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Reimpose
death penalty A senior Deputy Inspector of Police yesterday called for the re-imposition of the death penalty to stem the escalating crime wave in the country. ‘Criminal activities, especially sex-related ones have reached alarming proportions. Nothing short of the death penalty can arrest this disturbing trend’, senior DIG H. M. G. B. Kotakadeniya (Crimes and Criminal Intelligence) told ‘The Island’ in an interview. ‘There is no other way to tackle this growing problem’, he insisted. The death penalty has not been removed from the legal system. It’s very much part of it, but it’s not being executed, Mr. Kotakadeniya said. The time has come to re-introduce the death penalty to deal with this dangerous situation, he pointed out.’ There is a grave need for it now’, he added. "The laws as they are at present are absolutely sufficient, but we cannot do anything about this increasing crime rate in the country without the death penalty," he noted. The police are by itself restricted in their services due to the existing situation in the North and the East. Those responsible for criminal activities are aware of the lack of law enforcement in these parts at present. As a result of our limited resources and the dearth of police personnel violence is on the increase. Unfortunately we are unable to exercise our authority and carry out the traditional duties as in the past, DIG Kotakadeniya explained. He cited this week’s rape and murder of an Indian woman who was the daughter-in-law of a senior SP, at Crows Island as a ‘classic example of this undesirable situation’. "The basic reason for such incidents is the present lack of police patrolling. This service has drastically reduced due to the situation in the country. If it was taking place these persons would not have acted with such impunity. The police suspect that there maybe many other bodies dumped in this area, but we are unable to go further into it’, he lamented. "This is why I say that the death penalty is absolutely necessary. These men should be hung. But instead they might walk out in a mere three months time’, the DIG said. Police have reported an increase in sex related crimes during the recent past. According to these sources approximately 900 cases of rape have been reported last year alone. Meanwhile 51 cases have been reported in 1983, 48 in ’84, 31 in ’85, 38 in ’86, 42 in ’87, 9 in ’88, 39 in ’89, 98 in ’90, 35 in ’91, 121 in ’92, 91 in ’94 and 162 in 1995. Meanwhile, Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Dhara Wijethilaka said that she is unaware of any moves to further tighten laws pertaining to sex related crimes. "There are no fresh moves to strengthen laws that I am aware of. We have already done this’, she said.
I saw man who pulled my wife
by hand "I saw the man who pulled my wife's hand who was following us. Then I asked Rita, my wife to run. Then she threw the pair of slippers she was wearing and ran towards my house," said Jude Mohan Sudanthiran Manoharan, husband of the late Rita Jones at the magisterial inquiry conducted by Colombo Chief Additional Magistrate, Premadasa Punchihewa yesterday (15). The Indian national, Rita Jones was married to Jude Mohan Sudanthiran Manoharan, a marine engineer and son of T. Manoharan, retired Senior Superintendent of Police. Rita Jones and her husband were taking a stroll in the evening at the Crows Island beach when four unidentified men had assaulted the husband and abducted his wife Rita Jones. The body of Rita Jones was found by the police last Tuesday. Mohan Sudanthiran Manoharan continuing his evidence at the magisterial inquiry said: "The dead person was my wife. She hails from Bombay in India. Last September 12, both of us got married. After the marriage we came to Sri Lanka and were staying with my parents at their residence at No. 65/276, Crows Island, Colombo 15. Last Sunday, that is on October 11, at about 6.00 p.m. we took a stroll along the beach. While we were returning home, three persons came towards us. One of them pulled my wife by her left hand. I immediately pulled her towards me. At that time she was wearing a light green blouse, dark blue pair of denim trousers and a pair of black coloured slippers. In addition she was also wearing two gold bangles in her arm, red coloured pair of earrings and a pendant. In India the pendant is called "Mangala Suthra." As we felt the four men were attempting to cause trouble we wanted to get back home quickly. The distance to my house was about 50 metres. When we evaded the intruders and were hurrying back home I could feel somebody come running behind us. When I turned back and looked I saw the person who pulled my wife running towards us. I then told my wife to run. Accordingly she threw away the slippers she was wearing and ran towards our home. Then I held the man following me and forced him down. Then I saw two others of the gang come running towards us. One of them got hold of me