One of the donor representatives addressing the gathering

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VIP guests at the aid summit (left to right) Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake, Kandy Mayor Kesara Senanayake, Ministers A. H. M. Fowzie, Ferial Ashraff and Tissa Karalliyadde.

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President Kumaratunga lighting the traditional oil lamp.

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One person killed and four injured in explosion in volatile eastern Sri Lanka ; curfew imposed

Protesters lobbed a grenade at a shop in eastern Sri Lanka - , killing one person and wounding four others, the military said.
A curfew was imposed following the attack in the town of Trincomalee, where police had already been put on alert after another grenade blast late Monday damaged a Buddhist statue and slightly injured one person. The town is 230 kilometers (140 miles) northeast of the capital, Colombo.
The protesters had gathered to demand that the statue be removed from the market square in the heart of the town, said S. Bandara of the Trincomalee police.
``Initial reports indicate that one person was killed and another four were injured'' in Tuesday's explosion, said military spokesman Brig. Daya Ratnayake. He said no other details were immediately available.
The attacks occurred less than a week before the Vesak festival marking the birth of Buddha the most sacred day for people in this South Asian country, where 70 percent of the 19 million people are Buddhist.
Most shops, offices and schools were closed and public transport ground to a halt Tuesday in Trincomalee, home to equal numbers of Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims.

Joint panel with rebels could firm Sri Lanka's peace, but analyst warns plan could fail

A top Sri Lankan official said Tuesday that the president's pledge to create a joint panel with Tamil rebels within weeks to distribute tsunami aid would help bring the two sides closer. But an analyst warned that opposition within the ruling coalition could derail the plan.
The comments came as delegates from 125 donor countries and aid agencies met for a second day to discuss ways of ensuring that some of the US$2.2 billion (euro1.74 billion) in aid pledged reaches areas inhabited by minority Tamils, who have long accused the Sinhalese-dominated government of neglecting them.
On Monday, President Chandrika Kumaratunga told the delegates that a joint agency between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels would be set up within weeks to distribute aid to the guerrilla-held north and east, meeting a key rebel demand.
``The proposed agreement will not only help people on the ground, but will go a long way to take the two sides closer,'' Jayantha Dhanapala, head of the government's Peace Secretariat, which handles negotiations with the Tamil Tigers, said Tuesday.
Kumaratunga's main coalition partner, however, has opposed the plan, saying it would help the rebels achieve their goal of establishing a separate Tamil state. The Marxist People's Liberation Front has threatened to withdraw from the coalition if the plan goes ahead, a move that could cause the government to collapse.
Jehan Perera, an analyst with Sri Lanka's National Peace Council, a think-tank, cautioned against too much optimism.
``The issue remains open whether the government can both sign and implement the joint mechanism,'' if it's opposed by her coalition, Perera said.
Kumaratunga also faces opposition from a political party of Buddhist monks that has nine seats in the 225-member Parliament. Most Sri Lankans are Buddhist, and monks are influential in state affairs.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam began fighting in 1983 for a homeland for the island's 3.2 million Tamils. A cease-fire halted the conflict in 2002 but subsequent peace talks collapsed in April 2003 over the rebels' demand for greater autonomy in the north and east.
The fragile truce still holds despite allegations of attacks on both sides.
``We have a large number of violations, but the cease-fire is holding because neither of the sides wants to go back to full scale conflict,'' Dhanapala said.
Decades of war and the Dec. 26 tsunami - which killed some 31,000 people and affected about 1 million more - have thrown 5 million of the island's 19 million people into poverty, the government has said.

