its High Commission in Pretoria, the Government of South Africa pledged assistance towards the provisions of Alum for water treatment and support for the Government's drive in the reconstruction of the areas affected by the tsunami.
A shipment of 310 metric tonnes of Alum from South Africa, required for water treatment, is due to arrive in Sri Lanka shortly, said Yolande Burger-Ingham, a Civil engineer who worked on several ADB and WB funded projects in South Asia.
Yolande who was in Sri Lanka with her team of civil engineers met National Water Supply and Drainage Board General Manager M. Wickramage and Water Services Support- Department of Water Affairs and Forestry Director Challenge Pelpola at Hotel Galadari recently.
Louis Fourie, Amatola Water Board, James Ngobeni of the South African Black Technical and Allied Consultant Organisations, Rachi Rajagopaul, Umgeni Water, Faan van Rensburg, Botshelo Water Board, Bossie Bosman, Rand Warter and Dr. Danie Wium of the South African Association of Consulting Engineers also participated at the conference held in Colombo.
The team of experts representing the public, private and NGO sectors from South Africa, coordinated through the Department of Foreign Affairs Sri Lanka and the national Water Supply and Drainage Board visited the Southern and Eastern District and met with officials to familiarise and get first hand information on the reconstruction efforts of the various agencies in Sri Lanka.
Site visits to the hardest hit areas also served to identify the synergies that can be achieved between needs for permanent reinstatement of water and sanitation infrastructure and potential resources from South Africa.
The South Africa experts held several discussions with the public sector at national, provincial and local levels, as well as the private sector. These discussions highlighted the commitment from officials at all levels to the enormous reconstruction task that lies ahead. It was clear that the greatest challenge would be to coordinate the applications of resources that are available in abundance.
A number of areas were identified where Sri Lankan officials might benefit from the most recent experience in South Africa, where a large-scale service improvement programme has been conducted by the South African Government in collaboration with the South African civil society, and private sector. Such support could include assisting some districts with integrating their planning initiatives to ensure that a balanced development strategy be followed in addressing the needs of the tsunami victims.
Various forms of technical assistance have also been identified, building on the skills of a number of water boards and the private sector in that country. This would typically represent support in issues of water loss management, feasibility studies and operational trouble-shooting, where inputs will be provided by experts from the water utilities and other water institutions in South Africa.
The Competence Centre for Early Childhood Development (CCECD), initiated a 23 member ECD teacher-training program from those living in the villages of Panduiruppu, Maruthamunai and Periyaneelavanai in Kalmunai for a two-year training program in ECD.
Interestingly, 5 members are male ranging from ages 20-27. The students at the end of the program are each working with 20 children who are mainly from camps and those whose parents cannot afford pre-school education.
Under the program, early childhood education for 400 children from ages 3 - 6 is made possible in these three villages. The areas selected are vital to the cause of the peace process for people of the villages. Marunthamunai provides a healthy filling between Pandiruppu and Periyaneelavanai. The entire project is supervised by committed educators from the three villages called Pesum Nilayam.
The training participants selected for this program were trained by a team of early childhood educators from the Association of Montessori Directresses (AMD), Sri Lanka. The program also includes vocational training.
Everything we did from day one was absorbed like that of ink on blotting paper. The student teachers were all agog with excitement that finally some interest was shown in them.
No cameras flashed, no TV crews were present with their annoying lights, no eloquent speeches were made, and most importantly no Ministers or any 'important' mortal invited to the opening ceremony. Everything went like clockwork for the entire two weeks and we topped it all with an exhibition of all the work that was done.
The exhibition lasted three hours with a steady stream of curious onlookers and many 'oohs' and 'aahs' were heard from teachers and parents. The zonal directors in early childhood development, education officers, as well as Principals of schools. Teachers and Students attended this special feature. The Ministry of Education in Colombo could take a page out of the Eastern Block on the functions of a separate authority for early childhood development.
Not that the teachers had no inkling on the subject of ECD as some of their Colombo counterparts would have you think. Indeed they knew lots of theory by attending the many seminars organized by government and NGO sectors. In fact they were over-exposed to theory.
They had the right theory and the right knowledge BUT what they gained here was the practical aspect of classroom management, practical-life skill training, lesson planning and a host of other areas we take for granted in our own classrooms. We filled in the gaps although we found that the gaps were rather large and could not be filled in a hurry! They took to all this like ducks to water and even taught us a few home truths of their society. We were humbled by the eye-openers and are richer by far for knowing.
The program is unique because of this element. It caters to teachers taking into account the strengths and weaknesses in the segment of society a teacher work in. Through this interaction the early childhood educator in Kalmunnai will be on par with that of her (or his) counterpart in Colombo - or from anywhere in the world.