and the other my wife. Then warned me that they are in possession of a pistol. I aimed a kick at the man who was holding me. He then got hold of me by my T shirt. In the struggle a piece of the T-shirt tore and he lost the grip on me. At this moment the person whom I had downed earlier got up and got hold of me. Then I had a fight with both of them. I got hold of the private parts of one of them. Then he squeezed my neck. Then both of us fell on to the ground. Then he got onto me and bit my chest. Then I hit him on his face, with that shot he fell. When I got up and looked around, my wife was not to be seen. Then one person holding a chain in his hand came towards me and I kicked him too and fell. When I looked around I saw a person coming from the direction of the housing complex. I ran towards him and told him about the incident. That person was a neighbour of my father. I wanted to go back to the place where the incident occurred. But the neighbour advised me to inform home and take action. Accordingly I ran towards home. I informed the incident to all at home. Then I ran back towards the place where the incident occurred. There was a crowd of about 15 persons. Some police officers were also seen approaching the scene. It was about 7.00 p.m. then. Then we broke up into several groups and combed the area for my wife. We continued our search till about 1.30 a.m. next day. I can identify the person who abducted my wife. He was a lean tall man with long hair. He was wearing a blue coloured denim trouser and black T-shirt. On his wrist there was a black thread tied. Though we carried out the search for my wife with the assistance of the police and the army we were unable to find her. At that time there was a slight drizzle. Later three suspects were arrested by the police. On information elicited from them the police were able to find the body. If I see them again I can identify the person who hit me and the person who abducted my wife." A . M. Balan of Wistwyke Road, Mattakkuliya giving evidence said: "I am living in this area for the last 30 years. During this period I came to know the family of Manoharan. I was informed by an acquaintance that when Jude Manoharan and his wife were taking a stroll along the beach last Sunday, a certain group had abducted his wife. Then I along with about 10 other persons and police officers went to the Crows Island beach. We made a search even in the shrub jungle till about 1.30 a.m. next day but there was no trace of the wife of Jude Manoharan. Next day on the instructions of the Officer-in-Charge of Mutwal police we carried out a search from 8.30 a.m. till about 2.30 p.m. There the police found a hair pin and the pair of spectacles of Jude Manoharan. Later we came to know of certain suspects being arrested and then the police had recovered the body of Rita Jones, he added. Magistrate Punchihewa who considered the evidence led at the inquiry and the medical report returned a verdict of homicide. An identification parade to identify the suspects was also ordered to be held on October 27. Permission also was granted to bury the body instead of a cremation. The two US million dollar currency notes seized by Sri Lanka Police over the past week are forgeries, a spokesperson at the United States Information Service (USIS) said. She said that the highest denomination in US currency in circulation was the US $100 note. Million dollar notes have been printed, but they are used for transactions between the Federal Reserve Bank and the US Treasury. Mr. Akbar Khan, country manager for American Express Bank also said that there was no doubt the currency was forged and such incidents had been reported in other countries as well. The first counterfeit note was seized last Friday from Chilaw and a woman in whose possession it was found was arrested. She was a Sri Lankan who had been living in India for the past eighteen years and had married there. A second note surfaced in Grandpass on Tuesday in a raid by the Terrorist Investigation Division. (DB) Army
deserters stand at 5,000 About 5,000 soldiers have deserted the army during the last three months, Military spokesman Brigadier Sunil Tennekoon said at yesterday’s cabinet press briefing held at the People’s Bank auditorium in Fort. He said that the number of deserters in May this year was about 25,000. About 14,500 of them surrendered subsequently. "When we commenced a project on October 7 to arrest the deserters the number that had abandoned the service stood at around 15,000. Since then 2889 have been arrested". Asked to reconcile the discrepancy in the numbers, Tennekoon said that the number of deserters keep changing from time to time due to new desertions, those surrendering and those arrested. He said that lists containing the names of deserters have been made available to Grama Niladharis and District Coordinators with a view to expediting the process of finding the deserters. "Once the deserters are taken into custody they will be given skills training in view of the period they have been away from duty . An allowance will be paid during this period. Thereafter they will be restored to the positions they held earlier and also be given all the benefits including the salary they drew," he added. Conscription not the answer: better training
