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LTTE bid to disrupt civilian life in Jaffna

By Franklin. R. Satyapalan
The LTTE is attempting to disrupt civilian life in Jaffna by demanding that people living close to military camps and checkpoints in the peninsula vacate their homes and that all government offices and institutions stop functioning.

The Tigers are using posters displayed mostly in the Gurunagar and Thenmarachchi area and also distributing pamphlets as part of this campaign, Jaffna residents said. The campaign which began at Thenmarachchi a fortnight ago has now been brought into the Jaffna town proper with posters up in Gurunagar from Thurday.

All five courts in Jaffna have stopped functioning from Tuesday. Most government offices in the pensinsula have received similar threatening letters demanding that they close their doors on receiving the warnings. "If not, the LTTE will not be responsible for the consequences,'' these letters have said.

Residents said that schools in Thenmarachchi have received letters saying that they must close by next Tuesday or suffer the consequences for which the LTTE will not be responsible.

The duplicated warnings have been distributed near libraries, community centres and other places where the public congregates. They referred to the Kilinochchi attack and said that such attacks could occur even within the peninsula. Therefore people living around military camps and checkpoints should leave their homes and go elsewhere.

The army has reacted to such LTTE activity with tight security. An unofficial curfew has been declared after 6 p.m. and patrols have been deployed for the last four days to see that shops and other business places are closed after that. The navy has enforced similar measures in the islands off Jaffna and people have been warned off the streets from 7 p.m. to 4.30 a.m.

Meanwhile civilian flights to Jaffna remains suspended following the Lion Air crash. Government officials with business in Colombo have been flown back on military fights.

Residents said two more elected Pradeshiya Sabha members have resigned under LTTE pressure. These two members of the Karaveddy and Pachchilapallai PS belonging to EPDP and PLOTE resigned last week.

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"Stop political games,'' says Sangha Sabha

In a statement critical of both the government and opposition, the Jathika Sangha Sabha (National Sangha Council) has called upon the people of this country to unite to protect our war heroes. "It is only by completely defeating terrorism that genuine peace can be obtained,'' it said.

The statement called upon both the government and opposition to cancel all festivals, celebrations and "political games'' to save the country from LTTE terrorism and also called upon the public to assist the soldiers in any way they can.

Accusing the government and opposition of engaging in "their usual political antics'', the statement accused the government of hiding the facts of the war under cover of the censorship. Hinting about the possibility of racial riots, the truth of the military disaster and loss of life was kept away from the people.

"The fact that the Sinhala people are not racists has been proved after 127 attacks by Tamil terrorists since 1983 without retaliation. By suppressing the Kilinochchi tragedy, what the government has done was to crush the bleeding hearts of the nation,'' the statement said.

It was critical of movements like Sudu Nelum saying that all they attempted to do was stop our youth from joining the forces in defence of the country. It wondered whether this movement was a front for the LTTE.

The statement also accused the UNP of acting with "total irresponsibility'' with some of its leaders arguing that the Kilinochchi defeat was proof that unconditional peace talks with the LTTE is required.

"We believe that the government and opposition will continue to play their little games until the LTTE captures Colombo. Therefore we call upon the people to extend their support directly to the armed forces to show their opposition to politicians who play with the lives of our soldiers for political advantage. It is only by defeating terrorism that genuine peace can be obtained.''

 

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The following is the text of the statement issued by the National Sangha Council calling for unity to "protect our war heroes'.

In the course of the battles which took place from Sept. 26 onwards at Killinochchi, Paranthan and Mankulam, over a thousand of our soldiers sacrificed their lives. Many more were injured and disabled. At this tragic moment, we call upon the Government and the Opposition to cancel all festiveles, celebrations and political games and unite to save the country from LTTE terrorism. We also call upon the public to assist the soldiers in any way they can.

The Jathika Sangha Sabhawa held pritith chanting ceremonies at the Kalubowila Hospital on 10th Sat., and at the Matara Hospital on 12th Monday in order to raise the morale of the injured soldiers. The All Ceylon Buddhist Congress and the National Movement Against Terrorism provided food, shelter and other assistance to family members of injured soldiers, who came to Colombo from distant places to visit their loved ones in hospital.

While the Buddhist clergy and the general public cared for the soldiers in this way, the Government and the Opposition carried on their usual political antics.

The Government hid behind the censorship of news from the battlefront and concealed the facts about the soldiers' lives from the public. Then they secretly disposed of the bodies of the dead soldiers, along with the respect and honour due to them. The Government hid the truth about the military disaster and the loss of life from the people, while hinting at the possibility of racial riots.