Hands-on practical training was given priority - be it learning origami, carpentry, crocheting, art, craft, designing a home/school facility, phonics or math. Many teachers as well as experienced educators commented on this feature.
The entire project is unique because of this factor. Too often I have seen the looks of anxiety and uncertainty on the faces of non-English speaking pre-school teachers when they attend the CCECD monthly seminars.
They understand but do not speak. They are more than keen - in fact keener - to know about being a good teacher so that the children in her care gets the best from her.
Unfortunately, she is usually swept aside. Even if she sits on the lap of the English-speaking teacher no way will she gain entrance to making a statement. For the bold ones with the "me-no-care/l-ol'ly-2-awn-learn English speaking" a kind of embarrassed silence follows a simple statement she makes with ghastly grammatical errors. Feet shuffle, loud coughs nearing guffaws, scratching of heads and kind of quirky smiles appear at the corners of well outlined lips. Poor thing! To think that she maybe a far more committed educator than the manicured types - ouch!
This program therefore allows teachers of all sorts, shapes and sizes (without the superior attitude) to further education facilities on ECD. You will find yourself graduating after a period of 4 years depending entirely on the time and energy you put into the projects under the CCECD. Teachers have access to all our seminars on related topics to early childhood.
For special training-of-trainers (TOT) programs usually in tsunami affected areas, AMD teachers are handpicked to undergo training in working with student-teachers in post-trauma situations. If you would like to join our programs during vacation time and help other teachers or learn more about CCECD, please call 077-900-5346 or write to CCECD, 713, D.P. Wijesinghe Mw., Pelawatta, Battaramulla.
by - Shanthi Wijesinghe, Chief Administration Officer/ Vice-Chairperson - Competence Centre for Early Childhood Development (CCECD), Sri Lanka. Exec. President - Association of Montessori Directresses, (AMD) Sri Lanka.
A Tamil youth identified by Police as Nadaraja Jeewaratnam (28) was shot dead at point blank range on Saturday night in Dehiwela, Police said.
According to the Dehiwela Police, unidentified persons had fired seven shots at the victim using a 9mm pistol around 9.10 pm along Second Lane, Dehiwela. Police informed by a neighbour rushed to the scene and had found a passport and an identity card belonging to the suspect.
Police who traced the location on identity card had found the address at Jintupitiya, Colombo 13 to be fictitious. The victim was conducting tuition classes in Dehiwela. Dehiwela Police are on trail of the suspects still at large.
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) unions yesterday decided to abandon the continuous Trade Union action scheduled from Tuesday (10) after they were given an assurance by the Government that the CEB will not be privatised.
Power and Energy Minister Susil Premjayantha, Finance Minister Sarath Amunugama and Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, Power Energy MInistry Secretary P. Virahandi and thirty trade union leaders participated in the discussions at Temple Trees prisided over by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
After four hours of discussion they reached a consensus. After agreeing to the final terms Union leaders urged the Government members to give a written undertaking.
Thereafter, Finance Minister Amunugama, Power and Energy Minister Premjayantha and Secretary of the Power and Energy Ministry P. Virahendi signed a document, which contained two assurances:
Cabinet paper submitted on 04/05/2005 to restructure the CEB will not be supported at the next Cabinet eeting scheduled for Wednesday May 11.
l To draft a new Reform Bill with the discussion of Unions after studying the Electricity Reform Act No 28, 2002 and CEB Act without changing the identity of the CEB but allowing provisions to establish companies and institutions under the CEB to improve the efficiency to obtain financial assistance from donor agencies.
Prime Minister Rajapaksa during the discussion reiterated that the government would not privatise state resources and would act in accordance with the wishes of all parties in the governing Alliance.
Finance Minister Sarath Amunugama thanked the Unions for their co-operation and said "all our doubts are cleared now. Certainly have no intention to privatise the CEB. The conflict between us turned to an understanding. We shall now work for low cost power generation."
CEB Unions Convener Ananda Nimalaratne speaking requested the Government members to keep to promises. He said that Unions never launched any Trade Union action to cripple the CEB or create inconvenience to the public. "Our union action was to protect the CEB going into the hands of the private mudalalis but we will support the Government for a restructuring process to improve efficiency", he added.
Finance Minister Sarath Amunugama, Power and Energy Minister Susil Premjayantha and Secretary of the Power and Energy Ministry P. Virahandhi signing the document assuring that the CEB will not be privatised. Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were believed to be getting more aircraft, the minister said in an interview with The Hindu newspaper.
“We are concerned about the LTTE having built an airstrip and having two aeroplanes and there’s news about more coming,” Singh said, but did not elaborate.
Sri Lanka told neighbouring countries recently it was worried about the guerrillas acquiring flying capability while the two sides observed an Oslo-brokered truce that has been in effect since February 23, 2002.
