The Jaffna Retur-nees numbering about 938 persons including pregnant mothers and children staged a one day token hunger strike on July 2 demanding that they be sent to Jaffna, at the Uppuveli Welfare Centre. They carried placards and sequatted at the entrance to the Welfare Camp and staged the hunger strike.

They stated that they had been brought to Trincomalee two months ago from Vav-uniya and Mannar promising they would be sent to Jaffna. But two months have lapsed no ship arrangements had been made. They stated that there are expectant mothers and also children who are undergoing untold hardships.

Members of the EPDP, EPRLF, TELO and PLOTE visited the camp and spoke to the strikers and said that they would take necessary action to make arrangements for a ship. The Captain of the Army, Capt. Lux-man too visited the camp and assured the strikers that early arrangements would be made to send them to Jaffna.

Hikkaduwa police today tear gased and fired several shots into the air and dispersed an unruly crowd of about three thousand people of the area that had gathered on the Galle Road in front of the office of Hik-kaduwa Pradeshiya Sabha.

Illicit tapping of water from the main pipeline of the area had been carried during the past few days taking advantage of the amnesty offered by the Water Board to illicit tappers. The crowd described to be illict tappers have gathered before the Pradeshiya Sabha office to protest against legal action taken against them for their action.

Hikkaduwa police are maintaining law and order.

Our Galle Correspondent Neminda Samarajeewa reports: A crowd of about seven hundred persons stormed the office of the Water Supply and Drainage Board at Hikkaduwa and assaulted a minor employee. Later squatted on Galle-Colombo highway in front of sub office of Hikkaduwa Pradeshiya Sabha obstructing traffic along Galle-Colombo road.

They also attacked two CTB buses and a police jeep.

Hikkaduwa police had to use tear gas to dispose the crowd and restore law and order.

'The problem has propped due to the irregular water supply to the general public in the area by the Water Supply and Drainage Board', said R. M. Seneviratne, DIG, Southern Province speaking to 'The Island'.

He further stated that law and order had been restored.

The fast unto death conducted by the Eastern Province Unemployed Graduates Association started on June 30 at Trincomalee opposite the North East Province, Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs and Sports Office continued for the 4th day on Friday.

More than 100 gra-duates are participating in the fast. They said that until a final reply is received either from the President or the Minister of Education, their campaign would continue. Three of the participants are in a state of unconsciousness.

UNP branch has informed the Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremasinghe, to intervene in this connection.

The death occurred yesterday in England off Duncan White, the only Sri Lankan to win a medal in the country's history at Olympics. He turned 80 in March, this year.

He won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 1948 in the 400 metres hurdles. A feat unequalled by a Sri Lankan so far.

White had died in his sleep, family friends said yesterday.

At the time of his death, he was in the forefront of promoting athletics in the country having formed the Duncan White Foundation which annually rewarded the best athlete.

White's feat at the Olympics and his winning feat at the British Empire Games in New Zealand where he missed the world mark by a fraction of a second, made him a world star by his own right. His Olympic Silver medal was unique in that he became the only Asian to win a medal from Ceylon as Sri Lanka was known then when (Olympiad was held in London after the second world war).

His great effort was perhaps best described by the famous German athletic coach, Dr. Otto Peitzer who said, 'Asia has produced great champions. Duncan White from Ceylon beat the best of Europeans in the 400 metres hurdles at the London Olympics. Only Roy Cochran, the American world record holder stopped him from winning the Olympic gold.!'

The condition of the Most Venerable Agga Maha Panditha Balangoda Ananda Maithriya Maha Nayaka Thera has slightly improved and is stable, according to Dr. L. Lanarolle the Director of the Sri Jayawardenepura Teaching Hospital (SJTH).

The Maha Nayaka Thera who is seriously ill, has been on the ventilator in the Intensive Care Unit of the SJTH for over one week. The prelate who is 103 years old, is treated for pneumonia by a team of consultant doctors inclusive of a physician, cardiologist and anaesthe-ticist.- (SG)

Anil J. Obeysekera, PC Chairman and Managing Director of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has issued the following statement on the oil spill that occurred on June 30.

No sooner the Officer in the Control Room of the tanker saw through its pressure gauge that the pressure had suddenly come down, the discharge of crude oil through the tanker was stopped. What was spilt into the sea was the quantity in the rubber hose, the length of which is 35 feet Ñ the diameter being 24 inches. This rubber hose which is utilised for the discharge of crude oil connects the tanker with the SPBM. It has been reported that the SPBM has not been properly maintained and therefore the leak took place as a result of this. This is factually incorrect and totally false.

