A Sri Lankan Airlines plane travelling from Colombo to Heathrow was forced to make an emergency landing at Stansted, police have said.
Two men were arrested on suspicion of endangering the A330 Airbus which was carrying 267 passengers and crew.
Essex Police boarded the aircraft shortly after 19:30 BST and arrested the pair.
The remaining passengers were taken to a reception centre before being transferred to Heathrow.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24184748
Source: BBC
Former LTTE Trincomalee leader who was indicted on charges of having attacked army camps, assaulting soldiers and killing them was acquitted yesterday by the Trincomalee High Court Judge R. Amal Ranaraja.
Siva Subramaniam Varadanadan alias Paduman had been accused of carrying out the attacks and killings between July 1, 2001 and Dec. 31, 2001. He functioned as the LTTE leader of Palampatar and was indicted by the Attorney General under the 1979 Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Paduman surrendered to the army on the Vanni East front during the last phase of the conflict in early 2009. Military sources told The Island that Paduman had been held in LTTE custody since March 2004 for his alleged involvement in the revolt spearheaded by Karuna Amman, the then Batticaloa leader. The LTTE detained him after the SLAF had flown him from Trincomalee to Kilinochchi following a request made by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission on behalf of the LTTE.
Karuna refused to board the SLAF chopper in defiance of orders from Kilinochchi and escaped.
During peace talks arranged by Norway during the then Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure as the Premier, Paduman represented the LTTE in negotiations. (SF)
Source: The Island (Sri Lanka)
The Customs Department has introduced a new import declaration procedure to expedite the clearance of import cargo, Customs spokesman Leslie Gamini said today.
The new procedure will require importers to bring their documents to a single clearance officer after certify them in their office. The new procedure will reduce the turn-around time by some six hours.
“The new procedure called the ‘Green Channel’ system was tested with the help of three importers for the first time today. Gradually the number of importers accessing this new procedure will be increased,” Mr. Gamini said.
He said this procedure was in use at the long room of the importers division of the sea cargo clearance section in the Customs head office. (Chaturanga Pradeep)
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
Former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake has been barred by court from leaving the country.
Colombo Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya issued the order when Bandaranayake appeared in court today over a case filed by the bribery and corruption commission.
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) consisting of some 100 lawyers appeared in the case representing Bandaranayake.
The case was postponed to February 14 next year.
Source: Colombo Gazette
පොල් රුප්පාවෙන් තල් රුප්පාවට පැමිණි යාල්දේවී දුම්රිය මෙයට වසර 23 කට පෙර ත්‍රස්‌තවාදීන් විනාශ කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව යළිත් පෙරේදා (14 දා) සිට කිළිනොච්චිය දක්‌වා ගමන් ඇරැඹීය. ඕමන්තේ සිට කිළිනොච්චිය දක්‌වා යළි ඉදි වූ කිලෝ මීටර් 62 ක්‌ වූ දුම්රිය මාර්ගය පෙරේදා (13 දා) ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා විසින් විවෘත කිරීමත් සමග උතුරේ වැසියන්ට මෙන්ම දකුණේ වැසියන්ටද යාල්දේවි දුම්රියෙන් කිළිනොච්චිය දක්‌වා ගමන් කිරීමේ අවස්‌ථාව උදාවිය.
ඕමන්තේ දුම්රිය ස්‌ථානයෙන් යාල්දේවි දුම්රියට ගොඩ වූ ජනාධිපතිවරයා කිලිනොච්චිය දක්‌වා දුම්රියෙන් පැමිණ කිළිනොච්චිය දුම්රිය මාර්ගය ජනතා අයිතියට පත් කළේය.
කිළිනොච්චිය දුම්රිය ස්‌ථානයට දුම්රියක්‌ ළඟා වූයේ වසර 23 කට පසුය. මේ ඓතිහාසික අවස්‌ථාව දැක බලා ගැනීමට ඕමන්තේ සිට කිළිනොච්චිය දක්‌වා ජනතාව දුම්රිය මග දෙපස රෝ ක්‌වී බලා සිටියහ. දුම්රියෙන් ගමන් කළ ජනාධිපතිවරයාට ඔවුහු අත වනමින් ආචාර කළහ.
ත්‍රස්‌තවාදීන් විසින් සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම විනාශ කර තිබූ උතුරු දුම්රිය මාර්ගය ප්‍රථමයෙන්වව්නියාවේ සිට කාන්චිකුලම දුම්රිය ස්‌ථානය දක්‌වාත් එතැන් සිට ඕමන්තේ දුම්රිය ස්‌ථානය දක්‌වාත් ඉදිකර දුම්රිය ධාවනයට ඉඩ සැලසූ අතර පෙරේදා එම දුම්රිය ඕමන්තේ සිට කිළිනොච්චිය දක්‌වා ධාවනය කෙරිණි.
පෙරවරු 9.00 ට පමණ ඕමන්තේ දුම්රිය ස්‌ථානයෙන් යාල්දේවි දුම්රියට ගොඩ වූ ජනාධිපතිවරයා පෙරවරු 9.30 ට පමණ එනම් පැය 1/2 ක්‌ වැනි සුළු කාලයකින් කිළිනොච්චියට ළඟාවිය. මේ අවස්‌ථාවේ ජනාධිපතිවරයා ඕමන්තේ සිට කිළිනොච්චිය දක්‌වා යාල්දේවී දුම්රියේ ගමන් කළ මගී පිsරිසක්‌ සමග කතා බහක යෙදීමටද අමතක නොකළේය.
1902 දී කන්කසන්තුරේ සිට චාවාකච්ෙච්රිය දක්‌වා ද, 1902 සැප්තැම්බර් 15 වැනිදා සිට පලෙයි දක්‌වාද ඉදිකෙරුණු මෙම දුම්රිය මාර්ගය 1905 වන විට පොල්ගහවෙල සිට අනුරාධපුරය දක්‌වා ඉදිවූ දුම්රිය මාර්ගයට සම්බන්ධ කෙරුණි. ඉන්පසු යාල්දේවි සිය මංගල ගමන උතුර දක්‌වා කැන්දාගෙන ආවේ 1956 අප්‍රේල් මස 23 වැනිදාය.
මෙම දුම්රියට 1988 න් පසුව වරින් වර ත්‍රස්‌තවාදී ප්‍රහාර එල්ල විය. 90 දශකයෙන් පසුව වව්නියාවෙන් ඔබ්බට දුම්රියක්‌ ධාවනය වුණේ ත්‍රස්‌තවාදී ග්‍රහණයෙන් උතුර සම්පූර්ණයෙන් මුදා ගැනීමෙන් අනතුරුවය.
ඉන්දීය රජයේ ණය ආධාර මත ඉර්කෝන් සමාගම විසින් 2011 වසරේ සිට උතුර දුම්රිය මාර්ගය යළි ඉදිකිරීම ආරම්භ කළ අතර එහි පළ වූ අදියර යටතේ ඕමන්තේ සිට කිලෝ මීටර් 90 ක්‌ පලෙයි දක්‌වා දුම්රිය මග ඉදිකෙරේ.
පෙරේදා සිට කිළිනොච්චිය දක්‌වා ගමන් ඇරැඹි යාල්දේවි දුම්රිය ලබන අප්‍රේල් සිංහල අලුත් අවුරුද්දට පෙර කන්කසන්තුරේ දක්‌වා ධාවනය කිරීමට සැලසුම් කර තිබේ.
උතුරයි දකුණයි යා කෙරුණු යාල්දේවි දුම්රිය 1985 වසරේදී ත්‍රස්‌තවාදී ප්‍රහාර එල්ල කර විනාශ කරන අවස්‌ථාවේ එම දුම්රිය ධාවනය කරවූ අද අවුරුදු 84 ක්‌ වයසැති රියෑදුරු රැෆsයල් ලියනගේ සහ දුම්රියේ ආරක්‍ෂාවට එදා එහි ගමන් කළ යුද හමුදා කපිතාන් සිසිර බණ්‌ඩාර යන මහත්වරුන්ද මෙම ගමනට එක්‌වීම විශේෂත්වයකි.
කිළිනොච්චිය දුම්රිය ස්‌ථානය ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා අතින් ජනතා අයිතියට පැවරීමත් සමග එහි පැවැති උත්සවය අමතා ප්‍රවාහන ඇමැති කුමාර වෙල්ගම මහතා අදහස්‌ දක්‌වමින් යාපනයෙන් දුම්රියට ගොඩවන වැසියෙකුට කතරගම පුදබිම දක්‌වා දුම්රියෙන් ගමන් කිරීමේ අවස්‌ථාව වත්මන් රජය විසින් තව නොබෝ දිනකින් උදාකරන බව සඳහන් කළේය.
මෙම අවස්‌ථාවට ඇමැතිවරුන් වන ඩග්ලස්‌ දේවානන්දා, නියෝH ඇමැති රෝහණ දිසානායක, උතුරු මැද පළාත් ප්‍රධාන ඇමැති එස්‌. එම්. රංජිත්, ප්‍රවාහන ඇමැති ලේකම් ධම්මික පෙරේරා යන මහත්වරුද එක්‌ වූහ.
Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)
You are cordially invited to attend a special Dhamma talks delivered in Sinhala By Ven. Dr. Kabalewe Sirisumana Maha Thera Head of the Buddhist Vihara, Upton Park, London at the London Buddhist Vihara on Saturday 21st September 2013 at 7.00pm – 8.00pm.