Sri Lanka receives record US$ 2.2 b grants from donors

President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Finance Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, World Bank Vice President Praful Patel and other dignitaries at the Sri Lanka Development Forum at the Earl’s Regency, Kandy yesterday.Pictures by Dudley Wickramasinghe
The Government recorded an unprecedented response from the donor community yesterday for its post tsunami reconstruction plan, on the first date of the Sri Lanka Development Forum held in Kandy with donors making commitments worth US$ 2.2 billion yesterday itself, Finance Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama announced last evening here in Kandy.
Addressing the media at the conclusion of the first day sessions of the Development Forum, which focused on post tsunami reconstruction plans, Dr. Amunugama said the commitments by the donors topped the entire tsunami reconstruction requirements presented by the Government at yesterday's sessions.
"More than ninety per cent of the commitments pledged were in the form of grants", Dr. Amunugama added.
A confident Finance Minister said donors were impressed with the presentations made on the post tsunami reconstruction plans of the government.
The estimated post tsunami reconstruction requirement was put at US$ 2 billion. Minister Amunugama said the donors were impressed by the 'excellent' speech made by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga at the inauguration of the Development Forum. "The President's speech has had a tremendous impact on the donor community today", the Minister added.
Deputy Finance Minister Tilak Siyambalapitiya said the bilateral agencies made a commitment worth US$ 745 million at the Forum while multilateral agencies and Non government Organisations making commitments worth US$ 631 million and US$ 853 million respectively.
"Ninety per cent of the commitments were in the form of grants", the Deputy Minister said.
Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera said the special feature of the Development Forum was that it had not made any impact on the country's debts or to the country's budgetary provision since these commitments were made in the form of grants.
"This is the first time Sri Lanka receiving aids in the form of grants", he pointed out. He also said the Government has also received US$ 300 million debt relief from donors.
"Italy and China has written off the debts", Dr. Jayasundera added.

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Govt launches Rs. 7.5 b housing project for war hit North-East

The Government will launch a massive Rs. 7.5 billion project to construct 31,500 war affected houses in the North and East parallel to the permanent housing projects for the tsunami affected in the province, Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Reconciliation Ministry Secretary M. S. Jayasinghe told the Daily News.

The project to be completed over four years commencing this year will be launched on May 19. The project launch follows the successful completion of the pilot project to construct 860 houses in the North and East last year, he said.

The construction process is scheduled to commence on June 1."The World Bank has agreed to increase the money from Rs. 150,000 per house to Rs. 250,000 following the Government decision to grant Rs.250,000 to construct tsunami affected houses," Jayasinghe added.

RRR Ministry Senior Advisor S. Sivadasan said Rs. 250,000 will be provided for the construction of 500 square feet houses fully damaged during the conflict.

Rs. 100,000 will be issued to reconstruct partly damaged houses.

The project will cover Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mannar, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara districts and will be implemented under the supervision of the Chief Secretary of the North East Provincial Council with the Project Management Unit in Trincomalee.

The RRR Ministry, on the special instruction of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has also released Rs.45 million each for Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts to construct 100 houses for tsunami affected people in each of these districts.

"This will be released for the most deserving tsunami affected people in Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts," he said.

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Chandrika throws down the gauntlet at the Donor Conference

Udara Soysa (LM), Mon 16th May 08:55GMT. President Chandrika Kumaratunga assured the international community attending the Donor Conference that the majority in the government was fully behind her in supporting the joint mechanism for tsunami aid distribution. She made her statement as the conference began in Kandy this morning and added that the large majority of people were already in support of the JM. "We believe that the Joint Mechanism would help establish trust between the government and Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam as well as between the Tamil people and the government" she added.

She said it was significant that the LTTE had agreed to work along with the government and the Muslim community in the Joint Mechanism for Tsunami relief and reconstruction.

In what was seen as a clear and unambiguous signal to the constituent Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) she said " Governments are elected to take decisions, difficult and dangerous ones and the lives of many of us are now in extreme danger. But we need the courage to face up to challenges - challenges from terrorists from the North-east and the extremists of the South". Her reference to Southern extremists was clearly a reference to the constituent party the JVP which has threatened strong reprisals if the JM was constituted with the LTTE. The President made an appeal to "the brave and the strong" to push through her decision on the JM.

"We can go beyond power and think of what is best for the nation. What happens in the next few weeks will show what the future holds for us" she added in a clear expression of fear about the threatened reprisals of the JVP.