and leadership needed Retired Army Chief of Staff, Maj. General Lucky Algama yesterday said that conscription will not help the government to overcome existing manpower problems in the armed forces particularly in the army. "Conscription is not the answer," he told The Island in an interview on Wednesday. Compulsory military service will not be effective as conscripts have no will to fight a ruthless enemy particularly in jungle warfare. The government too has ruled out conscription as an immediate measure to overcome manpower problems faced by the army. Algama said that good training and particularly good leadership [at all levels] will propel the army to a better fighting force. In the second week of this month, the government ordered a fresh operation to capture service deserters as part of the efforts to re-build battalions affected by the ongoing Wanni offensive, Jayasikuru and the LTTE attack on the Kilinochchi-Paranthan defences. Algama who played a key role in the destruction of the LTTE and later restoring government’s writ in the eastern province, pointed out that whatever said and done the armed forces and police will have to weaken the LTTE. "There was no alternative," he said insisting that the People’s Alliance , the UNP or any other political party will not be able to seek a negotiated settlement without the armed forces crippling LTTE military power. "The destruction of enemy’s muscle is very important," he said adding that the armed forces will be able to do so if the correct leadership is given. Asked whether the government was seeking to use the existing censorship for its advantage, Algama explained that there was nothing wrong in having a censorship particularly at times the armed forces were engaged in major battles. "A censorship," he said must be used as a tool to keep the morale of the armed forces and the people high. He blamed the government for claiming that censorship had been imposed to prevent the enemy from gathering information on operational plans and other crucial details. Armed forces top brass must be held responsible if details of planned offensives and other type of covert operations leak out. "For a newspaper to publish such details some higher official in the armed forces must reveal operational details," Algama said. Algama, the first non-Sandhurst trained officer, qualified from a National Defence College [NDC of Pakistan] said that quality of troops must improve with right leadership. The armed forces were called into action after police failed to control the rise of terrorist groups. He blamed certain officers who held crucial posts during crucial times for the current situation. Algama was in the service when the army lost control of the Vavuniya-Jaffna Main Supply Route [MSR] in 1990-1991 period. Camps at Kokkavil, Mankulam, Kilinochchi and Paranthan situated along the MSR were abandoned after some were attacked and overrun, Algama said. The LTTE was able to take control of the entire Wanni region except for Pooneryn and Mullaithivu where the army had [at that time] two isolated camps. At the time the People’s Alliance came into power in August 1994, armed forces had Palaly-Kankesanthurai, Elephant Pass, Vettilaikerni, Pooneryn, Mullaithivu , Mannar island, Vavuniya town and the control of the eastern province. Armed forces had the control of the Jaffna islands too, Algama said. He said that armed forces were compelled to launch Riviresa offensive in October 1995. He pointed out that forces had to break out of Palaly when LTTE threatened the airbase. "We had to leave behind the bunkers and take the battle into the enemy territory," he said. He admitted that if armed forces did not come out of bunkers in October 1995, results would have been disastrous for the services. However, Algama finds fault with both the government and the armed forces for launching operation Sath Jaya in July 1996 to secure Elephant Pass-Kilinochchi sector after losing the base at Mullaithivu. Sath Jaya resulted in the loss of both men and material. The army had been forced to deploy a Division comprised six brigades in the Elephant Pass-Kilinochchi area. Talking on Jayasikuru, the retired Major General said that the opening of an overland MSR had become a necessity. Rising cost of keeping the air and sea routes open and the increased threat posed by LTTE Sea Tiger and anti-aircraft units, had forced the government to explore the possibility of restoring the MSR. The ongoing Wanni offensive would have been easier if the army had bases at Pooneryn and Mullaithivu. Forces at Pooneryn and Mullaithivu could have conducted at least limited operations and the high command could have reinforced them to increase the