U.S. Government gives Batticaloa improved opportunities for trade

USAID Mission Director, Ms. Rebecca Cohn yesterday (Nov 12) declared open the market complex of Batticaloa Municipal council which was modernized under USAID program . The US Embassy , Colombo in a press release said that USAID has provided over USD 475,000 for the project.

The Press Release in full:

Batticaloa; November 12, 2008 - One of the major sources of income for the Batticaloa Municipal Council is now restored to full capacity following today’s official opening of the Batticaloa Market by USAID Mission Director, Ms. Rebecca Cohn.

A bustling marketplace since 1948, the Batticaloa market has been badly affected by repeated natural and man-made disasters since the late 1970’s. With the successful completion of major rehabilitation activities, the market can now attract both vendors and customers with its new fruit and vegetable stalls, a new fish market, a state-of-the-art water treatment system, a cold room for the fish market, a central courtyard, and a fully rehabilitated building. USAID provided over $475,000 to improve the Batticaloa Municipal Market for the benefit of the local community.

Throughout the process, USAID worked closely with the Batticaloa Municipal Council, the Batticaloa Chamber of Commerce, and the Eastern University. “One of the aims of USAID is to strengthen the relationships between community members and their local government leaders,” said Mission Director Cohn at the opening. “The market improvements are about much more than just the beautiful new facilities and renovated buildings. In the course of our activities, relationships have been strengthened among the vendors themselves, between the vendors and their local government representatives, and between the community at large with its leaders and public servants,” Ms. Cohn added.

To ensure the success of this initiative, USAID conducted preparatory meetings with all stakeholders to discuss the needs of the vendors and the local community, and to accommodate their input as well on the design of the market. As a result, the new design has improved of health and sanitation, reduced congestion, improved waste management, and provided more parking for loading and unloading of produce, fish, and meats.

Courtesy: Ministry of Defence

Il poya falls today

Il poya, which is very important to the Buddhists falls today (12).

Realization of Maithri bodisathva , First Buddhist dhamma sangayana (council), the first group of disciples of dhamma in propagation of dhamma, the visit of lord Buddha to Uruwel are commemorated on il poyaday.

Courtesy: Lankapuvath

‘Of that striped trial balloon’ - The Island Editorial

“The LTTE’s latest truce ploy was aimed at preventing the fall of Pooneryn to the army and saving Kilinochchi. The LTTE may offer to consider ceasefires and talk peace but Prabhakaran has unequivocally told the world the solution he has in mind. He won’t settle for anything less than Eelam as he declared at a press conference in Kilinochchi in 2002″, says the Island in a reflective editorial today (Nov 12).

“However, the government has no alternative but to turn down such offers without falling into ceasefire traps. Every government that fell for the tigrine wiles emerged from peace traps with a bloody nose. The disastrous outcome of peace deals that President Premadasa and President Kumaratunga tried to strike with the LTTE is a case in point” the editorial further stated.
Following is the full text of The Island Editorial:

The Tigers have the habit of sending trial balloons. A few days ago, LTTE indicated its willingness to consider a ceasefire. The government promptly rejected the offer reiterating its position that no truce was possible unless the LTTE gave up arms.

The LTTE does not lose anything due to its ceasefire offers. Instead it gains a lot from them. If the government reciprocates, then it can have some respite, regroup and rearm for the next phase of war. Else, its propagandists can project the government as a hawkish regime not amenable to a truce and blame it for the humanitarian problems resulting from the continuation of war.

However, the government has no alternative but to turn down such offers without falling into ceasefire traps. Every government that fell for the tigrine wiles emerged from peace traps with a bloody nose. The disastrous outcome of peace deals that President Premadasa and President Kumaratunga tried to strike with the LTTE is a case in point.

The LTTE’s latest truce ploy was aimed at preventing the fall of Pooneryn to the army and saving Kilinochchi. In a recent interview with an Indian magazine Prabhakaran bragged that Kilinochchi would never fall. But, he himself is aware that he cannot hold out for a long time. The new front the army is going to open in the Wanni is a frightening proposition for the LTTE already overstretched and affected by a severe shortage of manpower.

Immediately after the government’s rejection of the truce offer, the LTTE, perhaps to save its face and prevent demoralisation of its cadres, got one of its proxies to say in Parliament that it would not lay down arms. Talking with a forked tongue is the LTTE’s forte. It has a remarkable ability to send two different messages to its support base and the international community simultaneously.