In what was seen as one of the most impulsive, naive and politically suicidal statements made by a head of state, the President said the JM was a measure that "merely formalized what has been existing in the north and east provinces for the past six years."

The President was also seen as openly castigating the JVP with the observation that "there are those who need a theoretical and conceptual restructuring of political minds, visions and strategies."

She expressed confidence in successfully concluding the JM.

The government is seeking an amalgamated Rs.3 billion for tsunami aid as well as for reconstruction and development strategy finance.

Sri Lanka says coordinating tsunami aid with rebels could bridge country's ethnic divide

Associated Press, Mon May 16, 2005 04:58 EDT . KANDY, Sri Lanka (AP) - Sri Lanka's plan to jointly coordinate tsunami aid with Tamil Tiger rebels in Tamil-majority areas could be a golden opportunity to resolve the country's two-decade ethnic conflict, the president told the opening of a donors conference Monday.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga said she would go forward with the plan within weeks despite opposition within her own ruling coalition, in comments aimed as much at domestic politics as the delegates of 125 governments and aid agencies gathered to address post-tsunami reconstruction.

``The government, at least the major part of it, believes that this is a good opportunity'' to bridge gaps between the Tigers and the government, Kumaratunga said. ``It will open many doors for a final solution to the ethnic problem of Sri Lanka.''

Kumaratunga said she was aware of the risks involved in signing the deal, including the possibility of her being killed by Sinhalese radicals who are opposed.

``We are fully aware that the lives of some of us are in great danger ... perhaps from within,'' said Kumaratunga, the victim of a 1999 Tiger assassination attempt, referring to hardline elements who oppose any cooperation with the Tamils.

Kumaratunga has backed a 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.

Residents in Tamil-majority areas controlled by the Tigers have complained that aid has been slow to reach them since the devastating earthquake and tsunami of Dec. 26 killed more than 31,000 people in the country and affected 1 million others.

International donors have been reluctant to give any funds directly to the guerrillas, listed as terrorists by the United States, but most of them are willing to give to a joint body comprised of representatives of both the government and the rebels.

Kumaratunga indicated that the cooperation with the rebels would go forward within weeks, saying it could be ``one ray of hope'' from the tsunami disaster, helping to resolve a civil war that killed 65,000 people since 1983.

Meanwhile, the World Bank said there would be no shortage of funds to carry out reconstruction and rehabilitation.

``It now appears to be the case that funding the recovery will not be difficult,'' the bank's Vice President Praful Patel said.

The Finance Ministry says it has received commitments from foreign donors for US$1.5 billion (euro1.15 billion) over the next three to four years _ enough to rebuild coasts devastated by the tsunami.

Khalid

Dispelling shadows of darkness: Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa addresses the meeting on CEB reforms at the Temple Trees on Friday. (From Left) Power and Energy Minister Susil Premjayantha, Treasury Secretary P. B. Jayasundera, the Prime Minister, ADB Country Director Alessandros Pio and other ADB officials. CEB trade union representatives were also present.