No damage whatsoever has been caused to the pipeline of the SPBM. The pollution took place due to the hose bursting at the centre. These hoses were pressure tested in March, 1998 by an International Body known as BUREAU VERITAS and found to be fit for use. However, when the tanker did arrive, namely on the 27th June, 1998, due to the rough and choppy seas, CPC was unable to connect the hoses with the tanker and the SPBM. Finally, the divers of the CPC successfully connected the hoses to the SPBM and the tanker on the 30th June. The tanker started discharging on the early hours of the morning of the 30th June, 1998. Due to high pressures on the hose caused by the waves going up to about 18 to 20 feet, the hoses burst due to the pressure and fatigue.

It has been argued by some sources that we should have waited till the weather returned to normal. Unlike in many other countries, the storage facilities in Sri Lanka are limited to about 8 to 10 days product, after the terrorist attack. Crude oil is the main feed stock for the Refinery and if we wait for better times, the country would have had to face a catastrophe of being without diesel, kerosene and petrol. Having considered the options, we decided that the risk of discharging the vessel even during bad weather out-weighed the risks that could occur if the crude was not discharged. Having done so, ultimately, when the hoses burst, it has been reported that CPC had no Contingency Plan to face a situation of this nature. In fact, once the discharge hose is damaged, it was important to have the tanker moved out of the SPBM and anchored outside in deeper waters. Had the tanker by any chance due to bad weather crashed on to the SPBM, the damage would have been enormous. That would have resulted in SPBM being damaged and also the tanker being damaged which would have resulted in crude oil being spilt into the sea. Therefore, the next option the CPC had was to remove the tanker from SPBM for which the tug was needed. Hence the tug was not in a position to get itself involved in fighting the oil spill, the removal of the tanker from the SPBM took 3 to 4 hours. Thereafter, the tug used had to come back to the port, collect the dispersant and spray it on the oil spill, CPC is grateful to Chairman, Sri Lanka Ports Aurhority, who immediately by 12.00 noon engaged Vessel MEGHA and was tackling the pollution problem on its own. Had it not been for the assistance of the Chairman, SLPA, whom we are greatful to, the control of the spill would have been even more difficult. The CPC staff of the Oil Facilities Office came back with the dispersant and was also engaged in spraying the chemicals until 6.00 p.m. Ñ the time permitted for our employees to be in and around port. Thereafter, in the early hours of the next day, Viz. 1st July, 1998, we found that the oil slick had spread to Bambalapitiya and Wellawatte. Our officers were engaged in tackling this problem from the 1st of July. The oil slick in this area had been cleared. The staff of the CPC was engaged throughout the day and they had been able to minimise whatever damage that had been caused to the environment.

This morning, namely the 3rd of July, about 40 of our personnel have been involved in washing and spraying dispersant on the rocks in and around Bambalapitiya and Kollupitiya, and that too will be carried out until all the traces are removed from the rocks.

It has been reported by some quarters that the CPC had not Contingency Plan and did not have marine equipment to fight a pollution of this nature. It is correct to say that CPC does not have modern marine equipment to deal with oil spills of this nature.

However, I am proud of the staff of the CPC in that they have within, the shortest possible time brought the situation under control.

However, in this instance, even though the allegation is that manual spraying is less effective, it has been proved that it is much more effective than what was alleged.

It has also been reported that the Marine Pollution Authority is seeking legal advice to sue the CPC of damages. Marine Pollution Authority need not waste its time seeking legal advice whether to sue the CPC or not as there is in place a proper system to whom such claims could be made, where oil spills take place. All tanker vessels are insured by the P & I Club (Public Indemnity Club) which is an Insurance Organisation which deals with the liability of any vessel that is responsible for marine pollution. Anyone could make a claim to this Club for any damages caused to the marine environment, and if they are satisfied on proof of the actual damage, the Club would make good the damage. Secondly, their is what is known as the International Oil Pollution Fund which is an international body set up in the U.K. which deals with the marine pollution damage. Sri Lanka is a Member of this Fund. There are two protocols existing today viz. 1972 Protocol and 1994 Protocol. Sri Lanka is in the process of acceding to the 1994 Protocol whilst being a Member of 1992 Protocol, which it will renounce once accession is given to 1994 Protocol. Any marine pollution damage caused to any Member Country is financed by this World Organisation provided applications are made to the Fund and proper documentation and proper proof is available of the actual damage. The Marine Pollution Authority has estimated the damage to be in the region of US $100,000. I fail to understand how the Marine Pollution Authority has come upon this figure as CPC has already contacted NARA who has indicated to us that their report will be available only on Monday. It is only NARA who can make a proper assessment of the damage. Making such a noise about the actual damage without a proper report is futile.