level of activity thus forcing the LTTE to divert groups deployed against the main trust he said. Within months after the loss of Mullaithivu, Pooneryn base too was vacated and troops transferred to the Elephant Pass-Kilinochchi sector. He predicted that there will be further ups and down for Jayasikuru forces. "I believe the armed forces will be ultimately able to restore the MSR," he said adding that correct leadership at all levels will help the armed forces to keep their losses down. Brigade sized operations, he said must be backed by small group operations to bring death and destruction among enemy units on different locations. Algama blamed the previous strategy of bunker concept creating problems for the armed forces and permitting the LTTE to gain control. "You have to be on the offensive all the time," he said insisting that troops must be given proper training and also rest. Repair work at Kolonnawa oil installations
commence Chinese engineers have started reconstruction work to restore the oil tanks at the Kolonnawa and Orugodawatte oil installations, three years after they were destroyed by the LTTE, authoritative Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) sources told ‘The Island’. About 150 Chinese skilled workers have now been brought down by the Chinese engineering firm which won the tender to reconstruct the destroyed tanks, the sources said. The company has undertaken to hand over two fully repaired crude oil tanks at Kolonnawa to the CPC by January next year. The tanks have a capacity of 40,000 tonnes each. The company has also started work on two diesel tanks at Orugodawatte. These tanks have a capacity of 15,000 tonnes each. A large number of diesel and crude oil tanks were destroyed by fire after the LTTE staged attacks at the Kolonnawa and Orugodawatte oil installations in October 1995. This led to a considerable storage problem for the CPC. A tender to reconstruct the tanks was awarded to the Hung Kwi Engineering Corporation of China in 1997. However, the actual work only began about two months ago. The cost of reconstruction is being borne in part by the foreign component and in part by the government. "The foreign financial input is about US$ 23 million while the Sri Lankan government is to contribute about Rs. 1.5 billion. The government has declared a three day amnesty period for service deserters to return with effect from next Saturday (17), Director Information Ariya Rubasinghe told 'The Island' last night. UNP to campaign to end political interference
in military operation The UNP will campaign for an end to political interference in the planning and execution of military operations aimed at destroying the LTTE, party Working Committee sources told The Island yesterday. This was among the decision taken at the Working Committee meeting held at Sirikotha on Wednesday [14]. The party will also press the government to permit the armed forces and police top brass to co-ordinate and carry out offensive, against the LTTE, sources said adding that the UNP will continue to reiterate its call for the immediate lifting of the existing censorship. "We intend to focus on strategic blunders made by the political leadership during the forthcoming propaganda campaign for the next poll," sources said. The armed forces and top brass must be placed incharge of the war effort and they must be taken to task if they fail to achieve results, party sources said. The UNP will launch its polls campaign next week with the emphasis on what they call the government’s mishandling of the ongoing military campaign against the LTTE, rising unemployment and economic crisis, senior party officials said yesterday. The decision making Working Committee has decided that the party should launch the polls campaign with a two day resident workshop for approximately 5000 activists. The workshop will be held on October 24 and 25. The Working Committee has also decided to launch a series of agitational campaigns in November as part of the polls campaign, officials said. November is going to be a month of anti-government campaigns, the party said. The proposed campaign is aimed at preparing the party for the Presidential or Provincial Council or even a snap parliamentary poll at any given time. UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has indicated to the Working Committee that government forces will find it difficult to go ahead with the ongoing Wanni offensive, Jayasikuru in view of the September attack on the army defences at Kilinochchi. Except for the war, the UNP will concentrate on the rising unemployment problem in the country particularly with regard to those who have passed higher examinations. A four member committee headed by Matara District MP Ronnie De Mel had been appointed to formulate a plan for implementation during the next UNP administration. The Committee comprise MP Karunasena Kodituwakku, former Director General of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, Rohitha Bogollagama