The fact that the Sinhala people are not racists has been proved, after 127 attacks by Tamil racists since 1983 without retaliation.

By suppressing the Kilinochchi tragedy, what the government has done was to crush the bleeding hearts of the nation.

If censorship exists for the purpose of cheapening the sacrifice of the lives of our soldiers, it is our view that this censorship is a betrayal of our nation, and a massacre of our soldiers, a second time. It is also clear that this censorship does not apply to media institutions that support the terrorists. We, therefore, call upon the govnerment to disclose the truth to the nation and obtain the support of the people for this huge national struggle.

We also find that the Education Ministry has declared a so-called 'Peace Week' from the 12th of this month. While thousands of our soldiers are being slaughtered by Tamil racist terrorists on the battlefields in the north, the message that the Government is giving their children, their brothers and sisters is that the blame for the war lies with the Sinhala people.

What so-called peace movements like the 'Sudu Nelum' campaign attempt to do is to prevent our youth from joining the security forces in the defence of our country, and to lower the morale of those who are sacrificing so much for this purpose. It is clear that it is a campaign conducted by those who try to divide this country, assisted by a few political opportunists. This movement spends vast amounts of money on banners, posters and carnivals to spread the message that the Sinhala people are racists and are responsible for this war. However, it has not put up a single poster in support of the soldiers who sacrifice their lives in the deafence of the nation.

The Sudu Nelum movement has become so traitorous, as to make us believe, for all intents and purposes, that it is a front of the LTTE.

The opposition United National Party has also acted with total irresponsibility. Some of its leaders have said that the Kilinochchi defeat is proof of their view that unconditional peace talks with the LTTE is required. Thousands of people showed their opposition to the UNP view on the 21st of September. In spite of this, the fact that the UNP continues to cosy up to the Tigers shows that they are traitors to the nation.

We believe that the Govnerment and the Opposition will continue to play their little games until the LTTE captures Colombo. Therefore we call upon the people to extend their support directly to the armed forces to safeguard the nation. We also call upon the people to show their opposition to politicians who play with the lives of our soldiers for political advantage.

In conclusion we state that it is only by completely defeating terrorism that genuine peace can be obtained.

UNP presents 5-point war agenda

The UNP yesterday called upon the government to urgently implement a 5-point agenda to tackle the war situation and related matters including pursing the war according to a clearly defined military objective and strategy rather than a political agenda.

These entailed ending the present military censorship, setting up a joint command of the military, appointing a defence procurement committee and a civil affairs committee and appointing a parliamentary select committee to probe the Kilinochchi debacle.

The statement issued by the UNP's general secretary, Mr. Gamini Athukorale, demanded of the government at this juncture:

That it ends the press censorship on military news, thus allowing the people of this country to know the exact position of the war.

Constitute a joint command of the armed forces comprising of competent, professional military officers to conduct the operation according to a clearly defined military objective and a strategy, without pursuing the war effort on a political agenda.

Appoint a defence procurement committee comprising of people with high competency acceptable to both the government and the opposition.

Appoint a civil affairs committee to ensure civil administration and civil liberties of the people of the north and east.

Appoint a parliamentary select committee to probe the Kilinochchi debacle.

 

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The general secretary of the UNP yesterday issued the following communique on the war situation.

The United National Party feels that it is their duty to keep the people of this country informed of the exact situation of the north-east war as the people have a legitimate right to be informed. It is a known fact that the People's Alliance government came to power promising the people that they would end the war and restore peace without much delay. With this promise they were able to garner the support not only of the majority community but was able to muster considerable support from the minorities who were yearning for peace. But quite contrary to every one's expectations the government has now committed the whole nation to a protracted war with staggering cost which has become unbearable to the people of this country. The shortlived peace initiative was a clear demonstration of the government's irresponsible way of handling state affairs. The very composition of the negotiating team with LTTE undermined the credibility and the seriousness of purpose of the government on this most important problem the nation is faced with.

With the abortive peace attempt the government next committed itself to search for peace through war thus committing the nation once again to a costly war. Any sensible analysis of the government's war efforts from the beginning of the much claimed Rivirasa operation to the disastrous ending of Jayasikuru, one is drawn to the conclusion that the whole military operation is carried mainly with a political purpose without any clear military objectives or proper direction. Similar to the abandoned peace effort it appears that the government is aimlessly drifting from one point to another without any clear objective pursuing the war more according to political agenda and for the purpose of image building of certain personalities.