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Donor forum tomorrow

President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga will inaugurate the Sri Lanka Development Forum at the Earl's Regency Hotel Kandy tomorrow Monday 16.
This is the first time this important international donor forum is meeting in Sri Lanka, thus providing an opportunity for the international donor representatives to acquaint themselves with Sri Lanka's economic performance at close range. The forum will also provide the people with an opportunity to have a better insight into its nature and proceedings.
Around 200 delegates from the international donor agencies such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Japan Bank of International Cooperation and other funding agencies are expected to participate in this two-day forum.
The welcome address will be made by Finance and Planning Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama. World Bank's Vice President Praful Patel will make a speech on development partners. Sessions 1 and 2 on May 16 will be on post-tsunami. The venue for the conference will be at Mahaweli Reach Hotel in Kandy.
Registration of delegates for the Sri Lanka Development Forum -2005 will take place at the Mahaweli Reach Hotel, Kandy at 4.30.p.m. today, followed by a reception and a cultural show organised by the Sri Lanka Tourist Board at 6.30 p.m. The opening ceremony at the Earl's Regency Hotel Kandy will be from 9 a.m. to 10.00 a.m. tomorrow, Monday.
Task Force for Rebuilding the Nation, (TAFREN) Chairman Mano Tittawella will speak on needs, assessment and the reconstruction strategy. TAFREN Director Mahesh Amalean on implementation, monitoring and district capacity issues.
Ministry of Finance and Planning, External Resources Department Director General Sujatha Cooray, representatives from TAFREN and Government Agents in Matara, Trincomalee and Mullaitivu will address the forum.
Among speakers listed to address the third session on May 17, are Central Bank's Governor Sunil Mendis, Treasury Secretary and National Council for Economic Development (NCED) Chairman Dr. P.B. Jayasundera.
Senior DIG Ranges III, Jayantha Wickramaratne who is in charge of the overall security operations said that a joint security operation has been launched with assistance from the Special Task Force (STF), the Ministerial Security Division (MSD), Presidential Security Division (PSD) and the Kandy Police to ensure the safety of the delegates.
Around 800-1000 policemen from all ranks have been detailed for duties connected with the conference. The Army too will be in readiness to assist the Police in case of an emergency. During the conference most roads in Kandy will be kept open.
However the movement of traffic will be restricted due to road blocks and traffic diversions to enable delegates to travel about without hinderance. Several mobile patrols too will be deployed for security work. DIG Central Province Nimal Mediwake and SSP Kandy Guneratna Banda will be in charge of the security arrangements.

Disciplining bus crews

The private bus transport sector in Sri Lanka is not regulated and managed well. For example owners of private buses are mostly individual businessmen and others engaged in full time employment. Often they lease buses and run them as an additional source of income to them. On the other hand route permits to operate on specific bus routes are issued on a political basis by politicians to their supporters.
Bus conductors and drivers do not receive any training at all, and specially the job of being a bus conductor is open to any person without skills training as there are no training requirements.
On the other hand bus crews are paid daily wages as per the income they generate on a particular day. If the bus crew brings in Rs. 3,000 (after settling diesel bills etc.) for the owner at the end of the day the driver and the conductor would be paid around Rs. 300. If they bring more than that they will earn more. If they collect lesser amounts no wages will be paid in order to motivate them to bring more income to the owner.
Sri Lanka's bus conductors and drivers do not have a dress code and they wear any thing acceptable to them. Usually they wear sarongs, shorts, trousers, t-shirts, shirts etc. Sometimes they wear slippers and often are bare footed. Bus crews do not think seriously about pleasant appearance thus hardly can you see a bus conductor who is neatly shaven with a good haircut. Thus sometimes it is an eyesore.
It is time that the government of Sri Lanka take steps to administer and regulate private bus transport sector in a professional way. For an example it is important to give on the job training to both bus conductors and bus drivers. For private bus conductors a "Diploma" may be organized and conducted in Sinhala and Tamil mediums.
This diploma may cover areas like, ethics and communications with commuters, commuter relations, cash management, basic skills in English, Sinhala and Tamil languages, social responsibility, soft skills scheme, etc. Bus drivers may also be given additional training in same areas. Also it is important that either a dress code or a uniform is introduced for them.
The present wage compensation for them results in fierce competition to earn a bigger collection at the end of the day. The bus accident in Alawwa was caused due to competition and trying to overtake another bus.
A wage system linked to the income earned per day will work for sectors like marketing of tangible goods, manufacturing sector (to encourage high out put) etc. But when this is introduced in a service industry like the transport service it results in disregard to the quality of the service offered to the commuters. Also commuter safety and pedestrian safety are risked. Thus the service standards will be lowered.
It is time for the government to constitute a "Wages Board" for private bus crews, under the Wages Boards Ordinance. Wages boards are tripartite bodies. They are constituted for sectors where employees do not have bargaining power to demand higher wages/salaries from their employers. The state can intervene through a negotiating mechanism. Such wages boards are presently constituted for private security guards, plantation workers etc.
Bus crews should be paid a fixed salary, and also they should be made members of the ETF, EPF and other social security schemes for which they are not covered at present. The Government of Sri Lanka should put an end to the practice of issuing route permits on a politicized basis.
Instead route permits should be given after careful analysis of the number of commuters in a specific area and also the population. Other wise too many route permits for one route as it happens now will result in fierce competitions among the bus crews to grab the commuters. This will do more harm than any good.
The Government must also make gazetted laws requiring bus owning individuals to form limited liability companies for their transport business rather than own buses on an individual basis.
This will ensure that the individuals concerned operate their transport business in a systematic way with more focus than the present way of individual ownership of buses. Government must strengthen regulatory powers and functions of the National Transport Commission.