ලබන වසරේ මාර්තු මස පැවැත්වෙන ජිනීවා මානව හිමිකම් සමුළුව වෙත ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට එරෙහි සාවද්‍ය චෝදනා එල්ල කර තවත් යෝජනාවක්‌ ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමේ රහසිගත වැඩපිළිවෙළක්‌ දියත් වී ඇත. මේ යෝජනාවට අවශ්‍ය මූලික කටයුතු සැළසුම් කිරීම සඳහා බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ද්‍රවිඩ සංසදයේ කණ්‌ඩායමක්‌ ජිනීවා නුවරට පැමිණ බටහිර රටවල තානාපතිවරු හමුවී සාකච්ඡා කිරීම ආරම්භ කර තිබේ.
කොටි හිතවාදි බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය මන්ත්‍රීවරු හය දෙනකුද ඊට සහාය වන බවත් ඔවුන් විසින් පසුගිය 12 දා බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය අගමැති ඩේවිඩ් කැමරන් වෙත යෑවූ සන්දේශයකින් මේ අලුත් යෝජනාව ගැන හෙළිවී ඇත.
මෙකී යෝජනාවේ අඩංගු කර ඇත්තේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට එරෙහිව යුධ අපරාධ කිරීම් සම්බන්ධයෙන් අන්තර්ජාතික විමර්ශනයක්‌ පැවැත්විය යුතු බවයි.
ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට එරෙහි රටක්‌ විසින් මේ 3 වැනි යෝජනාව ඉදිරිපත් කෙරෙන බව ජිනීවා ආරංචි මාර්ග දක්‌වයි.
එකී යෝජනාවට සහයවීමක්‌ ලෙස ඇමනෙස්‌ට්‌ ඉන්ටර්නැෂනල් – හියුමන් රයිට්‌ස්‌ වොච්, ලෝයර්ස්‌ රයිට්‌ස්‌ වොච් ඉන්ටර්නැෂනල් සර්විසස්‌ ෙµda හියුමන් රයිට්‌ස්‌ වොච් සහ ලිබරේසන් නමැති විදේශ රාජ්‍ය නොවන සංවිධාන පසුගිය බදාදා 24 වැනි මානව හිමිකම් සැසිවාරය අමතමින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව යුද අපරාධ සිදුකර ඇති බවත් බරපතළ ලෙසින් මානව හිමිකම් උල්ලංඝනය කර ඇති බවත් පවසා ඇත.
මේ අතර කොළඹදී මානව හිමිකම් කොමසාරිස්‌ නවිපිල්ලේ වෙත ලබාදුන් වාර්තාවේ ඝාතනය වූ බවට දක්‌වා ඇති මාධ්‍යවේදීන් 22 දෙනා කොටි ත්‍රස්‌තවාදීන් යයි සනාථ කිරීමට වාර්තාවක්‌ මානව හිමිකම් සැසිවාරය වෙත යොමුකිරීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය තීරණය කර තිබේ.
ඊට අදාළ ත්‍රස්‌තවාදීහු විසිදෙදෙනාගේ සියලු තොරතුරු මීට ඇතුළත් වේ.
විදෙස්‌ගත කොටි විරෝධීන්ද ඒ සඳහා රජයට සහාය වී ඇත.
Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)
Dismissing allegations of poor human rights situation in Sri Lanka, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said a stable and powerful government is essential for the country’s development and the western countries criticised him without “clear understanding”.
“The development of a country requires a stable government. A stable government is a powerful support to a country. A powerful government with full support by the people is the most important factor for us to push forward,” he said in an interview to China’s state television CCTV.
“It’s easy for the western countries to talk, to criticise. I’m sorry to say that the western countries criticise us without having a clear understanding,” he said about persistent criticism about the human rights record in the country even after the end of the 26-year-long ethnic conflict in 2009 with the defeat of the LTTE.
Defending deepening ties between China and Sri Lanka, Rajapaksa said the friendship between the two countries goes back a long way.
“Bilateral relations have extended to educational, social, cultural and all kinds of aspects. Thus, a high level of strategic cooperative partnership has been formed,” he said.
“What I want especially to say is about Sri Lanka’s infrastructure construction. For the port construction, we want a free port. As for the tourism, we need a lot of Chinese investment. And we are satisfied with the investment from China so far,” he said.
Elaborating on increasing heavy Chinese investments in the island nation, China’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka Wu Jianghao said Beijing followed a three-pronged plan to deepen its ties with Colombo which included, infrastructure development, support to key industries and finally, to help Lanka to “advance towards the world”.
He did not, however, explain what helping Lanka to advance towards world meant.
Wu said the two countries signed agreements on a three- stage economic cooperation plan in May this year which will boost economic and trade cooperation.
At present, China is investing heavily in Sri Lanka, helping the country to develop its ports infrastructure as well as that of road and rail network.
China helped to build the phased construction of Hambatota Port followed by modernising Colombo Port.
During the visit of Rajapaksa in China this May, China offered USD 2. 2 billion worth of new loans and the two countries agreed on USD 1.5 billion investment of private sector in the northern express highway linking Kandy in the central part of Sri Lanka to Jaffna in the north, according to Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, G L Peiris.
Strategic analysts say the heavy Chinese investments specially in Sri Lanka’s ports portend China’s future plans to increase its presence in India’s backyard, the Indian Ocean.(PTI)
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
අනුරාධපුර රාජධානියේ ශ්‍රී විභූතිය විදහා දැක්‌වෙන පරිදි හා වනාන්තර සංරක්‌ෂණයට මුල්තැන දෙමින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ වන උයනක ඉදිවුණු ප්‍රථම පාරිසරික සංචාරක හෝටලය අද (13 දා) පස්‌වරුවේ අනුරාධපුරයේ දී ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා අතින් විවෘත කෙරේ.
අනුරාධපුර – පුත්තලම මාර්ගයේ 38 කණුව අන්දරවැව ප්‍රදේශයේ අක්‌කර 50 ක වනාන්තරයක ඉදිව ඇති මෙය ෆොරස්‌ට්‌ රොක්‌ ගාර්ඩ්න් රිසෝර්ට්‌ ලෙස නම්කර තිබේ.
පරිසර හිතකාමී සංචාරක හෝටල් සංකල්පය යටතේ ඉදිවූ නූතනම සංචාරක අවන්හල මෙය වන අතර මෙහි හිමිකරු සහ නිර්මාණකරු වන්නේද පී. චන්ද්‍රසිරි නමැති ගෘහ නිර්මාණ ශිල්පියාය.
රුපියල් බිලියන 625 ක ආයෝජනයෙන් ඉදිකර ඇති මෙය වන උයනකින් පොහොසත් පැරැණි අනුරාධපුර රාජධානියේ සිරි මවයි.
Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)
The government of Sri Lanka has approved a hotel and leisure resort deal with Australian gambling tycoon James Packer’s Crown Ltd, but the investment is likely to increase from the original $350 million, the country’s investment promotion minister told Reuters on Thursday.
The finalisation of the deal was delayed because the Sri Lankan government was asking Lake Leisure Holdings, the joint venture between Crown Ltd and its local partner, Rank Entertainment Holdings Pvt Ltd, to change its construction plan.
Investment Promotion Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said the government had approved the deal with two towers in the original location given to the joint venture, instead of one.
“Today cabinet approved the tax concessions for the strategic development project of Lake Leisure Holdings. Now it will go to the parliament,” Yapa told Reuters in an interview. “The agreement is for $350 million. They have done some alterations, so it might increase,” Yapa said.
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
Britain has said that the participation at the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo is the right thing for the Commonwealth.
Speaking on Wednesday at the debate on human rights in the Commonwealth at the House of Commons in the British parliament, British Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Hugo Swire said that the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and he had decided to attend the meeting. “That is the right thing for the Commonwealth- an organisation we strongly support- which has a positive role to play in promoting freedom, democracy and human rights,” he said.
During the debate several Parliamentarians demanded the meeting in Colombo be boycotted.
“In 2009, Sri Lanka offered to host the CHOGM in 2011. At the CHOGM in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009, the Heads of Government decided not to accept the offer and decided that Australia should host CHOGM in Perth in 2011. They decided that Sri Lanka should host it in 2013, and that decision was reaffirmed in Perth, at which the Commonwealth representative was a Minister from the previous Government. There was no widespread support among the Heads of Government for a change of location,” he added.
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
[R. Madduma Bandara]
The Metropolitan Police of London were embarrassed today (11 September) by mistakenly publishing Tamil Tiger flag in its web site in section under ‘Information about contact points’ (http://www.met.police.uk/contact_points/).
This particular web page contains the key information about the new Met contact points translated into few languages such as Bengali (Bangladesh), Lithuanian, Portuguese (Portugal), Punjabi (India), Romanian, Somali, Spanish (Spain), Turkish (Turkey) and Tamil. To highlight those languages the Met Police web has used respective country flags but for Tamil language they have used the Tamil Tiger flag. After lodging a complaint by the President of British Sri Lankan Forum about this grave mistake done by the Met Police, the relevant authority has taken prompt actions to remove the flag from its web site, but no explanation has been given yet.
President of the British Sri Lankan Forum, Janaka Alahapperuma said he had to make phone calls since this morning from 8.00am to explain this serious mistake done by the Met Police and had to give all the information including the location they have displayed the tiger flag. Mr Alahapperuma further noted that no one has informed them till that point according to the information he received and so he had to lodge a formal complaint to the Met Police and Scotland Yard. And Mr Alahapperuma said Met Police will send him an official reply even though they took immediate action to remove the flag. Mr Alahapperuma also thanked the young journalist of LankaCnews in Sri Lanka for alerting him through an influential Buddhist monk who is currently in the UK. He said that their organisation receives huge support from fellow Sri Lankans including the Tamil community to continue the patriotic work in the UK. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) commonly known as Tamil Tigers is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK. In many occasions London Met Police have arrested LTTE members for displaying material which supports a proscribed organization in the United Kingdom. Most of the time they were arrested under Section 13 of the UK Terrorism Act for blatantly displaying or carrying the fascist terrorist flags, the leaping ferocious Tiger of their outfit,displaying material in support of LTTE terrorist group or their violent behaviour.