War is hell and it must end. The sooner, the better! But, experience shows us that no amount of ceasefires will lead to peace so long as the LTTE remains strong and intransigent. The last truce lasted for five years from 2002 to 2007 but nothing came of it. There was an absence of war but the LTTE did not desist from violence or work towards finding a solution. It used the fragile truce to replenish its supplies, recruit more combatants and gain legitimacy. In 2003, it walked away from peace talks with the UNF government, which to its credit, bent over backwards to keep the peace process on track. It is being claimed that an LTTE-instigated polls boycott brought about UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe’s defeat at the last presidential election. But, it was actually in 2003 that the LTTE destroyed the UNP leader’s political future by scuttling the peace process, upon which he was banking to win the presidency.

The LTTE may offer to consider ceasefires and talk peace but Prabhakaran has unequivocally told the world the solution he has in mind. He won’t settle for anything less than Eelam as he declared at a press conference in Kilinochchi in 2002. Asked if his order to his cadres to kill him if he accepted anything less than Eelam was still valid, he had no hesitation whatsoever in answering in the affirmative. In fact, he renewed that order! He has never ever given the slightest indication that he would settle for anything else.

One may argue that the LTTE made the setting up of an interim self-governing administration (ISGA) conditional to returning to the negotiating table in 2003. Yes, it did but the UNF government had the wisdom to avoid that trap. For, granting an ISGA would have been as good as giving Eelam. Among the critics of the ISGA was none other than the US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who said the ISGA went beyond all known forms of federalism and it was therefore without a precedent.

The LTTE demand read: “The ISGA shall have plenary powers for the governance of the Northeast including powers in relation to resettlement, rehabilitation, and development, including improvement and upgrading of existing services and facilities, raising revenue including imposition of taxes, revenue, levies and duties, law and order and land.” Besides, the LTTE asked for powers in respect of maritime resources and direct foreign aid.

What more would the LTTE have needed if it had got the ISGA?

Armitage urged the LTTE to adhere to the Oslo declaration, which envisaged a federal solution. The European Parliament, it may be recalled, in its resolution on Sri Lanka on Sep.08, 2006 said: “[The EU] condemns the intransigence of the LTTE leadership over the years, which has successively rejected so many possible ways forward including devolution at the provincial level or Provincial Councils; devolution at the regional level or Regional Councils; as well as the concept of federalism with devolution at the national level.”

Thus, if any government agrees to a ceasefire with a view to talking peace with the LTTE, it must be prepared either to be taken for a ride like its predecessors or to grant the ISGA, which is nothing but a halfway house between federalism and Eelam.

There have been calls for the government to do as the EU says to retain the GSP Plus concession. Similarly, the government should be asked to heed what the aforesaid EU Parliament resolution says about the LTTE, in trying to evolve a political solution. In other words, it is futile to talk to the LTTE so long as it remains intransigent demanding something that goes beyond federalism.

So, if a political solution acceptable to all stakeholders is to be evolved through negotiations, then the international community and the peace lobby must wean the LTTE from violence, the ISGA and Eelam.

Or, they must stop protesting against the on-going efforts to neutralise the LTTE and pave the way for a political solution.

Courtesy: The Island

Sri Lanka wins the bid to hold CACCI conference in 2010

Sri Lanka won the bid to organize the 24th Confederation of Asia - Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI) Conference and the Council meeting in year 2010 in Colombo.

The joint project proposal for the bid was submitted by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry Sri Lanka backed by Sri Lanka Convention Bureau ( SLCB).

Chairperson of SLCB Prema Cooray said that this is an important event for Sri Lanka hence the direct involvement of SLCB in the bidding process. Such prestigious conference, apart from its economic merits, gives an immense boost to Sri Lanka’s image abroad, when the news gets around that Sri Lanka will be hosting 24th session.

The 22nd CACCI Conference this year was held in Manila, Philippines from October 23-28.

By Christine Hettiarachchi
Courtesy: Lankapuvath

A drama workshop for youth

A three day workshop was held at the Maharagama Youth Centre. The workshop was organized by the aesthetic division of the National youth Services council.

Drama Professions of the National Drama School in India also participated in the workshop.

The purpose of the workshop was to educate and empower the budding dramatists who are getting ready for the finals of the National Youth Drama festival to be held in November this year.

The number of Tamil and Sinhala medium dramas selected for the competition was 60. Many artists and dramatists participated in the workshop.

Courtesy - Lankapuvath