Love ends up in murder

Nerosha was a vivacious sixteen year old girl when she first met her boy friend in their native village of Mabola Wattala sometime ago. It was love at first sight for the man despite their age differences. He was a 26 years old without employment living at his parents residence. Despite being unemployed he was hell bent on pressing Nerosha for an affair.
He was attracted to her like a moth being attracted to a flame. The girl however was bit cautious and wondered how he was going to look after her after marriage. While these thoughts crossed her mind, the man constantly made amorous overtures with the idea of trapping her down.
The affair dragged on for a couple of years but the girl still was reluctant to marry him. How was he going to support her without a job she thought. They met very often in Wattala town and went about on errands together. They also quarrelled often on marriage as nothing seemed to work for him. He was frightened to loose her for someone else and was terribly a frustrated man. He often discussed his personnel matters with his buddies. They often advised him to elope with his beloved one.
The man took their advise seriously and decided to elope with her one fine day. He told his parents about the idea of bringing home his sweet heart. The parents vehemently opposed the idea but were helpless as theywere scared of him. So the man schemed and plotted to abduct her while she is out home.
The girl was unemployed and was confined to her home. He kept a constant vigil on her movements. Some where in January this year when Nerosha was on her way to Wattala town she was bundled into her a three wheeler taxi and whisked away to an annex which he had rented a week earlier.
She was kept in the annex but was not free to to go about as she pleased. He even threatened to kill her if she walked out of the annex to complain to her parents. Meanwhile the Wattala police launched an investigation four months ago into a complaint of abduction made by the girl's parents.
According to Wattala OIC Inspector Dharmasiri Fernando there was a case of abduction pending before in courts. While the couple continued to live in the annex at Wattala, the land lord allegedly raped the girl while her paramour was away from home.
The girl complained to Wattala police about the rape and the couple shifted to her man's parental house. The parents however left the house in disgust as they could not tolerate her presence. However when things became difficult for them to eke out a living, the girl found a job in a garment factory close by. But things changed quickly when he suspected the woman to have tryst with a three wheeler driver. One fine day he saw her talking to her in an intimate manner.
That evening when she came home after work he insisted her to reveal every thing about her affair with the three wheeler driver. This eventually led to a heated argument and the man stabbed his girl with a kitchen knife. The knife cut a deep wound on her back and blood was oozing off her body.
The man having grabbed her then put her in three wheeler and rushed her to Ragama hospital with the help of two friends. On the way to Ragama hospital the suspect alighted from the three wheeler and instructed his friends to admit her to hospital.
Meanwhile the two friends took her to hospital and the doctor who examined the patient told then that she was dead already. The two friends later told Wattala police what took place and the suspect was subsequently arrested hidding in a house at Dematagoda.
Further inquiries are being made by OIC Wattala IP, Dharmasiri Fernando.