Annual Richmond Mahainda encounter ended in a very friendly and peaceful atmosphere on the 8th September at Pinner Cricket Ground with a large gathering of old boys and well wishes of both sides. Richmond hosted the event this year. The gathering was entertained by Roshan’s one man band.
Richmond retained the Trophy for the third consecutive year with a lead of 81 runs. Richmond side was captained by Eenaz Salie and Mahinda side captained by Saliya Samaranayake.
Richmond scored 184 runs for four wickets while Mahinda all out for 101 runs. Wikum Kaludura was the highest scorer of Mahinda side with 43 runs and collected two wickets.
Best all rounder and the man of the match was won by Chanka Vitanage by scoring 106 runs ,taking one wicket and three catches to his credit.
Best blower was awarded to Rajantha Lahiru.
[By Janaka Alahapperuma]
Senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Liu Yunshan who is on an official visit to Sri Lanka called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa to promote bilateral cooperation at the President’s House on Tuesday (10 September).
During the meeting with the President the Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, lauded the significant development of the bilateral ties since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1957. He said that Sri Lanka’s political environment and economic growth are tremendous. He assured continued assistance for Sri Lanka’s economic growth. The visiting Chinese leader thanked Sri Lanka for its long-term support on issues involving China’s core interests, adding that China is happy to see national reconciliation and massive economic developments in Sri Lanka in recent years. He also pledged assistance to upgrade the living standards of the people, generate more employment and implement programmes based on industrial products and also for the tourism industry in Sri Lanka.
Chinese leader Liu also said the decision made by the two sides to upgrade of bilateral ties to a strategic cooperative partnership during President Rajapaksa’s state visit to China last May, has marked the future direction of the development of the China-Sri Lanka relationship. China is willing to join Sri Lanka in maintaining high-level visits, deepening trade and economic cooperation, and promoting exchanges in education, technology, culture and media so as to bring more benefits to both countries, said the CPC official.
Speaking of the inter-party relations, senior official of the Communist Party of China, Liu said the CPC would like to work with the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party to expand their exchanges and bring in more strength into bilateral cooperation. President Rajapaksa also thanked China’s long-term assistance and support and highlighted of the centuries old traditional friendship between the two countries.
A high-level Chinese delegation accompanied senior official of the CPC Liu, including several Vice Ministers of the CPC Central Committee and China’s Ambassador in Sri Lanka Wu Jianghao. Minister of Mass Media and Information Keheliya Rambukwella, Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Investment Promotion Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of External Affairs Neomal Perera, Monitoring MP of the Ministry of Mass Media and Information A.H.M. Azwer, Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs Karunatilaka Amunugama and Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to China Ranjith Uyangoda were among those present on the occasion.
Pix by: Sudath Silva
World Cup winning cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga has blamed Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for the national cricket team’s curtailed tour of England next year. Since Ranatunga masterminded Sri Lanka’s first ever win on English soil, the country has been granted three Tests in England, but the next year’s schedule announced by English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) includes only two Test Matches.
Since gaining Test status in 1982, England had granted Sri Lanka just one off Tests and Sri Lanka’s stunning victory in 1998 at The Oval changed things for the good as Ranatunga embarrassed the hosts in the post match media conference. Asked why ECB continued to give his country just one off Tests, Ranatunga said that England were afraid of losing 3-0 to Sri Lanka.
Since then, all Lankan tours of England in 2002, 2006 and 2011 have been three match affairs.
“It pains me to no end and I am sure that’s the case with those who toiled for the betterment of Sri Lankan cricket over the years and the fans. Convincing ECB to grant us more Tests was quite a battle and I am hurt that we have lost out on a three Test series next year,” Ranatunga said in an interview with The Island.
“People who have no love for the game are running cricket and what we have now is a pathetic situation. I am surprised that no one has even objected to reduction of Tests,” Ranatunga added. The Upali Dharmadasa – Nishantha Ranatunga run cricket administration cancelled as many as ten Tests in 12 months including a high profile three match Test series against South Africa, world’s number one ranked team.
SLC officials yesterday washed their hands off saying only a two Test series was on schedule according to the Future Tour Programme (FTP) for next year, but the fact remains that they can not absolve themselves as they had hosted England for a two Test series at home in order to let the national cricketers play the full IPL in 2012. Therefore the ECB is not bound to provide more than two Tests on the reciprocal tour.
“You can’t take popular decisions to be among the good books of players. You have to take decisions on what is better for the game. You don’t want puppets making decisions for our cricket. Those players who have played over 100 Tests wouldn’t mind, but I feel for the younger players who would have benefited by playing a three Test series. Today puppets are running SLC,” Ranatunga said.
“I never played a Test series in England. I always played one off Tests. Our senior cricketers have a moral obligation as well to take a keen interest in playing more Test cricket. You need money to live, but there’s no point in selling your soul for the sake of money. I am disgusted that those players who preach so eloquently on the value of Test cricket do nothing to protect Test cricket when they have an opportunity.”
“I tend to think whether our administrators work for the betterment of Sri Lankan cricket or for the betterment of Indian cricket. We have lost out on a Test Match and who has benefited from that? India. As a result India will be playing five Tests in England next year. I think it’s the first time since 1959 that India are playing a five Test series in England and that has come at our expense. Shame on Sri Lanka Cricket.” Ranatunga concluded. (by Rex Clementine)
Source: The Island (Sri Lanka)
If Prabhakaran had surrendered, he would have been with the Rajapaksa family now and also have become Chief Minister, Former Army Commander and General Secretary of the New Democratic Party Sarath Fonseka said in Jaffna on Saturday.
“During the war no (LTTE) Senior Leaders surrendered, but those such as KP and Daya Master in particular, who surrendered are now with the family of President Rajapaksa.”
He charged that the present Jaffna Commander Mahinda Hathurusinghe was helping the government.
“Keeping about four to five soldiers as handymen, he has been carrying out propaganda in support of independent candidates, who are contesting on behalf of the government,” he said.
“He is also getting the posters of anti-government candidates removed. Due to such dishonest Army commanders, proper duties cannot be fulfilled, while about 95% of the Army personnel are honest, the rest are used by the government in its nefarious activities,” he charged. (S. K. Prasath, Sumithi Thangarasa)
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay yesterday told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that she had an immediate concern for the protection of human rights defenders, journalists and communities that she met during her recent visit to Sri Lanka.
Pillay addressing the 24th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva thanked Government of Sri Lanka for facilitating her visit.
She said: “I am grateful to the government of Sri Lanka for facilitating my recent comprehensive visit, which allowed me to assess the progress being made towards reconstruction, reconciliation and accountability in the aftermath of the war – as well as the broader human rights situation, including religious intolerance, governance and the rule of law. I will be reporting on my observations later in the session, but wish to stress my immediate concern for the protection of human rights defenders, journalists and communities I met during my visit from any reprisal, intimidation or attack.
The Secretary-General’s report on cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights is before the Council at this session. It refers to cases of alleged reprisals, or intimidation, against persons as a result of such cooperation, from 16 June 2012 to 15 June 2013.”
Source: The Islands (Sri Lanka)
Direction: You can take Buses H11, H12 and H13 from Pinner Underground (Metropolitan Line), and get off at second halt on Elm Park Road and walk 20 meters on Pinner Hill Road and find the venue on right hand side, road with a signpost to Pinner CC.
Sri Lankan Football Association UK Presents 9th annual, 7-a-side football tournament for Sri Lankan OBAs’ in the United Kingdom.
To commemorate the 149th Birthday of Anagarika Dharmapala the founder of the London Buddhist Vihara, and 87th anniversary of the London Buddhist Vihara, a Memorial lecture and paritta chanting will be held at the Vihara on 14th September from 7.30pm – midnight and 15th morning dana will be offered to the Venerable monks.
The Sri Lankan government said today it was deeply concerned about media reports on the alleged use of chemical weapons near Damascus in Syria. It was said to have resulted in a large number of civilian casualties.
Issuing a statement the External Affairs Ministry said it was imperative to ensure an impartial and professional investigation in establishing the veracity of the use of chemical weapons.
As a state party to the Chemical Weapons Convention Sri Lanka abhors the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons, and has advocated their complete destruction and elimination globally. Sri Lanka will follow the evolving situation, the statement added.
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
British Prime Minister David Cameron and his foreign secretary William Hague will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Sri Lanka in November, the foreign secretary said.
Responding to question at the British House of Commons session on Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary Hague said “We are very concerned, as the hon. Gentleman knows, about human rights in Sri Lanka, including media freedom. We raise those issues regularly with the Sri Lankan Government. The Prime Minister and I have decided to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Sri Lanka. We think that the Commonwealth and its future matter so much that we must do that, no matter what the location. However, we will do so in a way that draws attention to the issues. We and other countries will continue to press Sri Lanka on those issues over the coming weeks.”
The transcript of the debate in the British House of Commons:
Andrew Love, Labour (Co-op) MP, Edmonton: “In the light of recent human rights violations, will the Government review their decision to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in November? As part of that review, will they set out their objectives and what targets the Sri Lankan Government need to meet?”
William Hague: “We are very concerned, as the hon. Gentleman knows, about human rights in Sri Lanka, including media freedom. We raise those issues regularly with the Sri Lankan Government. The Prime Minister and I have decided to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Sri Lanka. We think that the Commonwealth and its future matter so much that we must do that, no matter what the location. However, we will do so in a way that draws attention to the issues. We and other countries will continue to press Sri Lanka on those issues over the coming weeks.