and Charitha Ratwatte. Messrs ACS Hameed and Anura Bandaranaike were among the few who did not attend Wednesday’s Working Committee meeting, the first since the return of Mr. Wickremesinghe from abroad last week. Asked whether the situation created by former minister Sirisena Cooray’s possible entry to active politics was discussed, officials replied in the negative. "Cooray issue was not discussed at all," they said pointing out that the party wanted to go ahead with its polls campaign. Sri Lanka regional centre for arbitration Attorney General Sarath Silva, President of SAARCLAW (Sri Lanka) the regional apex body representing the legal communities of the SAARC countries on Wednesday said that Sri Lanka is being promoted as a regional centre for arbitration. He was speaking at a press briefing on the latest SAARCLAW conference that will be held from October 23-25. Mr. Silva said that the organisation would try to map out dimensions for the future. "Investment is on the fast track and legal arrangements must be in place to meet with these demands. We must develop a common regime for trade." he added. Mr. Silva observed that with growing regional arrangements like SAPTA/SAFTA leading to a liberalisation of trade within the region, the legal community's role would grow in the servicing of such arrangements. He added that already the organisation had conducted studies on such matters as investment law, trade and revenue related regulation in the region. "The legal systems of the countries are not so dissimilar and what we will seek to achieve is a harmonisation of the different systems." he said. The chairperson of the organising committee, Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Justice Dhara Wijayatilake said that main purpose of the conference was to enable interaction among the legal fraternity of the member states. She said that since the formation of the organisation there had been easy access to law related information in the different member countries. "We have been able to pick into their laws and avoid any shortcomings contained in them." she said. She added that the amendment to the Penal Code in relation to child abuse and rape had been made after studying the laws in other countries. "Even when formulating the recently introduced anticipatory bail law the Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani laws were taken into consideration." she added. The conference will include a meeting of chief justices of all countries. This will be a closed door meeting. The working sessions will be conducted on October 24 and 25 at the Oberoi. A hundred lawyers from SAARC member states and 280 Sri Lankan lawyers will attend it. The conference will touch on such topics as "The South East Asian currency crisis". "Policy planning for the Family, Equity for women and children", "Criminal law," "SAPTA and their legal consequences," "The concept of power sharing in countries in the SAARC region", "Trends in media freedom", "Chemicals control legislation required to fight drug trafficking in the SAARC countries," "Legal Education," "The response of the SARRC countries to international efforts to combat abuse of women and children," "Insurance legislation in the SAARC countries," "Promotion and protection of human rights through public interest litigation", "Intellectual property issues in the SAARC region" and "Corruption as an impediment to development." Lawyer Ajantha Cooray who is also on the organising committee said that for the first time Maldives and Bhutan would be participating in the conference. This will be the organisation's seventh conference. Cooray's application to S C fixed for
argument on Nov. 18,19 The Supreme Court yesterday fixed for argument on November 18 and 19, the Writ Application, filed by B. Sirisena Cooray, the former General Secretary of the UNP. Petitioner B. Sirisena Cooray, has requested the Court to issue a Writ of Certiorari, to quash the adverse findings made against Mr. Cooray in the report of the Athulathmudali Commission. The respondents cited in the Writ Application are, Chairman of the Commission, Tissa Dias Bandaranayake, retired Supreme Court Judge and member of the Commission G. W. Edirisooriya High Court Judge, Matara. Petitioner Cooray in his petition had complained that the Commission had found him guilty of contempt of Commission, and had declared that Mr. Cooray was in the conspiracy group, that had plotted the assassination of Lalith Athulathmudali. The Commission had recommended that civic disability should be imposed on Cooray, in consequence of the commission of the aforesaid offences. 