Khalid

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Sri Lanka draws plan to uplift 5 million poor affected by civil war, tsunami

Sri Lanka - has drawn up plans to helps millions of people plunged into poverty by the country's two decade civil war and the December tsunami, with a first-time study identifying the country's critical development needs. ``There are about 5 million people living in poverty in Sri Lanka - , perhaps more,'' the UNDP said quoting the report, noting that if statistics from districts affected by the two decade separatist war were available, poverty figures would be much higher.
The tsunami killed at least 31,000 people and displaced 1 million from their homes. The ethnic conflict, which began in 1983, killed 65,000 people and displaced 1.6 million most of them minority Tamils before a cease-fire was signed in 2002. Until the cease-fire there had been no development in the northeast, home to most of the country's 3.2 million Tamils.
The government study, the first of its kind, assesses the United Nations' target of halving poverty in Sri Lanka - by 2015 and will be the yardstick by which the country measures the success of long and short-term strategies.
The survey covers broad areas of development goals with focuses on the economy, aid flows, health and education, water, sanitation and the environment and infrastructure growth.
``Sri Lanka - has long been at the forefront of human development among developing countries. Access to health and education is widespread and the results have been impressive,'' said Miguel Bermeo, the UNDP's resident representative in Sri Lanka - .
``But the tsunami disaster and the two-decade internal conflict have raised tremendous challenges,'' Bermeo said.
Fast-track projects funded by foreign aid are expected to alleviate the impact of the tsunami on people who were affected.
The government's focus is on developing housing, roads, railways and other infrastructure and on generating job opportunities. But there has been criticism of the slow pace of building new housing in tsunami-affected areas, and the government and Tigers have yet to sign a deal allowing the guerrillas to receive foreign funding to speed up development.
``Persistent problems dogging the crucial plantation sector, the embattled regions of the north and east and other rural areas are set against a backdrop of steady progress in lowering infant and maternal mortality and achieving significant education goals for children,'' the UNDP said referring to some of the achievements of Sri Lanka - , home to 19 million people.
Despite the slow pace of development on some fronts, the island boasts high literacy rates with some 85 percent of youngsters between 6 and 10 years enrolled in school and high numbers of both girls and boys having access to free primary and secondary education.

Khalid

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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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We are frustrated that peace is yet to be achieved -Akashi

Japanese Peace Envoy, Yashushi Akashi says Japan and the international community is frustrated that peace is yet to be achieved in Sri Lanka. However, he assured that peacemakers will not give up and will continue to push for peace. Addressing a media conference in Colombo this evening, Akashi said "We all are frustrated that peace is yet to be achieved. But, if you are involved in peace building we should not give up. We will persist."

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.

Foreign aid is no problem in Sri Lanka for post-tsunami reconstruction - but domestic politics could be

Going by official statistics, there is no dearth of foreign funding for post-tsunami reconstruction in Sri Lanka, but analysts warn that domestic political divisions are threatening to delay or frustrate rebuilding.

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

Tamil Tiger rebels shot dead a former fighter in eastern Sri Lanka Saturday after he deserted and refused to rejoin the group, the military said.

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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Miss Universe 2005 contestants (from left) Miss Belize Andrea Elrington, Miss Paraguay Karina Butther, Miss Singapore Cheryl Tay, Miss Sri Lanka Rozanne Diasz and Miss Cyprus Helen Hatjidimetriuo on arrival at a hotel in Bangkok yesterday. Contestants for the Miss Universe 2005 pageant started arriving in Thailand to participate in related events before the contest final May 31.