Stella Creasy, Labour (Co-op) MP, Walthamstow: “Further to the Foreign Secretary’s answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Edmonton (Mr Love), may I press the Government to be more explicit about what progress they are seeking ahead of the meeting in November, given the very worrying reports about human rights violations in Sri Lanka?”
William Hague: “All parties in this House seek progress in Sri Lanka on a wide range of issues, including implementing the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission; ensuring that there is media freedom and the operation of non-governmental organisations; and ensuring that not only is there reconstruction after the conflict, but that all political persuasions have a genuine ability to participate in democracy. We are looking for continued improvements in Sri Lanka across quite a broad front and we will be able to make those points at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in November.”
Source: Daily Mail (Sri Lanka)
The first Elle (Sri Lankan traditional game) festival in the UK organised by Athula Dassana Multi-Cultural Buddhist Centre was held last year. The second festival was held at the Little Harlington Playing Fields, Sipson lane, Hayes, UB3 5EU on the 25th of August 2013.
The Elle festival was organised under the guidance of Mr Bandara Wekadapola, with the help of the committee members of the temple. It was a good opportunity for the young Sri-Lankans who were living in the UK to take part in a Cultural Sports event.
The Chief Guests of the festival were The Mayor of Hillingdon – Allan Kauffman and his wife Lynn Kauffman, Mr.Nevill Silva -Deputy High Commisioner of Sri-Lanka.
The Main Sponsors were – Danushka Bandara of Nandika Gems, Indunil Wijenayake-UK Cargo, Sumith Kuruppu
The Co-Sponsors were- Uditha Senarathna, Ajantha Jayasinghe, Ranga Ranasinghege, Janaka Gamage, Dr.Nishanie Bajramovic (BDS)
Ven. Wanduramba Kassapa the founder of this temple which opened on the 7th of July 2011 has been organising both religious and cultural activities, which have led to the growth of this temple. We have around 500 local devotees who have substantially aided in the development of this establishment.
Traditionally, Elle has two innings per side but modern Elle games are limited to 25-ball matches. An Elle game is similar to Rounders. These games are unique as they have 8 men and 2 women per team.
The festival commenced at 9.00 AM and the festival was concluded at 9.00 PM. And approximately 500 people attended the event. There were 14 teams who played in the festival.
We organised Sri Lankan food stalls and also featured traditional Sri-Lankan dance. Traditional Sri-Lankan games were organised for the children as well as Tug of war for adults and children. The event was organised in order to bring the community together in play, and it aided to improve the well-being of the people.
After the conclusion of the festival, prizes were handed to the all winners who participated, by the guests of honour.
The winners of the game were ‘Katuneriya’ team from Leicester, who took the trophy, medals and a prize of £400. The second prize went to ‘Wanabambaro’ from Hounslow, who took a trophy medals and £250 of a prize, which they kindly donated to the temple. The third prize went to ‘The Edgeware Kids’, who received a plate, medals and a prize worth £150.
Furthermore, other things were available on the day such as a Sri-Lankan musical group. All the visitors enjoyed the music and dancing.
The generous physical and monetary donations of our devotees helped to make our event a great success.
Ven. Wanduramba Kassapa
Head of the Athula Dassana International Buddhist centre
President of the Athula Dassana Multi Cultural Buddhist Community
[By Janaka Alahapperuma]
The 62nd anniversary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) was held under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Kurunegala on 02 September. The 62nd Anniversary commemoration rally has been organized in parallel to support the North, Central and Wayamba provincial council elections at the Maligapitiya ground. It was also the commencement of the maiden election rallies of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) for the upcoming Provincial Council polls.
Massive crowds descended on the Maligapitiya grounds in Kurunegala from all four corners of the country and the entire Kurunegala transformed into blue as the crowds began approaching the ground in processions led by ministers, parliamentarians and Provincial Council election candidates.
The General Secretary of the SLFP Minister Maithripala Sirisena said the SLFP has passed 62 years of excellence by protecting integrity and independency constantly. The party has rendered several revolutionary services such as strengthening local economy and production process, developing free health service and welfare of the working community. After 1956 election victory, the Golden Era of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party is the current period under the leadership of President Rajapaksa. He further added that under the leadership of the President the country was able to eliminate the brutal terrorism, ending the three decades of war and since then there is no person in the country capable of challenging his leadership. The minister further noted that the present government has carried out huge development activities for the benefit of not only the current generation but also for the benefit of children who are to be born in the future.
Addressing the 62nd anniversary, President Rajapaksa said that the government will not bow down to any foreign forces or to local conspirators. The President also requested every citizen of the country to join with the government to safeguard the democracy in the country. He further said the Kurunegala district has a special significance to the SLFP as it was in this district that the first conference of the party was conducted. The President has also pointed out that the SLFP has been able to walk along with the leftist forces of the country and to appreciate such parties. He also explained how the SLFP was committed to build a local economy by nationalising the harbour, lands and transportation services.
The President said, a dictator is a ruler who does not conduct polls and works according to his own agendas but this government has restored democracy and taken steps to hold elections. Therefore, no one can accuse this government of being a dictatorship. He said it is not his problem of having a weaker Opposition and a poor leadership against the government. It is also no secret that therefore certain powerful foreign and local elements are trying to create divisions between the communities and religions to bring anti government groups to power and bring this country under their heel. They should realise that this government has the blessings of the masses who love this country and its culture and values who therefore would never allow them to succeed, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Addressing the 62nd annual convention the President further emphasised that the government treated all religions alike but that Buddhism had been provided with Constitutional safeguards and the government could not do anything about that.
Senior Minister S.B. Navinna delivered the welcome speech and Senior Minister A.H.M. Fowzie, Ministers Patali Champika Ranawaka, Dinesh Gunawardena and Vasudeva Nanayakkara also addressed the gathering. SLFP General Secretary and Minister Maithripala Sirisena and many Party representatives also joined in the anniversary commemoration.
The Government has decided to grant a 15-year tax amnesty for the project to set up a branch campus of Britain’s Central Lancashire University in the Mirigama Export Processing Zone.
The government presented the gazette notification in Parliament today announcing tax benefits for the proposed project to be implemented under the Strategic Development Act.
The campus, once established, should adhere to the provisions of the Universities Act in conducting its educational activities. (Kelum Bandara)
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
[By Janaka Alahapperuma]
The newly constructed Oluvil commercial port and fisheries harbour together with the ice manufacturing plant constructed in the Eastern Province with aid from Denmark have been vested in the public by President Mahinda Rajapaksa this afternoon on 01 September. Sri Lankan Government in its plans to give momentum to its economic development under the five hub concept had decided to develop fisheries harbours and ports which would definitely be a benefit to the development activities in the Eastern part of the country. However under the “Nagenahira Navodaya (Reawakening of the East)”, priority was given to the Oluvil Harbour Development project focusing the economic and infrastructure development in the region.
The commercial port comprises 330 meters of quay with a water depth of 8 meters while the fishing port comprises 200 meters of quay with a water depth of 3 meters. The breakwater of the two harbors is 1475 meters long. New jetty of the Fishing Port is 260 meters and the jetty of the Commercial Port is 390 meters. The Fishing Harbor will provide the services for 500 boats at one time and could handle vessels with capacity of 50,000 metric tons. The fisheries harbour consists of ice plants, cold room facilities, storage facilities for fishing equipments and many more. Therefore with these development projects, new Oluvil Port will be the main fishing harbor in the Eastern coast.
Development work of the Oluvil Harbour commenced on the 1st of July 2008 at a cost of 7,000 million rupees. The Financial assistance for the project has been given by the government of Denmark. The Sri Lanka Ports Authority stated this interest free loan is scheduled to be paid back within 10 years and the income of these two commercial harbors will be utilized to pay back the loan. President Rajapaksa said that instructions have given to the Sri Lanka Ports Authority to transform Sri Lanka into a potential maritime and logistics hub in the South Asian region under the “Mahinda Chinthana” manifesto forming excellent relationships with the giants in the emerging economic world. This new commercial harbour with shore facilities also will also cater to general cargo vessels that will supply the current needs of the region, including coastal passenger transport, with provision for expansion in the future.
Meanwhile President Mahinda Rajapaksa inspected a number of projects in the area and vested many development projects in the public.
Senior Minister P.Dayaratne, Minister Rauff Hakeem, Deputy Ministers Rohitha Abeygunawardena, A.L.M.Hisbullah, Governour of the Eastern Province, Mohan Wijewickrama, Chief Minister Abdul Najeed Majeed, parliamentarians Sarath Weerasekera, Chief of Staff to the President, Gamini Senarath and Chairman of the SLPA Dr Priyath Bandu Wickrama were present at the ceremony.
Pix by: Nalin Hewapathirana
[By Janaka Alahapperuma]
President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared open the newly constructed Panichchankarni Bridge located on A15, Batticaloa- Trincomalee road in Wakarai yesterday (August 01).
This bridge was destroyed by the Tsunami disaster in 2004. The new bridge constructed at a cost of 1,060 million rupees. The bridge, which is 132 metres in length and 10.4 metres wide, has been constructed utilising local funds and 769 million rupees granted by the Japanese government. In line with the construction of the bridge, a new causeway with an average length of 207 metres has also been constructed on either side of the bridge to access to the new bridge.
Constructing this new bridge under the “Nagenahira Novodaya ((Reawakening of the East)” fulfills another pledge in the “Mahinda Chintana” to build the new bridge in place of the old bridge, which will directly benefit the public in the area. It also fulfills a long felt need of the people in the area.