Colombo said it had information that the guerrillas had built an airstrip in LTTE-held Iranamadu in the country’s north and that they had acquired two light aircraft. It said this would violate the ceasefire agreement and pose a threat to national security.
New Delhi armed, trained and provided safe haven to Sri Lankan Tamil separatists in the mid-1980s, but moved to disarm them after a July 1987 bilateral peace pact with Colombo.
The LTTE repudiated the peace plan and ended up fighting Indian troops who withdrew after a 32-month acrimonious deployment that saw 1,200 of their men killed in action against the Tigers.
Since then, India has concentrated mainly on pushing trade and economic ties with its southern neighbour.
Earlier this month, top civil servants of Sri Lanka and India met in Colombo to review bilateral relations and discussed “defence matters” as well as efforts to boost trade.
Sri Lanka proposed a defence cooperation pact with India in October 2003. There has been no final agreement.
India and Sri Lanka entered into a free trade agreement in 19
Khalid
KEGALLA, Sri Lanka - The teacher held up an electric cake mixer and told the class of wide-eyed women before her to clean it properly. If it smells, "Mama," as the aspiring maids were instructed to call their female employers, "will be angry and she will hammer and beat you."
Some maids being trained in Kegalla, Sri Lanka, will find brutal work conditions in the Middle East.
More than a million Sri Lankans - roughly 1 in every 19 citizens - now work abroad, and nearly 600,000 are housemaids.
"This is where you go wrong," the teacher continued. "That is how Mama beats you and burns you - when you do anything wrong."
Eighteen female hands took down every word, as if inscription could ward off ill fortune. Among the women, Rangalle Lalitha Irangame was struggling to keep up, haggard after a sleepless night in the hospital. Her 4-year-old daughter was sick with fever, a worrisome turn for any mother, but a cause for panic for one about to leave for years abroad.
After a year of thinking, 35-year-old Lalitha - who prefers that name - decided to trade her life as a Sri Lankan housewife for one as a Middle Eastern housemaid. After completing their 12-day training, she and her classmates would join a mass migration of women to the Persian Gulf's petro-lubricated economies, trading the fecundity and community of Sri Lankan villages for the aridity and high-walled homes of the Arab world.
Behind those walls the women risk exploitation so extreme that it sometimes approaches "slaverylike" conditions, according to a recent Human Rights Watch report on foreign workers in Saudi Arabia. But while attention has focused on the failure of countries like Saudi Arabia to prevent or prosecute abuses, the de facto complicity of the countries that send their women abroad has largely escaped scrutiny.
For developing countries, migration has become a safety valve, easing the pressure to employ the poor and generating more than $100 billion in remittances in 2003, according to a study by Devesh Kapur, an associate professor of government at Harvard.
More than a million Sri Lankans - roughly 1 in every 19 citizens - now work abroad, and nearly 600,000 are housemaids, according to government estimates. Migrant workers have become Sri Lanka's largest and most consistent earner of foreign exchange, out-doing all major agricultural crops.
In Saudi Arabia, the most common destination, they call Sri Lanka "the country of housemaids." In Sri Lanka they call the maids heroines.
Sri Lanka's government has become an assiduous marketer of its own people. With training programs like Lalitha's, it is helping to prepare what is by now a second generation of housemaids. It even provides a safe haven to shelter, hide and rehabilitate those women who return with broken bodies, lost minds or incipient children.
But it does little to publicize those abuses, protest against them or protect the women for fear of jeopardizing the hundreds of millions of dollars they send home each year.
The women's remittances have built homes, provided capital for businesses, and given the women themselves an enduring confidence. But those gains have come with incalculable hardships.
The women often leave indebted, work virtually indentured and have almost no legal redress against the sexual harassment, confinement or physical abuse they often suffer in the countries they adopt. With no absentee voting rights, they also have no political voice back home.
By one estimate, 15 to 20 percent of the 100,000 Sri Lankan women who leave each year for the gulf return prematurely, face abuse or nonpayment of salary, or get drawn into illicit people trafficking schemes or prostitution.
Many housemaids who run away from their employers are kept in limbo at Sri Lanka's embassies because no one wants to pay their way home. Last year, after their plight was publicized, the government airlifted home 529 maids who had been living for months, packed as tightly as in a slavehold, in the basement of the embassy in Kuwait.
Hundreds of housemaids have become pregnant, often after rapes, producing children who, until Sri Lanka's Constitution was recently amended, were stateless because their fathers were foreigners. More than 100 women come home dead each year, with most deaths labeled "natural" by the host governments, although Sri Lankan officials concede they are powerless to investigate.
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President Chandrika Kumaratunga was meeting with the Marxist People's Liberation Front, which is her party's main partner in the country's governing coalition - and has threatened to withdraw from the government if it sets up a joint aid-distribution group with the guerrillas.
The Marxist party holds 39 seats in the 225-member Parliament, and without its support, the government might collapse.