The operation Rivirasa 1 and 2 was launched with the purpose of securing Jaffna. This was done by enmassing security personnel in large numbers of Jaffna leaving the eastern province once again in the hands of the LTTE. The fragility of the so called civil administration in the peninsula instituted under much publicity is manifested with the killing of two mayors, three army commanders and a senior superintendent of police with in a very short period of time. It is no secret that the government is fast losing it control over Jaffna and the troops stationed there are extremely vulnerable to terrorist attacks in the future.

The second operation named 'Edibala' was launched with the purpose of securing Vavuniya-Madhu link road. But today once again this stretch of road is under LTTE control. The third operation 'Sath Jaya' was aimed at capturing Vavuniya-Kilinochchi road as a supply route to Jaffna. It will be remembered that when troops entered Kilinochchi General Ratwatte almost ecstatically proclaimedthat it was a major defeat for the LTTE and the war will be ended soon. He specifically mentioned that the government was able to capture a strategic location and that was the end of Tiger power. Then Operation Jayasikuru was launched aiming Kilinochchi to open up Vavuniya-Mankulam road. However it did not take much time for the LTTE to recapture Kilinochchi nullifying all the efforts of Sath Jaya pursued with heavy casualties to men an material. Now the general claims that the government was able to capture Mankulam although they lost Kilinochchi. But according to General Kalkat a war veteran, when considered Kilinochchi which is the gate way to Jaffna-Mankulam is just another point in the Kilinochchi-Mankulam road and it has no strategic importance.

The above sequence of events is a clear manifestation of a war effort by the government on a political agenda sans a clearly defined military strategy. It was the UNP who repeatedly reminded the government that the military planning be left to be done by competent professional army officials without pressurizing them to conduct the operation keeping to a political agenda. The government's unwillingness to pay heed to this request has resulted in the loss of life of over 11,000 army personnel and the disabling of another 25,000 since they started the war in 1994.

During this period the expenditure on war has more than doubled. Today the LTTE claims that arms and ammunition they have captured from Kilinochchi and the 32,000 mortars in their possession from the ship commandeered from South Africa, is more than enough for them to conduct the war next year without any fresh procurement. As a result of this war not only the army even the people of north and east have suffered immensely with loss of lives and properties. Inspite of the governments political game-play our soldiers have made their supreme sacrifice to protect the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of our nation. The soldiers are not to be blamed for this debacle. It is the government who should take the full responsibility for this disaster for pursuing this war for political ends. It is no secret that the military procurement has become a lucrative business for cronies of the PA government. It is also a fact that although the military expenditure has escalated there is no corresponding increase in the troops strength. What has actually happened is fattening of bank accounts who are affiliated to the PA.

Under these circumstances UNP reiterate its commitment for a political solution to achieve a long lasting peace in the country. The UNP has always condemned the use of violence, terror or armed rebellion to undermine a democratic system of government. Until such time as the conflict with the LTTE comes to an end a government has to face the challenge of armed struggle against the State. But this cannot be achieved by sacrificing the lives of the armed service personnel or of innocent civilians to fulfil a partisan political agenda.

Therefore at this juncture the United National Party demand the government

1) That it end the press censorship on military news thus allowing the people of this country to know the exact position of the war.

2) To constitute a joint command of the armed forces comprising competent, professional military officials to conduct the operation according to a clearly defined military objective and a strategy, without pursuing the war efforts on a political agenda.

3) To appoint a defence procurement committee comprising people with high competency acceptable to both the government and the opposition

4) To appoint a civil affairs committee to ensure administration and civil liberties of the people of the north and east

5) To appoint a parliamentary select committee to probe the Kilinochchi debacle.

Alleged computer fraud
Jayewardene Centre officials tight lipped

By Zacki Jabbar
Repeated attempts yesterday to obtain the J. R. Jayewardene Cultural Centres response to state media allegations that the computer section of the Centre had been used allegedly to access five pornographic web sites that were charged to Posts, Telecommunications and Media Minister Managala Samaraweera’s official credit card proved futile.

The Secretary General of the Jayewardene Cultural Centre K. W. M. P. Mapitigama when contacted said we should speak to the Assistant Secretary General H. V. D. Abeywickrema.

Mr. Abeywickrema in turn told ‘The Island’ yesterday evening that he knows nothing about the alleged computer fraud.