Addressing the opening ceremony President Mahinda Rajapaksa said the government’s main objective is to build up a peaceful country in which all communities will be able to live in harmony as children of one mother. The government is also committed to secure the democratic rights of the people and create a unitary and peaceful country for the future generations. The President further stated that it is government’s responsibility to renovate roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and religious places destroyed by both the Tsunami disaster and the terrorism and vested with the public to connect all the communities.
Meanwhile President Mahinda Rajapaksa inspected a number of projects in the Eastern Province and vested many development projects in the public.
Project Minister Nirmala Kotalawala, Deputy Ministers M.L.A.M. Hisbullah, Vinayagamurthi Muralidharan, Governor of the Eastern Province Mohan Wijewickrama and Chief Minister Najib A. Majid were amongst the dignitaries who participated in the occasion.
Pix By : Nalin Hewapathirana
Visiting United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navanetham Pillay while stating that the Sri Lankan Government stuck to its commitment of allowing her to visit any part of the country, said there were signs of Sri Lanka becoming an authoritarian state.
“I am deeply concerned that Sri Lanka, despite the opportunity provided by the end of the war to construct a new, vibrant, all-embracing state, is showing signs of heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction,” she said.
Ms. Pillay said that freedom of expression in Sri Lanka was under sustained attack.
“With self-censorship fuelled by fear, journalists report that there are articles they dare not write, and others their editors dare not print. Freedom of expression is under a sustained assault in Sri Lanka. I have called for the Right to Information Act to be adopted like in many of its neighbours in the SAARC region,” she said.
Contrary to speculation and assumption that she would issue a diplomatic and barren statement when she leaves, Ms. Pillay ensured that her stand was made clear before she left the country.
She said this was the longest mission she had undertaken to any part of the world and at the end of her seven-day visit pointed out that she was disturbed by reports of intimidation and surveillance on rights activists and priests who met her.
Reading out a lengthy statement at the media briefing held at the UN office in Colombo prior to answering questions from both local and foreign journalists, Ms. Pillay said the actions of the Police force were “extraordinary and over the top” and it was unlike what she had experienced during her visits to other post-conflict zones.
“I would now like to turn to a disturbing aspect of the visit, namely the harassment and intimidation of a number of human rights defenders, at least two priests, journalists, and many ordinary citizens who met me or planned to meet me. I have received reports that people in villages and settlements in the Mullaitivu area were visited by the police or military officers both before and after I arrived there. In Trincomalee, several people I met were subsequently questioned about the content of our conversation,” she said in her statement.
She said she would be taking the issue “very seriously”.
She said her portrayal by three ministers and in some media reports as a “Tamil Tigress in the UN” was offensive. During the Q and A session, Ms. Pillay said the President had personally apologized to her for the statements made by the three ministers.
“Some media, ministers, bloggers and various propagandists in Sri Lanka have, for several years now, on the basis of my Indian Tamil heritage, described me as a tool of the LTTE. They have claimed I was in their pay, the “Tamil Tigress in the UN.” This is not only wildly incorrect, it is deeply offensive. This type of abuse has reached an extraordinary crescendo during this past week, with at least three Government Ministers joining in,” she said.
Ms. Pillay said she had made her stand clear on the LTTE, and described it as a “ruthless murderous organisation”, while urging the diaspora to desist from glorifying the organisation.
“LTTE was a murderous organization that committed numerous crimes and destroyed many lives. In fact, my only previous visit to Sri Lanka was to attend a commemoration of the celebrated legislator, peacemaker and scholar Neelan Tiruchelvam, who was killed by an LTTE suicide bomb in July 1999. Those in the diaspora who continue to revere the memory of the LTTE must recognize that there should be no place for the glorification of such a ruthless organization,” she said
Touching on every aspect of the Human Rights situation in Sri Lanka, the UN Human Rights Chief broke down the issues in relation to the 27-year-old conflict and issues that concerned the entire country as a whole.
She spoke of the Welweriya incident, the militarisation of the North, the Welikada prisons massacre, rising religious tensions and other issues concerning Human Rights in Sri Lanka.
She said that confidence will be eroded among Sri Lankans and the community in Special Commissions and Army Court of Inquiries as many Commissions have “foundered” in the past.
“I also requested more information about the Courts of Inquiry appointed by the army to further investigate the allegations of civilian casualties and summary executions and suggested that appointing the army to investigate itself does not inspire confidence in a country where so many past
investigations and commissions of inquiry have foundered one way or another. Unless there is a credible national process, the calls for an international inquiry are likely to continue,” Ms. Pillay said.
She also said that she was ” surprised” by the governments ‘playing down’ of growing religious discord by way of attacks on ‘churches and mosques’ and urged the authoirities to take action against the perpetrators.
” I was suprised because the government told me that they were isolated incidents, when we have reports flowing in which suggest otherwise” she said answering a question posed by a journalist( By Hafeel Farisz)
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
Good morning, and thank you for coming.
As is customary at the end of official missions such as this, I would like to make some observations concerning the human rights situation in the country.
During my seven-day visit, I have held discussions with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and senior members of the Government. These included the Ministers of External Affairs, Justice, Economic Development, National Languages and Social Integration, Youth Affairs and the Minister of Plantations Industries who is also Special Envoy to the President on Human Rights, as well as the Secretary of Defence. I also met the Chief Justice, Attorney-General,
Leader of the House of Parliament and the Permanent Secretary to the President, who is head of the taskforce appointed to monitor the implementation of the report of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
I had discussions with politicians who are not part of the current Government, namely the Leader of the Opposition and the leader of the Tamil National Alliance; in addition I met with the National Human Rights Commission, and a total of eight different gatherings of human rights defenders and civil society organizations in Colombo, Jaffna and Trincomalee. I also received briefings from the Governors and other senior officials in the Northern and Eastern
Provinces.
I thank the Government for its invitation and its excellent cooperation during the planning and conduct of this very complex mission. It stated that I could go anywhere, and see anything I wished to see. And, despite some disturbing incidents which I will go into later, that commitment was honoured throughout.
Even though this is the longest official visit I have ever made to a single country, I am acutely conscious that I was unable to see everyone who requested a meeting. Nor will I be able to do justice to all the human rights issues facing the Sri Lankan people and government. Since I will be providing an oral update to the Human Rights Council in Geneva in late September, and a full written report in March next year, I will today confine myself to a few key issues that crystallized during the course of the mission. I will divide these human rights issues into two parts: those related to the vicious and debilitating 27-year conflict between the Government and the LTTE, and its aftermath; and those that relate to the whole country.2 Some media, ministers, bloggers and various propagandists in Sri Lanka have, for several years now, on the basis of my Indian Tamil heritage, described me as a tool of the LTTE. They have claimed I was in their pay, the “Tamil Tigress in the UN.” This is not only wildly incorrect, it is deeply offensive. This type of abuse has reached an extraordinary crescendo during this past week, with at least three Government Ministers joining in.
Firstly, let me say, I am a South African and proud of it.
Secondly, the LTTE was a murderous organization that committed numerous crimes and destroyed many lives. In fact, my only previous visit to Sri Lanka was to attend a commemoration of the celebrated legislator, peacemaker and scholar, Neelan Tiruchelvam, who was killed by an LTTE suicide bomb in July 1999. Those in the diaspora who continue to revere the memory of the LTTE must recognize that there should be no place for the glorification of such a ruthless organization
.
I would like to pay my respects to all Sri Lankans, across the country, who were killed during those three decades of conflict, and offer my heartfelt sympathy to their families, all of whom – no matter who they are – share one thing: they have lost someone they can never replace. I have met many people during this visit whose relatives or spouses – both civilians and soldiers – are known to have been killed, or who are missing and may well be dead.
It is important everyone realizes that, although the fighting is over, the suffering is not.
I have been extremely moved by the profound trauma I have seen among the relatives of the missing and the dead, and the war survivors, in all the places I have visited, as well as by their resilience. This was particularly evident among those scratching out a living among the ghosts of burned and shelled trees, ruined houses and other debris of the final battle of the the war along the lagoon in Mullaitivu. Wounds will not heal and reconciliation will not happen, without respect for those who grieve, and remembrance for the tens of thousands of Tamils, Sinhalese, Muslims and others who died before their time on the battlefield, in buses, on the street, or in detention. As one wife of a missing man put it poignantly: “Even when we eat, we keep a portion for him.”
Throughout my visit, the authorities, at all levels, have been keen to demonstrate to me how much has been achieved in terms of resettlement, reconstruction and rehabilitation in the relatively short period since the conflict with the LTTE ended in 2009. And the reconstruction achievements, made with the help of donor countries, UN agencies and NGOs, are indeed impressive: in both the Eastern and Northern Provinces, large numbers of new roads, bridges, houses, medical facilities and schools have been built or rebuilt; electricity and water supplies have been greatly improved; and most of the landmines have been removed. As a result, the great majority of the more than 450,000 people who were internally displaced at the end of the conflict have now gone home.
These are important achievements, and I understand the Government’s concern that they have perhaps not been sufficiently recognized. However, physical reconstruction alone will not bring reconciliation, dignity, or lasting peace. Clearly, a more holistic approach is needed to provide truth, justice and reparations for people’s suffering during the war, and I have repeated my previous offer of OHCHR’s assistance in these areas.There are a number of specific factors impeding normalization, which – if not quickly rectified – may sow the seeds of future discord. These are by and large to do with the curtailment or denial of personal freedoms and human rights, or linked to persistent impunity and the failure of rule of law. From the very beginning, I have placed great hopes in Sri Lanka achieving true peace and reconciliation after the war.
I welcomed the LLRC report as an important step in that direction, even though it side-stepped the much-needed full, transparent, impartial investigation into the conduct of a conflict that saw numerous war crimes and other violations committed by both sides. The Human Rights Council has expressed a strong interest in seeing progress in the implementation of the most important LLRC recommendations, and proper investigation of the many outstanding allegations and concerns.