25 missing troops return to base Twenty five soldiers who had survived the recent LTTE attack on Kilinochchi army defences have returned to the Paranthan army base, Military spokesman Brigadier Sunil Tennekoon told yesterday’s cabinet press briefing in Colombo. Responding to repeated questions about the exact casualty figure in the Kilinochchi battle, he said that the ICRC handed over the bodies of 689 soldiers to the military authorities in Vavuniya of which 103 were individually identified. "Since the other 586 bodies could not be identified they were cremated with full military honours. They were all servicemen," he added. Asked why he had earlier told the media that the army casualty figure was 400, Tennekoon said that the Military does not declare soldiers missing in action dead until a lapse of one year, unless proved otherwise. "The real position is that 589 bodies were handed over to us. At the time I spoke to you there was confirmation that 400 soldiers had been killed". Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera when asked about a comment to the media by Plan Implementation Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle that it was not necessary to brief the media on what General Anuruddha Ratwatte told the cabinet about the Kilinochchi battle said that the information provided by Brigadier Tennekoon explains matters. Brigadier Tennekoon said that Jayasikuru troops were continuing operations amidst pockets of resistance by the LTTE. "Troops are moving forward with the help of artillery and Air Force cover. Over the last two weeks 47 Tigers were killed while the army lost 46 soldiers . We also recovered many weapons, anti personnel and anti tank mines used by the LTTE " He said that limited operations conducted in the Jaffna peninsula during the last week with the assistance of sniper fire killed 45 Tigers while seven soldiers were killed and 31 wounded. "In the early hours of yesterday North- East of Elephant Pass troops conducted small group operations killing three Tigers. Two T-56 weapons , claymore mines and bombs and a communication set were seized." Brigadier Tennekoon said that limited operations conducted in the Trincomalee district over the last two weeks resulted in the recovery of a quantity of arms, ammunition and grenades. "An attack launched by the LTTE south of Trincomalee was effectively repulsed killing 17 Tigers. Four soldiers were killed and nine injured". Clarification by Industrial Development Ministry Industrial Development Ministry Secretary, Mahinda Bandusena in a press release states: "With regard to the news item, which appeared in "The Island" newspaper of 13th October 1998, under caption "Embargo on exports to US puts garment industrialists in a quandary". I would like to clarify the position regarding the US quota category 334/634:- Textile quotas are allocated by the Textile Quota Board (TQB) which is, unlike in the past, an autonomous body appointed under the Textile Quota Board Act No. 33 of 1996. This Board consists of five representatives of Apparel Industry Associations, including the Buying Offices Association and five officials. All decisions regarding textile quota allocations are made by this Board which meets, generally, once in two weeks. At these meetings, information relating to allocation of quotas to all the factories is made available to the Industry Associations. Therefore, unlike in the past, quota allocations are made following a hundred per cent transparent procedure. In fact, all the Apparel Industry Associations have persistently complimented the absolute transparency and accountability of quota distribution without any Ministerial interference since the present government assumed office in 1994. It may be recalled that, in the quota year 1993-1994, textile quotas had been allocated with scant regard to their availability leading to a situation where shipment of 1.3m dozens in fast moving categories had to be deferred and the present government had to negotiate with US authorities to avert a potentially very serious situation. Such textile quotas are generally allocated on the basis of past export performance. Any balances remaining after allocation on this basis are transferred to a pool and allocated to exporters after calling for applications. One of the main objectives of the TQB is to maximise the utilization of textile quotas available to the country. Therefore, when it is found that the rate of utilization is slow, quotas are also allocated through a pool scheme referred to as "The Seven Day Pool Scheme". In June 1997, the TQB found that the utilization of category 334/634 was only 31% of the availability. Therefore, to increase the utilization, this category was made available through the "Seven Day Pool Scheme" as well. By this means, the Apparel Industry was able to ship extra 196,740 dozs in this category in 1997. However, this led to an over-shipment of approximately 92,000 dozs in that year which is debited to 1998. In such instances, the general practice followed by the TQB is to deduct the overshipment from the quota holders in the succeeding year. Accordingly, the TQB, at the beginning of 1998, deducted around 38,000 dozs from the main quota holders being the amount pro-rated to exports under the "pool schemes". However, there were a number of appeals from exporters not to make this deduction