Posts Categorized: Economy

The China Card

Many among the Eelam Tamils continue to fall for the “China card” claims of Sri Lanka.  These claims serve, however, as a smokescreen for the realpolitik of the region vis-a-vis Sri Lanka.  A critical analysis of this is helpful for Eelam Tamils to develop a more nuanced approach. China is of no help to Sri… Read more »

CPA – Commentary on Land Circular 2013/01

 Commentary on Accelerated Programme on Solving Post Conflict Land Issues in the Northern and Eastern Provinces  In January 2013 the Government issued a new circular titled Accelerated Programme on Solving Post Conflict State Lands Issues in the Northern and Eastern Provinces- Land Circular 2013/01 (herein referred to as the Circular), which is the most recent… Read more »

Survey: Sri Lanka’s LLRC Progress

Sri Lanka has long had a problem with disappearances. Accordingly, the LLRC sought to address this issue in its final report, which includes the following two recommendations:

Recommendation 9.46: Investigate allegations of abductions, enforced or involuntary disappearance; bring perpetrators to justice.
Recommendation 9.51: “…the Commission recommends that a Special Commissioner of Investigation be appointed to investigate alleged disappearances and provide material to the Attorney General to initiate criminal proceedings where appropriate.”

Yet the GoSL’s record on disappearances continues to be a concern. Appallingly, 25% of TSA survey respondents have had a family member disappear. And that individual was usually the principal incomer earner of the family.

Broken Dreams: The Truth about SL

The government’s talk about a military drawdown lacks merit, especially in the Northern Province. “We are living under military occupation,” notes one community member living near Jaffna. Even though several checkpoints have been removed, a large number of them have been converted into shops – such as grocery stores and cafés – that are run by the military. The ubiquity of military personnel does not leave people feeling safer; ordinary citizens feel more vulnerable and the country’s continued militarization has contributed to a host of widespread social problems including alcohol abuse, sexual violence and rape.

South Asia’s Largest Fisheries Harbor

“The fisheries sector is the third most important contributor to economic growth in Sri Lanka. It is second only to agriculture and tourism. That is the main reason the President wanted to kick off this project. According to the ongoing investment and development projects in the industry in post- terrorism Sri Lanka, the fisheries industry will become the main contributor to the economy within the next few years. I hope to provide a 50 percent contribution to Sri Lanka’s economy at the end of this year by doubling fish exports” Minister Senaratne said.

Resettled

Many of those displaced during the war are now gradually being resettled at their original residences by the Vanni  security forces headquarters. Residents are pictured acclimatizing themselves to their old abodes and environment after a lapse of several years. Pix by Romesh Madushanka

No Husband, No Home and No Future for Their Children

Women-headed families: no husband, no home and no future for their children In the Eastern Province, some women head their household all alone without a job, sometimes without a home, or without doors and sanitary facilities, unable to send their children to school. Their husbands died in war or disappeared into the hands of police…. Read more »

US “Fiscal Cliff” Scenario

Seasoned Washington observers say not to freak out because they think there will be no deadlock, as lawmakers will be thinking about their own fate first, if blocking a deal leads to the collapse of the economy that leaves people suffering, and it rebounds on them at re-election time.

Development Alone Won’t End Sri Lanka’s War

by Jana Nayagam and Suren Manoharan, Tamil Guardian, September, 21 2005 The strategy being advocated by President Chandrika Kumaratunga today is a derivative of her ‘war for peace.’ President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s address to the Asia Society last week provided analysts of Sri Lanka’s conflict with insight into her government’s policy on the ethnic question and its… Read more »

Ethnicity, Aid and Peace in Fragile States

A Sri Lankan Case Study by Luckshmi Sivalingam, September 2005 A thesis for a Masters of Science (MSc) degree at the London School of Economics and Political Science Abstract This study examines the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict through a multi-layered analytical lens of ethnic, socio-economic, and political considerations. Residual colonial tensions, intensified by market liberalization… Read more »