The LLRC report contains a broad range of excellent recommendations regarding concrete improvements on human rights, and I was interested to receive a briefing on the extent of the implementation of some of those recommendations from the Permanent Secretary to the President. My Office will closely examine that update and future developments in the implementation of the LLRC, and I will of course make reference to any genuine progress in
my reports to the Human Rights Council.
I will now briefly outline some of the other issues that were raised during my visits to the Northern and Eastern Provinces, and which I have in turn raised with various ministers. I welcome the forthcoming elections to the Northern Provincial Council and hope they will proceed in a peaceful, free and fair environment, and usher in an important new stage in the devolution of power.
I was concerned to hear about the degree to which the military appears to be putting down roots and becoming involved in what should be civilian activities, for instance education, agriculture and even tourism. I also heard complaints about the acquisition of private land to build military camps and installations, including a holiday resort. This is only going to make the complex land issues with which the Government has been grappling even more complicated and difficult to resolve. Clearly, the army needs some camps, but the prevalence and level of involvement of soldiers in the community seem much greater than is needed for strictly military or reconstruction purposes four years after the end of the war.
I understand the Secretary of Defence’s point that the demobilization of a significant proportion of such a large army cannot be done overnight, but urge the government to speed up its efforts to demilitarize these two war-affected provinces, as the continued large-scale presence of the military and other security forces is seen by many as oppressive and intrusive, with the continuing high level of surveillance of former combatants and returnees at times verging on
harassment.
I was very concerned to hear about the vulnerability of women and girls, especially in femaleheaded households, to sexual harassment and abuse. I have raised this issue with several ministers, the provincial governors and senior military commanders who attended my meeting with the Secretary of Defence. I challenged them to rigorously enforce a zero tolerance policy for sexual abuse.
I have also been following up on the status of the remaining detainees and have urged the Government to expedite their cases, either by bringing charges or releasing them for rehabilitation. I also suggested it may now be time to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act which has long been cause for concern.
Because of the legacy of massive trauma, there is a desperate need for counseling and psychosocial support in the North, and I was surprised and disappointed to learn that the authorities have restricted NGO activity in this sector. I hope the Government can relax controls on this type of assistance.
I met many relatives of missing or disappeared civilians and soldiers who are still hoping to discover the whereabouts of their loved ones, and they emphasized the urgent need to resolve this issue – something that was made abundantly evident at the two very moving meetings with relatives of the disappeared that I attended yesterday, to commemorate the International Day ofthe Victims of Forced Disappearances.
I asked the Government for more information about the new Commission of Inquiry on Disappearances, and stressed the need for it to be more effective than the five previous commissions of this kind. I was disappointed to learn that it will only cover disappearances in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, which means that the many “white van” disappearances reported in Colombo and other parts of the country in recent years will not fall within its scope. I urge the Government to broaden the Commission’s mandate, and seize this opportunity to make a comprehensive effort to resolve the disappearances issue once and for all. I therefore welcome the new proposal to criminalize disappearances in the penal code, and hope this will be done without delay.
The Government could also send a clear signal of its commitment by ratifying the International Convention on Disappearances, and by inviting the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances to visit Sri Lanka, ideally before I report back to the Human Rights Council in March. The Human Rights Council will also be looking to see something credible in terms of investigation of what happened at the end of the war and many other past cases. I was pleased to learn that the case of the five students murdered on the beach in Trincomalee in 2006 has been reinvigorated by the arrest of 12 Police Special Task Force members known to have been in the vicinity at the time of the killings. I will be watching the progress of that case with interest, as well as the other infamous unsolved case of 17 ACF aid workers murdered in the same year, just a few kilometres to the south.
I also requested more information about the Courts of Inquiry appointed by the army to further investigate the allegations of civilian casualties and summary executions, and suggested that appointing the army to investigate itself does not inspire confidence in a country where so many past investigations and commissions of inquiry have foundered one way or another. Unless there is a credible national process, calls for an international inquiry are likely to continue. The recent deployment of the military in support of police to control a demonstration in Welawariya, which resulted in at least three deaths, has sent a shockwave through the community.
I stressed to the Defence Secretary the need to urgently complete and publish a proper investigation into this incident. Too many other investigation files remain pending, for instance the custodial deaths of prisoners in Vavuniya and Welikada Prisons in 2012. The Government has since announced police powers will now be transferred from the Ministry of Defence to a new Ministry of Law and Order, but this is at best a partial separation as both Ministries will remain under the President, rather than under a separate civilian ministry. I have also reminded the Government that Sri Lanka desperately needs strong witness and victim protection legislation, which has been languishing in draft form since 2007.
I expressed concern at the recent surge in incitement of hatred and violence against religious minorities, including attacks on churches and mosques, and the lack of swift action against the perpetrators. I was surprised that the Government seemed to downplay this issue, and I hope it will send the strongest possible signal of zero tolerance for such acts and ensure that those responsible (who are easily identifiable on video footage) are punished.
The Minister of National Languages and Social Integration told me that he has proposed new legislation on hate speech. We have recently concluded a study of such laws and would be happy to assist in this area. The same Minister, along with the Minister of Justice, expressed to me his support for a visit by the Independent Expert on Minorities, and I hope this can happen as soon as possible. I also applaud the Government’s policy of introducing tri-lingualism all across the country.
I would now like to turn to a disturbing aspect of the visit, namely the harassment and intimidation of a number of human rights defenders, at least two priests, journalists, and many ordinary citizens who met with me, or planned to meet with me. I have received reports that people in villages and settlements in the Mullaitivu area were visited by police or military officers both before and after I arrived there. In Trincomalee, several people I met were subsequently questioned about the content of our conversation. This type of surveillance and harassment appears to be getting worse in Sri Lanka, which is a country where critical voices are quite often attacked or even permanently silenced. Utterly unacceptable at any time, it is particularly extraordinary for such treatment to be meted out during a visit by a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. I wish to stress that the United Nations takes the issue of reprisals against people because they have talked to UN officials as an extremely serious matter, and I will be reporting those that take place in connection with this visit to the Human Rights Council.
I urge the Government of Sri Lanka to issue immediate orders to halt this treatment of human rights defenders and journalists who face this kind of harassment and intimidation on a regular basis. More than 30 journalists are believed to have been killed since 2005, and several more – including the cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda – have disappeared. Many others have fled the country. Newspaper and TV offices have been vandalized or subjected to arson attacks – some, such as the Jaffna-based paper Uthayan, on multiple occasions. With self-censorship fuelled by fear, journalists report that there are articles that they dare not write, and others their editors dare not print. Freedom of expression is under a sustained assault in Sri Lanka. I have called for the right to Information Act to be adopted like many of its neighbours in SAARC.
The war may have ended, but in the meantime democracy has been undermined and the rule of law eroded. The 18th amendment, which abolished the Constitutional Council which once recommended appointments to the independent bodies, such as the Elections Commission and Human Rights Commission, has weakened these important checks and balances on the power of the Executive. The controversial impeachment of the Chief Justice earlier this year, and apparent politicization of senior judicial appointments, have shaken confidence in the independence of the judiciary.
I am deeply concerned that Sri Lanka, despite the opportunity provided by the end of the war to construct a new vibrant, all-embracing state, is showing signs of heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction.
Ending on a more optimistic note, yesterday, at the Government’s suggestion, I visited the Youth Parliament. This unusual institution, founded in 2010, is filled with bright, enthusiastic students from all across the country, and dedicated to a tolerant and all-inclusive approach. The parliament draws on elected members of youth groups who meet once a month to discuss key issues such as the importance of Amendment 13 to the Constitution and the LLRC (indeed they claim they actually debated the latter before the National Parliament).
I hope that the current and future members of the Youth Parliament, three of whom delivered excellent speeches in my presence, will, when they graduate to the main political stage, usher in a new era of tolerant coexistence in this beautiful island, where – despite the problems I have listed above – I have been greeted with great warmth and hospitality
Thank you
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
ලංකාවට අඩුවක්‌ තිබුණි නම් ඒ බලු විවාහ පමණකි. කාටවත් වචනයක්‌ කියන්නට ඉඩ නොදී ඒ අඩුපාඩුව ද ඉහළම අයුරින් පසුගිය 26 වැනි සඳුදා උදැසන මහනුවර පොලිස්‌ ක්‍රීඩා පිටියේ දී සිදු කෙරිණි. ශ්‍රී ලංකා බලු ඉතිහාසයේ ප්‍රථම වරට සිදු වූ මෙම බලු මංගල්‍යය ඇසූ දුටුවන්ට මුලින් හාස්‍යය, උත්ප්‍රාසය ඇති විය. පසුව ඇති වූයේ කළකිරීමකි. මේ රටේ මෙච්චර දේවල් තියෙද්දී මොන බලු විවාහ ද යන්න තැන තැන කසු කුසු නැගිණි. බොහෝ දෙනකුට හැඟුණේ මේ මංගල්‍ය සඳහා විශාල මුදලක්‌ ද වැය වන්නට ඇති බවය. එහෙත් එසේ නොවූ බවට මෙම මංගල්‍ය මෙහෙය වූ පොලිස්‌ නිල සුනඛ අංශය ප්‍රකාශ කර තිබිණි.
බැලූ බැල්මට මෙය විහිළුවකි. හරසුන් ක්‍රියාවකි. එහෙත් මෙය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මුදල් විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක්‌ රටේම ඉතිරි කර දෙන දැවැන්ත වැඩපිළිවෙළක මූලාරම්භයකි. ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොලිස්‌ නිල සුනඛ අංශය ආරම්භ වූයේ 1948 දීය. මේ සඳහා සුනඛයින් ගෙන් වූයේ විදේශ රටවලිනි.