As I have stated earlier, proper applications have to be made to the proper authorities and proper steps have to be taken. No legal advice is necessary, if one is aware that these Bodies are existent. CPC has contributed £550,000/- as its contribution for the year 1997. This Organisation would look after any damages consequent upon the oil spill for which marine damage could result upon proper proof.

Our MERV Vessel (Marine Emergency Response Vessel) may not be the most fully equipped vessel to meet a situation of this nature.

We follow tender procedures and award it to the lowest tenderer. Presently CPC pays about $1200 per day for engaging the MERV Vessel. Unlike the private companies, the CPC is not entitled to get quotations from abroad and engage a more modern and better equipped MERV vessel These are some of the constraints under which the CPC functions.

I am sure the above facts will clear the unwarranted cloud that has been spread over CPC by the oil slick.

"EPDP Leader MP Douglas Devananda was taken off the ventilator yesterday and he is now breathing on his own," the Director of the Accident Service of the National Hospital Dr. Hector Weerasinghe told ‘The Island’ yesterday morning.

"There is a marginal improvement in his condition at the moment but his overall condition is still critical," said Dr. Weerasinghe.

The Jaffna District MP Devananda was first taken to the Kalutara hospital on Tuesday (June 30) with serious head injuries after he was attacked by a group of terrorist suspects at the Kalutara Prison and subsequently moved to the Colombo Accident Service in an unconscious state. Mr. Devananda was breathing by means of a ventilator till yesterday. - (SG)

Four hundred and ninety two positive cases of cholera have been reported from January up to date from all over the country according to the health ministry sources.

Fourteen deaths have been reported upto date.

They said the latest reports however indicate a downward trend in the spread of the disease. On Friday only four cases were reported. They are from Kurunegala, Mawathagama, Vavuniya and Matale

A soldier who was alleged to have carried two kilograms of cannabis along with a quantity of live ammunition, was produced by police before the Polonnaruwa Magistrate yesterday. He was remanded till July 16.

Police said the suspect soldier had been able to reach Manampitiya passing several road blocks with the help of some other army personnel. However he was caught when police officers on duty at Manampitiya road block suspected him and checked him using specially trained dogs

Sri Lanka is the country that is paying the highest amount by way of pensions. This is high as 90% compared to 40% paid by the developed countries, said the President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kuma-ratunga.

The President was speaking at the 17th Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka Administrative Services Association held at John de Silva Memorial Hall yesterday.

The President sounded a warning that there is a possibility of reducing percentage in the future. The country is spending 25% of its budgeted income for the pensioners. Only 20% is left for development purpose. This is not sufficient for a country to prosper the President added.

The Administrative service being the most recognised service in the country was made use of to fulfil the needs of the politicians for nearly two decades. There were no proper plans or methods of implementing the services that the administrative service is expected to perform. The structural changes which were necessary to up-grade the service were ignored. Most of the officers did not discharge their duties for the benefit of the people. When the PA government came in to power it introduced administrative reforms to ensure the service reached the required standards, the President further said.

The government has stream-lined 60% of the administrative service these steps would ensure the efficiency of the officers. The President urged the officers to perform their duties to the best of their abilities. Working eight hours from Monday to Friday is not sufficient. The work should be productive the President noted. If the war could be ended and peace prevails nobody can stop the progress of this country the President expressed.

The Acting Minister of Public Ad-minisration, Home Affairs, and Plantation Industries Monty Gopallawa, the Secretary Ministry of Public Administration P. A. Senaratne also addressed the gathering. A special presentation on "Public Administrative Reforms and The role of The Public Administrators in Sri Lanka" was made by D. Wijesinghe, Secretary to the office of the Cabinet.