Trinco TECH Celebrates Graduation of Computer Students

by TamilNet, Sept. 12, 2005 Trinco TECH celebrates graduation of 42 Students completing London City and Guilds Computer Training Course in Trincomalee. The Trincomalee district branch of The Economy Consultant House (TECH) held its first anniversary event Saturday evening in Trincomalee Sri Koneswara Hindu College Hall.  42 students who successfully completed the City and Guilds… Read more »

Report 9 on Relief from the Tsunami

Report on Relief and Rehabilitation from the Tsunami Tidal Wave 2004 (9) John’s Church Uranee Batticaloa Srilanka Sept. 9, 2005 Dear Friends, Greetings from St John’s Mission. With your very valuable support, financial and otherwise, we are able to sustain the relief programmes that we set out to do.  The Tsunami-affected people in some areas… Read more »

Deja Vu? Sri Lanka’s Tamils Fear Return to Civil War

by Simon Gardner, Boston Globe, August 27, 2005 JAFFNA, Sri Lanka (Reuters) – Displaced four times by Sri Lanka’s two-decade civil war with the Tamil Tigers, 22-year-old Nirmalashanthi Vijayakanth is ecstatic to finally settle into the first home she can call her own. The ramshackle shelter in the artillery-ravaged northern town of Jaffna has no running… Read more »

NESOHR: Sethusamedram Project

NESOHR on the Sethusamedram Project The University of Jaffna, the Green Movement Sri Lanka, the Tamil Economic Consulting House (TECH) and the Environment Foundation together organized a public discussion at the Library Auditorium in University of Jaffna on August 30th 2005 on the “Socio-economical and environmental impacts of the Sethu Samudhram Canal Project (SSCP).”  NESOHR… Read more »

NorthEast Needs Urgent Aid

8000 Dead and 500,000 Displaced in NorthEast of the Island of Sri Lanka [TRO appeal posted on TamilNet] The Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation is engaged in rendering urgent humanitarian assistance to all those in the coastal areas of the northeast of Sri Lanka who have borne the brunt of the ‘tidal’ waves (tsunamis) caused by the strongest… Read more »

Relief Funds: Where to Contribute

All funds sent to these organizations will be used for emergency assistance for victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami in the NorthEast of Sri Lanka.  Please mark your checks ‘NE Tsunami Relief.’  All are staffed by volunteers so there is no overhead taken out of the donations.  All organizations are 501 (c) (3) charities registered… Read more »

Tsunami Death Toll Rises to 5000 in Sri Lanka

from TamilNet Around 5000 are dead in the Tsunami waves that hit northeastern and southern coast of Sri Lanka Sunday morning, Sri Lankan Defence Ministry sources told TamilNet. Government officials in the devastated eastern town Batticaloa said only about twenty five of more than thousand families in Navalady, a coastal suburb of Batticaloa, appear to have… Read more »

All the World’s a University 

by Janadas Devan, The Straits Time, Singapore, December 2004 WHEN Jawaharlal Nehru was arrested by the British in 1942, he traipsed off to prison clutching, among other things, Plato’s Republic and Marcel Proust’s A la recherche du temps perdu (in the original French, of course). This Indian freedom fighter was nothing if not inward with high European culture. He… Read more »

Grace Learning Center

Improving Educational Standards in Sri Lanka In fall of 2004, VeAhavta began to plan a new program designed to improve the quality of education in Sri Lanka.  While the on-going civil war has severely disrupted all aspects of life in Sri Lanka, perhaps the greatest impact has been upon the children.  Children affected by the… Read more »

Helping Flood Victims

ALL THE HINDU TEMPLES IN LONDON ARE COLLECTING MONEY TO HELP THE FLOOD VICTIMS IN SRI LANKA. Sri Kanaga Thurkkai Amman Temple will be working with TRO in helping these flood victims.             PLEASE READ: http://sooriyan.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1106&Itemid= http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=13669 http://www.troonline.org/en/?menu=../en/news/mullai_191204 Thank you, S Karunalingam Chairman – Executive Committee Sri Kanaga Thurkkai Amman… Read more »