ඔවුන් ද එසේ මෙසේ බල්ලන් නොවේ. සුපිරි රටවල, සැපට වැඩෙන, වංශක්‌කාර බල්ලන්ගේ නාඹර පැටවුන් ය. මේ මහා ලොකු බල්ලන්ව පොලිස්‌ නිල සුනඛ අංශයට ගෙන්වීම සඳහා වසරකට රුපියල් ලක්‍ෂ 200 කට වැඩි මුදලක්‌ වැය වේ. එපමණක්‌ නොව එම නිල සුනඛයින් මෙරටට ගෙන්වා ගැනීමේ දී ඔවුන් ව උපතේ පටන් හැසිරවූත්, කුඩා කළ පටන් ඔවුන් සමඟ සිටි භාරකරුවන් ද ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ගෙන්විය යුතුය. එම සුනඛයින් පොලිස්‌ නිල සුනඛ අංශයේ නිලධාරීන්ට කුළුපඟ වනතුරු භාරකරුවන්ට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ රැඳී සිටීමට සිදුවේ. ඒ අයගේ කෑම් බීම් ඉඳුම් හිටුම් ඇතුළු සියලු පහසුකම් සඳහා ද රජය විශාල පිරිවැයක්‌ දැරිය යුතුය. විදේශ රටවල දේශගුණික තත්ත්වයන් යටතේ ඉපදී හැදී වැඩුණු සුනඛයන්ව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දේශගුණයට ගැලපෙන ආකාරයට රඳවා ගැනීම සඳහා ද විශාල පරිශ්‍රමයක්‌ දැරීමට සිදුවේ. ආහාරවල වෙනස්‌කම්, බෙහෙත්වල වෙනස්‌කම්, කාලගුණික වෙනස්‌වීම් හේතුවෙන් මෙම සුනඛයින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දී නිරතුරුව ලෙඩ රෝගවලට ගොදුරු වන අතර එයින් එම සතුන්ගේ දක්‍ෂතා අඩුවීමත් ඇතැම් විට මරණයත් සිදුවිය හැකිය. බෙහෙත්, ආහාර ආදිය සඳහා ද රටේ මුදලින් විශාල කොටසක්‌ වෙන් කෙරේ.
මෙවැනි හේතු සලකා බලමින් විදේශීය සුනඛ ජෝඩු යොදා ගනිමින් උන්ගේ පැටවුන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දී බිහි කිරීමේ ව්‍යාපෘතිය පොලිස්‌ නිල සුනඛ කොට්‌ඨාසය මගින් පසුගිය දා පවත්වනු ලැබූ බලු මංගල්‍යයත් සමඟ ආරම්භ කෙරිණි. පොලිස්‌පති එන්. කේ. ඉලංගකෝන් ගේ පූර්ණ අනුමැතිය ඇතිව, මධ්‍යම පළාත් භාර ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ නියෝජ්‍ය පොලිස්‌පති එච්. එන්. බී. අඹන්වල ගේ අදහසකට අනුව, අංශ ප්‍රධානි පොලිස්‌ අධිකාරී සිසිර විඡේකෝන් ප්‍රමුඛ නිල සුනඛ අංශයේ සියලු දෙනාගේ සහයෝගයෙන් ඇරඹි මෙම කටයුත්තට පේරාදෙණිය විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ පශු වෛද්‍ය අංශයේ උපරිම සහයෝගය ලැබිණි.
මෙම සුනඛයන් සම්බන්ධයෙන් පේරා දෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ පශු වෛද්‍ය අංශයේ කාර්ය භාරය ද සුළු පටු නොවේ. පොලිස්‌ නිල සුනඛ අංශයට විදේශ රටවලින් මෙම සුපිරි බල්ලන් ගෙන්වන තැන පටන් එම සතුන්ගේ මරණය සිදුවන මොහොත දක්‌වා පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ පශු වෛද්‍ය අංශයේ කථිකාචාර්යවරුන්ට කිසිදු නිවනක්‌ නැත. දවසේ පැය විසිහතර පුරා තඹ සතයක අයකිරීමක්‌වත් නොකර ඔවුන් සිදු කරන මෙහෙවර අති විශේෂය. මිනිසුන්ටත් නැති මේ සැලකිලි බල්ලන්ට ලැබීම වාසනාවකි. මෙම බල්ලන් ද එසේ මෙසේ බල්ලන් නොවෙන්නේ මේ රටේ සිදු වූ අපරාධ ගණනාවකට සම්බන්ධ වූ සැකකරුවන් නීතියේ රැහැනට හසුකර ගැනීම සඳහා උන් ඉටුකරන මෙහෙවර කිසිදු මනුෂ්‍යයකුට ඉටුකළ නොහැකි බැවිනි. ඒ අතින් බලන කළ බල්ලා රැක ගැනීම අගනේය. වෛද්‍ය විද්‍යාත්මක පසුබිමකට අනුව නිසි අධීක්‍ෂණයක්‌ යටතේ වැඩෙන මෙම සතුන් පිළිබඳ මෙතෙක්‌ නොතිබුණු භාරදූර වගකීමක්‌ මේ වනවිට පශු වෛද්‍ය අංශයට පැවරී තිබේ. ඒ මේ රටට ගැලපෙන පරිදි නිරෝගී රට බල්ලන් බෝ කරවීමය. මෙම කාර්යයේ ප්‍රධානතම වගකීම දරනුයේ පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ කථිකාචාර්ය ආචාර්ය අශෝක දංගොල්ල ය. එම අංශයේ මහාචාර්ය වින්ද්‍යා ද සිල්වා ප්‍රමුඛ සියලු දෙනා සිය උපරිම දායකත්වය මේ සඳහා ලබා දෙනු ඇත.
මෙම නිල බලු මංගල්‍යයේ දී පොලිස්‌ නිල සුනඛ අංශයේ නිල සුනඛයන් 20 දෙනකු විවාහ කෙරිණි. ලැබ්‍රඩෝ වර්ගයට අයත් බ්‍රවුන්සර් සමඟ බිලී පළමුව සිය විවාහ දිවියට ඇතුළත් විය. පසුව ජර්මන් ෂෙපර්ඩ් වර්ගයේ සුනඛ ජෝඩුවක්‌ වන කොන්සෝ හා ජීනා ද, රොට්‌ වයලර් වර්ගයේ ඇනොස්‌ හා ෂයිරා යුවළ ද විවාහ කෙරිණි. ඔවුන්ව මඟුල් පෝරුවක්‌ වැනි විශේෂ පීඨිකාවකට නංවා ජය මගුල් ගී ගායනා කෙරිණි. පාරම්පරිකව පැවතගෙන හෙළ සිරිත් විරිත් මංගල සිලෝ ගී බල්ලාට ගියේ ඒ අවස්‌ථාවේදී ය. සංස්‌කෘතික අමාත්‍යාංශය ඊට විරෝධය පෑම පිළිබඳ ව හෙළ කුල සිරිත් අගයන බොහෝ දෙනකුගේ ප්‍රශංසාවට හේතු විය. බලු ජෝඩුවලට මධුසමය ගත කිරීමට ද විශේෂිත ස්‌ථාන සකස්‌ කර තිබිණි. රියදුරෙකු විසින් මෙම බලු මගුල් ජෝඩු එම නිල රථයක නංවාගෙන මධු සමය ගත කිරීම සඳහා වෙන්කර තිබූ ස්‌ථානය වෙත රැගෙන යනු ලැබීය. බලු රැළකට මැදිව, බලු ගෙරවිලි බිරුම් හඬකින් හා පොරකෑම්වලින් තොර වූ නිහඬ නිස්‌කලංක හුදෙකලා ස්‌ථානයක දී අලුත විවාපත් මෙම බලු ජෝඩු කෙසේ නම් තම මධුසමය උජාරුවෙන් සමරන්න ද? වේවැළකට, දම්වැලකට අවනත ව ගෙවන මුළු ජීවිත කාලයේ දී ගත කරන්නට තිබූ උතුම් ම සැපත ද තමන්ට ඕනෑ විදිහට අත්විඳීමට වරම් නොලද මේ ආනයනික බලු ජෝඩු මොනතරම් අවාසනාවන්ත ද…. මොනවා උනත් මේ බලු ජෝඩුවලට නිවනක්‌ ලැබෙන්නේ නැත. මේ මධුසමය ගතකර යළිත් ඔවුන් පැමිණෙන්නේ අපරාධකරුවන් සොයා යන්නටය. මොවුන්ට නිවනක්‌, නිස්‌කාසුවක්‌ ලැබෙන දවසක්‌ තිබේ. ඒ මේ රටේ අපරාධකරුවන් නැතිවන දවසටය.
තුෂාරී කළුබෝවිල
Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)
Kumar Sangakkara has slammed Sri Lanka Cricket for “creating” a narrative that brought his loyalty into question, even as he confirmed he will play for Kandurata Maroons over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Champions League.
He said he is ultimately happy to represent his home province, but was perturbed by the manner in which the board publically framed his situation, which he does not believe ever entailed a question of country loyalty. Sangakkara will lose $140,000 from his IPL salary as a result of his decision.
“I was quite upset that there were statements released by individuals in an official capacity, where my loyalty to the country was brought into question,” Sangakkara told ESPNcricinfo. “The statements were made to put me at a disadvantage and to make me appear in a very bad light. Certain individuals’ efforts to isolate me as a player misled the public and inflamed the issue further.