Congratulations from President to Blair

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

FEATURE-Politics frustrate Sri Lanka tsunami victims

araprakasam Anesteen, a Sri Lankan fisherman, survived the Indian Ocean tsunami but lost his one-year-old son in the waves that engulfed a beach on the northern tip of the island. Five months later, after an outpouring of global aid, the 27-year-old from Sri Lanka's Tamil ethnic minority is convinced victims in the predominantly ethnic Sinhalese south are getting a better deal. "They say they have started building permanent houses in the south. Here they have not even laid a foundation stone," he said near a beach in Manalkadu village -- his home until the Dec. 26. tsunami struck, triggered by a powerful earthquake off Indonesia. "The Sinhalas are getting aid faster than us. I am not angry but we should also be helped, we are also humans, we are also poor. We should all be treated equally." "We've heard it on the radio and read it in the papers," said Anesteen, whose wife was badly injured by the tsunami. In truth, aid is trickling into both areas but the pace is slowing and the poor quality of the projects is breeding frustration. Although Sinhalese areas in the south received faster and better aid in the immediate aftermath of the disaster -- partly because they were closest to the capital Colombo -- the north and the east eventually caught up, aid workers said. But in a country as volatile as Sri Lanka, the perception that minority Tamils are losing out to the south in aid has dangerous implications. It's a perception of bias held by thousands of Tamils in the north and east of a country torn by decades of ethnic unrest in which tens of thousands have been killed. As reconstruction begins, any sign -- real or rumoured -- of an uneven distribution of aid could worsen ethnic rivalries just as the government is struggling to maintain a three-year-old ceasefire between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels. HOPES BELIED The tsunami killed nearly 40,000 people in Sri Lanka. Another 500,000 lost their homes and are either living in tents and shacks or with relatives and friends. Aid agencies and donors pledged $2 billion for relief and reconstruction, although about $500 million has yet to be signed and sealed. The tragedy raised hopes that the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels -- who fought a brutal war for two decades seeking a separate homeland for minority Tamils until a 2002 ceasefire -- would work together to reconstruct the coast including vast swathes under rebel control in the north and east. The two sides agreed to draft a deal to share aid. But the pact, called the joint mechanism, has failed to materialise and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) accuse President Chandrika Kumaratunga of not being serious about it. "There was a hope after the tsunami that there would be a national consensus over tackling the tragedy," said a western diplomat who has closely tracked the aid effort. "But, unfortunately, it hasn't turned out that way and things have gone back to their old ways. People are getting impatient while leaders are playing politics with a disaster," the diplomat said. The delay also reflects strong opposition to the Tamil Tigers from within the coalition government, where a junior partner, the anti-LTTE People's Liberation Front (JVP), has rejected the plan and threatened to leave the coalition -- a move that would lead to the collapse of the government. TOUGH CONDITIONS While politicians squabble, the flow of aid has slowed in the devastated regions. Only $130 million, or a little over 5 percent of the pledged $2 billion, has been channeled into projects. New homes have not been built -- in the north and south. The key parties -- the government, Tiger rebels, the JVP and other groups -- have all launched propaganda drives, only adding to the confusion and sparking charges of bias by the minority Tamils, according to volunteers and political analysts. Today, most tsunami survivors are living in temporary shelters built from palm trees, tarpaulins and tin sheets, which bake in the summer heat. Floors are cracked and rainwater flows inside. Water shortages are frequent. Some survivors complain about the poor quality of rations. All want permanent homes built soon but construction has not begun anywhere, although the government said in March houses would be built in 6-to-9 months. "We recognise that there are great difficulties in undertaking a reconstruction process of this magnitude," said Sanaka Samarasinha, a senior United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) official involved in rehabilitation. "Having said that, several months after the tsunami we think that at a minimum the people ought to know what they are entitled to and when they are entitled to it," he said. Ravi Anthony Fernando, a fisherman who lost his wife and three children, said he was fed up. "I wish I had died too," said the villager from Kallapadu in Mullaittivu district on the LTTE-controlled northern coast. "We don't know how long we have to live in these shacks. We are like slaves, depending on others for everything."

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Special exemptions for tsunami hit A/L students

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.

'Housemaids in Saudi deserve enhanced wage'

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.

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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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Tamils protest firing on demonstrators by Sri Lankan security forces

Residents of the northern Tamil-majority city of Jaffna shut businesses, schools and public transportation on Tuesday in a protest over government forces who earlier fired on ethnic Tamil demonstrators in eastern Sri Lanka.

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.

Powerful Marxists vow to block tsunami aid deal with rebels, say it could divide Sri Lanka

Thousands of supporters of Sri Lanka's Marxist party - a key partner in the ruling coalition - demonstrated Tuesday against a government plan to set up a joint group with Tamil Tiger rebels to distribute foreign aid to tsunami victims in areas under rebel control.

``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.

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