'The PA government, which is certain of defeat at the forthcoming PC elections, was now trying to postpone it under the cover of the war', observed Western Provincial Councillor of the UNP, Lawrence Madiwela at a ceremony to distribute school books to the students in the Gampaha, Keselwathugoda village this week.

Mr. Madiwela noted that postponing PC elections was a violation of the rights of the people and President Chandrika Kumaratunga has feared to face and take up the challenge thrown by the UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to hold a Presidential election in November this year.

He further said that the PA government since assuming office had given many a deadline to end the war but had failed so far to keep to those deadlines. 'Therefore, the promise to hold elections after ending the war too would end up as a distant dream', he added.

He accused the PA government of having done away with the midday meal given to school children by the UNP and pointed out that the government has so far not given the free school uniform materials to the students this year. This is a government full of false promises which has misled the people', he claimed.

He concluded saying that even those who supported the PA were disgusted over the manner the government was trying to postponed elections giving unacceptable excuses.

Wattala PS member, Charles Ranmuthu and the UNP leader of the Keselwathugoda cluster organisation, P. D. Nihal also spoke. (PG)

35% of the child population below 5 years of age in Sri Lanka suffer from malnutrition. According to Dr. Janaki Gooneratne, a senior research officer of the Agro and Food Technology division of the Ceylon Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research (CISIR) now known as the Industrial Technological Institute (ITI). This is due to the lack of balanced nutritional food at the weaning stage of an infant.

Dr. Gooneratne together with her team has come up with a project to combat this problem which is most prevalent in rural areas. ITI will be setting up a rural based industry at Siribopura, Ham-bantota to manufacture ‘Positha’ a low cost infant weaning/supplementary food. The Positha dry mix will contain 15% protein, 7% fat and 400 Kcal/100 g vitamins and minerals. Formulated with locally grown material such as rice, green gram and groundnuts. The product has a shelf life of over five months.

This would be especially helpful to working mothers Dr. Gooneratne said as the mix can be prepared within minutes by the addition of water or milk and cooking over a fire for two to three minutes. She said that mothers in the rural areas lack knowledge on nutrition. Most of them feed their infants ‘kenda’ prepared with ground rice during the weaning stage. However this lacks in protein, fat and minerals she added.

‘Positha’ which is due to be sold at Rs. 10.00 a 50g pack will be suitable for infants aged from six months to three years. Formulated to suit the local environment and the practices of rural communities it is expected to be marketed through a well established nutritional net work of NGO’s.

The project will be operated by the Womens Development Federation (WDF) an NGO operating in Ham-bantota. Main financial support for the program has been provided by the World Bank through the NDTF. The support includes equipment, working capital for a period of six months and consultancy fee to CISIR. The total cost of the project is Rs. 1.9 million of which the NGO has contributed 20% towards infrastructure facilities

The project in Hambantota will be the first to get underway. This will be ceremonially opened on July 9 by the Minister of Science and Technology Batty Weerakoon and the Minister of fisheries and Aquatic resources Mahinda Rajapakse. The product will be launched on this day by Chamal Rajapakse, district member of parliament and chairman of the Ham-bantota district development committee.

The two other pilot projects which will be set up in Puttalam and Anu-radhapura will be assisted by the ‘Kantha Ithurum Parish-ramaya’ in Puttalam and community development organization, Anuradhapura.

The Immigration and Emigration Department has to clear arrears in excess of 4000 applications that piled up during the postal delay, Controller of Immigration and Emigration Lakshman Perera said. The biggest problem with regard to the delays in issuing passports is the large number of applicants involved.

The 'passport office' receives approximately 2000 applications for passports daily. " This is on an average day, some days there are more the Controller said in an interview with 'The Island'.

Mr. Perera said due to the postal strike there is a backlog that amounts to around 5000 applications. "We have a separate night shift operating to clear the backlog quickly and efficiently."

He said the department issues an average 1200 passports daily. Out of this number approximately 1000 are issued on applications that were received the same day. He admitted that there is a certain delay in issuing passports on the same day. The reason is because the actual printing is done at the office in Fort. The applications are sent in batches of 200 every hour for printing and are collected in several batches in the evening. " The last batch can come in as late as 8.30 p.m." he explained. The applications received during the latter stages of the afternoon are completed late in the evening. Some people stay late in the night to collect their passports while others return the next morning.