and the TQB, therefore, indicated to them that the deducted quotas will be restored in September this year. When that decision was reviewed in July, the TQB found that it was not possible to restore this deducted quota in September and the Board decided to postpone the restoration to 15th December. It has to be emphasized that what the TQB did was only a postponement of the restoration and not a deferment of an already allocated quota. However, after reviewing the quota position, the TQB, in August 1998, decided to defer up to December 15, shipment of 15 per cent of the balance quotas held by exporters as at 6th August 1998. It was also found that there was a discrepancy of about 18,000 dozs between our export figures and US import figures in this category. Such discrepancies do occur and are routinely investigated by the TQB. In the present instance also, the TQB has undertaken an entry by entry data reconciliation to determine the cause of these discrepancies. Since this process takes a considerable amount of time, the TQB, as a precautionary measure, requested exporters to postpone the shipment of approximately 21,000 dozs to the latter half of December 1998, in addition to the 15 per cent deferment referred to above. The total availability of quota for the country under this category in 1998 is approximately 905,000 dozs. The total quantity that has been deferred to December is about 46,000 dozs which is only about 5% of the total availability. This type of adjustment is not a new thing and it has been done even in the past, and in such instances exporters stagger their shipments in consultation with their buyers. For example, although in the above mentioned news item, it is stated that Cadillac Garments would suffer a huge loss of US$ 936,000, the company has informed the TQB that they will not be facing any losses as the buyers agreed to accept the shipments in December. In order to give exporters a certain amount of flexibility in their export arrangements, the TQB also has allowed them to exchange this category for other comparable categories. NOTE BY THE REPORTER: Local industrialists maintain that the TQB should make necessary adjustments to quotas and the required diferments at the beginning of the year to facilitate their exporters. They claim that when diferments are made in mid-year it results in financial losses. The local industrialists further claim that the promised deducted quotas in September were not restored. Burglars go away with 97 gas cylinders A gas retailing outlet at Kiribathgoda was ransacked by thieves on Sunday night and 97 gas cylinders worth Rs. 243,000 were removed, police said. According to the statement of the owner of the store, thieves had taken away 61 cylinders with gas and 36 empty ones. The owner had told the police that he closed the shop around 6 p.m on Sunday and when he returned around 8 a.m the following day he had found the locks broken and 97 cylinders missing. (SB) Father, 2 kids die of poisoning A father had drunk poison and had also forcefully given it to his son and daughter on Tuesday (13). They all died at the Kahawatte hospital after admission. The victims were identified as J. G. Wickramasinghe (35), J. G. Supun (1 1/2 years) and S. Wickramasinghe (2 years and 9 months.) of Pahale Kukulegama, Jathuwangoda, Kalawana. The magisterial inquest was due to be held by the Acting Magistrate of Kalawana Mr. Vishaka Perera. The reason for the act is unknown. (KKAW) The Chairman of Council for Information Technology in a letter to 'The Island' states: I write in reference to the article "Infotel '98 lacked novelty" that appeared on the IT page of 13th October 1998 and would like to point out the following errors. I did not state that I would decline a position in the Infotel Lanka Society. I only stated that the Infotel Exhibition would not be held in 1999 but only in the year 2000. However the International IT Conference would be held in 1999. Furthermore I am Chairman of the Infotel Society in my capacity as Chairman of CINTEC. The critics who expressed the opinion that there was nothing new obviously have not taken the trouble to go around the exhibition where they would have seen video conference facilities, video, telephones, the merging of PCs, TV and Internet, the high resolution digital cameras and the latest types of novel audio visual equipment that were on display in addition to the latest releases of PCs, peripherals and AV equipment interfaced to computer systems. The feedback received from a large number of visitors and viewers of the TV exposure to Infotel '98, is quite different from that of your reporters. Japanese woman found unconscious on pavement A Japanese woman was found unconscious on Wednesday on the pavement of Fort Secretariat halt around 5.30 p.m. She had been admitted to the Colombo National Hospital by a police constable attached to the Fort police. Police investigations are continuing. (KKAW) |
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