Details of the meeting were not immediately available.
The Marxist party has said setting up a joint group would help the rebels attain their goal of a separate Tamil state.
The Tamil Tigers have been observing a three-year-old cease-fire with the Sri Lankan government, after fighting a two-decade civil war to try creating a separate homeland for the country's ethnic minority Tamils. The conflict killed more than 65,000 people.
Government-rebel peace talks have stalled over differences on how much power should be devolved to Sri Lanka's Tamil-majority north and east.
The Dec. 26 Indian Ocean tsunami killed at least 31,000 people in Sri Lanka, and left nearly 1 million homeless. The hardest- hit areas were in the country's northeast, some of which is controlled by the Tamil Tigers.
CEB demands immediate withdrawal of reforms bill, or else all out strike commencing Tuesday
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The workers also launched a token strike today afternoon at 2.00 p.m., it is scheduled to go on till tomorrow 8 a.m. The striking unions also claimed that even though during their meeting with President Kumaratunga last night she had assured that the CEB will not be liquidated after the reforms are implemented, the Cabinet paper which was passed states that the Board will be liquidated and a new company will be formed in its place. “We are giving the Government time till Monday, by then if they do not withdraw both documents, then we will launch an all out strike from Tuesday onwards,” the JVP backed Lanka Viduli Sevaka Sangamaya General Secretary Ranjan Jayalal warned.
The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation increased fuel prices with effect from midnight yesterday.
The Rs.2. per litre premium levied on petrol and diesel sold through retail outlets within Colombo Municipal limits was withdrawn. A litre of 90 Octane petrol now costs Rs.74, up from Rs.70 (Colombo) and Rs.68 (outside Colombo). A litre of super petrol (95 Octane) will be priced at Rs.77. The earlier price was Rs.73. Normal Diesel prices rose by Rs.2 per litre in Colombo, with a litre now costing Rs.46. Super diesel will be priced at Rs.51.30 per litre.
Kerosene will cost Rs.3 more per litre, at Rs.28.50. Furnace oil prices too have been revised upwards, with the 1500 Sec variety priced at Rs.28.30 per litre and the 3500 Sec variety at Rs.26.
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The announcement came ahead of a key meeting between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and her main coalition partner, which has threatened to withdraw from the government if such a body is formed.
The areas hit hardest by the December tsunami were in the country's northeast, some of which is controlled by the Tamil Tigers.
The Tigers have repeatedly demanded access to some of the US$2 billion (euro1.5 billion) in tsunami aid promised to Sri Lanka. But most international donors are reluctant to give funds directly to the rebels, which are considered terrorists by India, Britain and the United States.
The group will operate for one year, senior officials said on condition of anonymity, after which an extension could take place if both parties agree. It would deliver foreign aid to tsunami-affected areas two kilometers (1.2 miles) inland from the coastline in six districts in the north and east, they said.
President Kumaratunga is to meet on Friday with the Marxist People's Liberation Front, in a last-ditch effort to secure their support for the joint group, the officials said.
The Marxist party says the group would help the rebels attain their goal of a separate Tamil state, and has threatened to withdraw from the government if it is formed.
The Marxists hold 39 seats in the 225-member Parliament, and without their support the government might collapse.
The Dec. 26 tsunami killed at least 31,000 people in Sri Lanka and left nearly 1 million homeless.
The rebels began fighting in 1983 to carve out a separate state for the 3.2 million Tamil minority, claiming discrimination by the 14 million Sinhalese majority. Nearly 65,000 people died in the civil war before Norway brokered a cease-fire in 2002. Talks to forge a permanent peace deal broke down two years ago and efforts to restart negotiations have so far failed.
Sri Lanka probes claims of ethnic violence that triggered civil war
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The investigation comes nearly a year after the government agreed to pay about US$7 million in compensation to 939 victims of the anti-Tamil riots, following a recommendation from a three-member Truth Commission on Ethnic Violence.
There have since been 4,622 new applications for compensation, a statement from the commission said, adding that the new probe will ``ascertain the veracity of the claims made by these applicants.''
The amount of any compensation will depend on the degree of damage and nature of suffering, the commission said.
More than 800,000 Tamils fled to India and Western nations to escape the 1983 anti-Tamil riots, which erupted after a fledgling Tamil rebel group ambushed 13 soldiers.
Thousands of other Tamils joined the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam, or Tamil Tigers, who launched a two-decade civil war to carve out an independent homeland for the Tamils, who claimed discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. Nearly 65,000 people died in the conflict.
Norway brokered a cease-fire in February 2002. The truce has largely held, but government-rebel peace talks broke down two year ago over disagreements about power-sharing arrangements, Efforts to restart negotiations have so far failed.
There are about 3.2 million ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka, an Indian Ocean island nation of 18.6 million.