Mr. Perera said that steps have been taken to shift the printing section to the same location housing the Immigration and Emigration Department. "Relocating of the printing section will help improve speed and efficiency of the issuance of passports that are required on the same day, as it will save the time taken to transport applications from one office to another" he pointed out.

With regard to false passports, the Controller said that this can occur only if false documents are processed. The department issues applications daily from 8.30 a.m. onwards. In addition applications are posted to the Divisional Secretariats for the people in rural areas and are also sent to persons who request such applications by post as well. Once the document has been duly filled, the identification is checked. It is at this juncture that falsification can occur. "We encourage people to hand in their applications personally and proper identification must be produced. If the applicant has no identity card, as it is the case with a most 16 year olds, a document verifying his identification must be produced. An example would be an endorsement by a Justice of Peace or the principal of the school attended by the child" the Controller noted.

Asked on the possibility of certain departmental employees been involved in the issuance of passports on false documents, Mr. Perera said although this situation had occurred in the past, he hoped that with the amendment concerning the illicit trafficking of persons from Sri Lanka " employees would not get involved for fear of the severe penalties." The amendments introduced mandatory punishment, increased jail sentence and increased fines from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 200,000.

Normally it would take between six to eight weeks to issue a passport. This would require a payment of 1750 rupees for all countries except for the Middle East. A passport for the Middle Eastern countries require a payment of 300 rupees and 1500 rupees to receive it on the same day. To obtain a passport on the same for another country it would cost the applicant 3000 rupees, the Controller said.

He added that a new system will be introduced in future "We are trying to issue numbers, so that the people are not kept standing in the queue. When the number is called the person can collect his passport. Although facilities are provided to the applicants waiting to collect their passports, more funds should be allocated to cater to the growing number of people, who seek passports.

There is a heavy responsibility on the part of the policy makers and social scientists in preventing and highlighting child abuse said, Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam at a panel discussion on 'child abuse', which was the second in the series on this subject. The relationship between suicide and child abuse may not be remote. Basically the problem of child abuse is the ignorance of the rights of the child. There is now a parliament lobby on child abuse, he added.

Dr. Thiruchelvam drew attention to some of the legislation in force in this regard. The year 1994 saw far reaching amendments. One of the objectives of the 1994 amendments was to impose minimum penalties. Articles 32 and 34 deals with prevention and identification of child abuse. There is a need to prevent harmful child labour. The offences that fall into the category of punishable offences are sexual exploitation, child pornography, and other form of sexual abuses. There is a difficulty in instituting a prosecution, he said.

Dr. Tiruchelvam requested the policy makers to think of practical strategies to ensure that child abuse is addressed in a proper way. The statisticals on child abuse did not have drastic impact on the legislation. He stressed the need for adequate public educative programmes and the need to increase public awareness on child abuse. It is estimated that 30000 child prostitutes are in Sri Lanka. The need for tough laws to be introduced is a timely requirement. It is also important to impose minimum penalties and sentences. Many of the institutions which shelter children are in a state of disarray. The children who stay in these institutions are repeatedly subjected to child abuse, he claimed.

'We need to have creative interactions with international organisations. There are few important points to be considered regarding child abuse. There should be a single child code to deal with child abuse. More commitment should be there on the part of legislative, judicial and administrative side. The need for non- legal counselling process should be implemented. The sole approach in legal system should be changed according to today's requirement's, Dr. Tiruchelvam observed.

'The modern techniques like internet should not be mis-used but should be made use of to find out the offenders. A child is no longer regarded as a commodity in today's society. When we address the question of child abuse, the problem of child labour should also be considered. Corporal punishments should be recommended he explained'.

Taking part in the discussion Miss Piyanjali De Zoysa, a psychologist said, that child abuse is most degrading, humiliating and terrorising. It is not a thing that should happen by a person who nurtures the child. It is very difficult to define child abuse, but there are five types of child abuses. There are physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, domestic and child labour and child combatants.

Miss Zoysa referred to the causes of child abuse and said that the 1/5 th of the abused children later become abusers themselves. The parental abnormal expectation of love from their children, marital discord, segative behaviour of the child, neighbourhood without adequate facilities, social mobility and increase in materialism are other causes. Most abusers are angry, frustrated, dissatisfied and lonely adults, she further said. In this instance the need arises to use psychological therapies for the abused and abusers. The guilt, fear, shame, withdrawal from the society are some of the psychological impact of abused children she explained. It is tha responsibility of the adults to create a safer society for their children, she added.