Read more: http://www.espncricinfo.com/champions-league-twenty20-2013/content/story/666775.html
Source: ESPN cricinfo
රාජගිරිය කලපළුවාව ශ්‍රී සුදර්ශනාරාම විහාරස්‌ථානයේ වැඩ විසූ බංගලිදේශ ජාතික බුරාවා නම් හිමිනමක දරුණු ලෙස පහරදී අබිරහස්‌ අන්දමින් ඝාතනය කිරීමේ සිද්ධිය පිළිබඳ වැලිකඩ පොලිසිය පුළුල් පරීක්‍ෂණයක්‌ ආරම්භ කර ඇත.
ශ්‍රී සුදර්ශනාරාම විහාරස්‌ථානයට කඩාවැදී ඇති නාඳුනන මැර පිරිසක්‌ බුරාවා හිමියන්ට පහරදී උන්වහන්සේගේ සිවුරු ගලවා දමා තිබුණේ ඉකුත් 20 වැනිදා රාත්‍රියේදීය.
පහර කෑමෙන් බරපතළ තුවාල ලැබූ එම හිමියන් කොළඹ ජාතික රෝහලේ දැඩි සත්කාර ඒකකයේ ප්‍රතිකාර ලබමින් සිටියදී ඊයේ (28 වැනිදා) අලුයම අපවත් වූහ.
බුරාවා හිමියන්ගේ හිසට එල්ල වූ ප්‍රහාරයකින් බරපතළ තුවාල ලබා සිටි බව රෝහල් ආරංචි මාර්ග පැවසීය.
බංගලිදේශ ජාතික හිමියන් වසර කීපයක්‌ තිස්‌සේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ වැඩ වාසය කරමින් සිටි බව පොලිසිය පවසයි. ඉකුත් 20 වැනිදා රාත්‍රි මෙම හිමියන් විහාර භූමිය ඉදිරිපිට නිරුවතින් වැටී සිටියදී එහි විසූ තවත් භික්‍ෂුන් වහන්සේ කීපනමක්‌ විසින් ජාතික රෝහලට ඇතුළත් කර තිබේ.
බුරාවා හිමියන්ගේ හිසට එල්ල වූ ප්‍රහාර කීපයක්‌ නිසා එම හිමියන් ශල්‍යකර්මයකට භාජනය කර ඇත. එම හිමියන්ගෙන් පොලිසිය අවස්‌ථා කීපයකදීම කටඋත්තර ලබා ගැනීමට උත්සාහ කළ ද එය ව්‍යර්ථ විය.
දින 8 ක්‌ තිස්‌සේ ප්‍රතිකාර ලබමින් සිටි බුරාවා හිමියෝ ඊයේ අලුයම අපවත් වූහ. මෙම හිමියන්ට පිරිසක්‌ පහර දෙනු කීපදෙනකු දැක ඇති බවද පැවසේ.
ඝාතනයට සම්බන්ධ සැකකරුවන් කිසිවකු ඊයේ වනතුරු අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන නොතිබිණි.
වැලිකඩ පොලිසිය සාහසිකයන් සොයමින් පරීක්‍ෂණ පවත්වාගෙන යයි. (හේමන්ත රන්දුණු)
Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)
[By Janaka Alahapperuma]
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Belarus Prime Minister Professor Mikhail Myasnikovich graced the Sri Lanka – Belarus Business Forum which was held at the National Library Auditorium in Minsk, the capital city of Belarus. Sri Lankan President and Belarus Premier participated the occasion as chief guests. Economy Minister of the Belarus Republic, Nikolai Snopkov also joined the two leaders.
Both leaders and other distinguished guests were warmly welcomed at the entrance by Sri Lankan traditional drummers and dancers. The guests lighted the traditional oil lamp at the launch of the first ever Sri Lanka – Belarus Business Forum in Minsk. The Sri Lanka – Belarus Business Forum had been organized to identify potential areas for collaboration in order to further develop economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. On the side line of the forum a large-scale presentation of big tourist operators and hotels of Sri Lanka was also held for representatives of the Belarusian tourist industry.
After the presentation of tourist opportunities of Sri Lanka,the Chairman of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mikhail Miatlikov noted Sri Lanka is a new country for Belarus and our holidaymakers could visit this country and turn their tourist market to become livelier. The high level of service, natural beauty and ancient history will appeal to the tourists. Speaking at the Business Forum he further said Sri Lankan delegation is interested in export of certain Belarusian goods such as sugar, tires and oil products. Therefore the heads of the states agreed on setting up joint ventures for those industries.
Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris, speaking at the Sri Lanka – Belarus Business Forum, described the attractive options available in Sri Lanka for foreign direct investment. The companies of Sri Lanka are interested in establishing business contacts with Belarusian organizations working in automobile manufacturing, production of agricultural equipment, energy, juridical, insurance and banking services, tourism and hospitality, logistics, sales of tea, spices, dressing, fruit and vegetables, seafood, production and sales of rubber goods, sales of products based on coconut fibre, production of leather footwear, textile products, the Minister noted.
The Belarusian Prime Minister asserted that the Business Forum organized on the sidelines of President Rajapaksa’s three day state visit would be a harbinger to meet the desires of the two countries. Claiming that this cooperation should not be limited only to economic and trade, he mentioned monetary planning, technology, specialist services, energy, education and culture as other sectors. The Belarusian Prime Minister also emphasised that both countries would stand to benefit by selling goods produced in Sri Lanka through joint ventures not only in the island but in other countries of the region. Delegations of business men and women from both Sri Lanka and Belarus attended the Forum with the objective of strengthening cooperation between the private sectors of the two countries. Representatives of 26 companies and conglomerates of Sri Lanka took part in the business forum and business matchmaking session. The chair of the group of companies- Sri Lanka, Joel Selvanayagam said “We have enormous potential and technologies. By uniting them we can advance our economies”.
The Forum identified there are plenty of opportunities for Sri Lanka-Belarus joint business ventures. Among the identified joint ventures are sectors such agricultural gear including tractors and trucks, manufacture of motor vehicles including passenger buses, milk and milk-based products, infant food and goods for children, footwear and goods required by the military.
Numerous agreements were signed during the business forum including the Memorandum on cooperation between the National Center of Marketing and the Council of Export Development of Sri Lanka. Leaders of both countries were of the view that such business forums provide a good opportunity for both countries to work towards implementing the agreements that were signed.
The Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Russia Udayanga Weeratunga and Additional Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs Mrs. Kshenuka Seneviratne were also present.
Pix By: Sudath Silva
[By Janaka Alahapperuma]
Belarus Republic and Sri Lanka have inked the seven bilateral agreements designed to promote all-round cooperation on Monday afternoon (26) at the Cabinet Hall of the Government House in Minsk, the capital during Sri Lankan President’s three day state visit to the country. On Sri Lanka side President Mahinda Rajapaksa signed the joint statement with his Belarus counterpart, President Alexander Lukashenko at the end of bilateral discussions.
Both leaders jointly presided over the signing ceremony of seven Agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs). At the signing ceremony they hailed the agreements, which they said marked a big step forward in bilateral relations.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said it was “with great pleasure” that the deal was finally concluded and the goals achieved by signing those agreements. The primary goals were to “maintain and promote friendly trade and economic cooperation” and to “strengthen the existing friendly relations with Sri Lanka,” he said.
In this connection, President Rajapaksa said that “this visit has been very fruitful. Bi-national relations represent a strategic alliance which may be assumed, for instance, as a bond of respect, fraternity and common development. Sri Lanka is offering many attractive incentives and facilities for direct foreign investments, he further noted. Expressing his thanks to the warm welcome received not only by his but also the Sri Lankan delegation, President Rajapaksa appreciated the recent economic and social progress achieved by the Belarus state under the leadership of President Lukashenko in recent years. The President also stated that Sri Lanka which was plagued by terrorism for 30 years and now advancing speedily in development. Sri Lanka and Belarus agreed to enhance cooperation in a number of sectors, including investment, education and technology. Agreements were also signed in the areas of trade and economic cooperation, taxation and tourism.
Minister of External Affairs Prof G.L. Peiris and the Justice Minister of Belarus Slizhevsky Oleg signed a treaty on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters between the two nations and an MOU on cooperation between the Justice Ministries.
The agreement for visa exemption for holders of diplomatic and official passports was signed by Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Russia accredited to Belarus, Udayanga Weeratunga and the Belarus Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei. Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga and Deputy Chairman of the Belarus National Security Agency Vladimir Sulimov signed an agreement on technical cooperation in military affairs.
The Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Russia accredited to Belarus Udayanga Weeratunga, and Additional Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs Mrs. Kshenuka Seneviratne also took part in the signing ceremony.
Pix By: Sudath Silva
[By Janaka Alahapperuma]
Prime Minister of Belarus, Professor Mikhail Myasnikovich warmly received President Mahinda Rajapaksa as he arrived for bilateral talks at the Government House in Minsk yesterday afternoon on 26 August.
During the bilateral discussions the two countries identified a number of areas for joint ventures including the areas of manufacturing, agricultural and military equipment, and the production of dairy products. Both leaders confirmed the mutual interests in sectors such as mechanical engineering, high technology, education, construction and tourism. Bilateral cooperation of Belarus and Sri Lanka in the international forums also discussed during governmental meeting.
Right after the meeting in the Government House, the two leaders and the officials joined the business circles of the two countries. Multiple agreements, among which is the cooperation agreement between the National Center for Marketing and Price Conjuncture of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus and the Export Development Board of Sri Lanka, were signed within the framework of the business forum.
The delegation of Sri Lanka is interested in export of certain Belarusian goods such as sugar, tires and oil products. Therefore the heads of the states agreed on setting up joint ventures for those industries.
The Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Russia accredited to Belarus Udayanga Weeratunga, and Additional Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs Mrs. Kshenuka Seneviratne also took part in the bilateral discussion.
Pix by: Sudath Silva