‘I am not responsible for the computer section. Mr. Mapiti-gama should know better’ an agitated Mr. Abeywickrema said when informed that Mapitigama had wanted us to check the matter with him.

A person answering the telephone at Mapitigama’s residence last night said that Mapitigama had gone out of Colombo.

Pradeep Jayewardene , grandson of the late President J. R. Jayewardene and head of the Jayewardene Centre Computer Section, is out of the country a member of his household said.

The state media quoting official sources alleged that billing had been done by DNR a market research company for five transactions on the pornographic web sites and charged to Samaraweera’s official credit card.

‘Although the International Protocol (IP) number was correct , false names, telephone numbers and addresses including one at Horton Place had been given’ the state media further alleged.

On Friday the CID raided the Jayewardene Centre and the computers used for the alleged fraud seized.

President to meet business leaders

By Franklin. R. Satyapalan
President Chandrika Kumaratunga meets the country's business leaders on Tuesday in an effort to develop a bipartisan approach for the resolution of national issues. This meeting has been arranged at the request of five leading chambers of commerce and industry, employers organizations and trade associations.

Meanwhile, the co-ordinating chairman of this group, Mr. Lalith Kotelawela, has invited all the country's political parties for a meeting in this connection to be held at the BMICH at 4.p.m. on Thursday. Diplomatic missions and aid agencies resident here as well as the media have also been invited.

"The president is meeting the initiators of the effort - Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka, National Chamber of Industries, Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka, Employers' Federation of Ceylon, and the Exporters' Association of Sri Lanka at Temple Trees at noon on Tuesday,'' a spokesman for the group said.

"The president has indicated that the government will do all it can to encourage these efforts,'' Prof. G.L. Pieris said yesterday.

"We have always felt that the civil society has an important role to play in this regard. We are happy that the five chambers representing the business sector has recognised the crucial need for intervention by the community to impress on political parties the urgency of rapid action to solve this problem.''

The areas that have been identified by the business leaders as requiring a common and unified approach by all political parties are:

Gayoom set for massive endorsement

Maldivians voted on Friday at a national referendum testing their acceptance of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom serving a fifth term as President of the Republic which diplomats and observer said was a formality.

Under the Maldivian constitution, the Citizens' Majlis (Parliament) nominates a single candidate for president. This nomination is then placed before the electorate for the consideration of the people. If the candidate obtains over 50% of the votes, he is declared elected. If not, the Majlis must make another nomination.

Diplomats accredited to Male' resident in Colombo said that Gayoom's re-election is a formality. "He is set to be overwhelmingly endorsed,'' a western diplomat said. An Asian diplomat concurred. Gayoom has obtained over 90% endorsement at the four previous referenda he has faced.

The new constitution proclaimed at the beginning of this year enabled candidates seeking the presidency to submit nominations to the elections commissioner. The Majlis thereafter voted for a candidate instead of presenting a candidate by consensus as was previously done. Gayoom was one of five candidates seeking the nomination. He received all 50 Majlis votes and was the unanimous choice of the assembly.

A team of SAARC observers, including Mr. Bradman Weerakoon from Sri Lanka, monitored the voting on Friday. The others on the SAARC delegation were Mohamed Moshin, a former foreign secretary of Bangladesh, Lynopo Dawa Tsering, a former foreign minister of Bhutan, Ambassador Kuldip Sahdev from India, former foreign secretary and former SAARC secretary-general Y.K. Silval of Nepal and Ambassador Ejaz Naik of Pakistan.

A total of 126,128 voters, both men and women over 21-years old, were eligible to poll at Friday's election. The elections department had set up 299 polling stations in the various populated islands in the archipelago. A turnout of over 80% and sometimes 90% is common at these elections.

Officials were hopeful of completing the counting and declaring the result within two days of the polling.

Gayoom, 60, who was first elected in 1978 succeeding Ibrahim Nasir has presided over the specutacular economic and social development during his two decades in office. A vibrant tourism industry has powered the country's economic take off and helped pay for a wide ranging development programme.

Maldivians voted on Friday at a national referendum testing their accept-ance of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom serving a fifth term as President of the Republic which diplomats and observ-er said was a formality.

Under the Mald-ivian constitution, the Citizens' Majlis (Par-liament) nominates a single candidate for president. This nomi-nation is then placed before the electorate for the consideration of the people. If the candidate obtains over 50% of the votes, he is declared elected. If not, the Majlis must make another nomination.

Diplomats acc-redited to Male' resident in Colombo said that Gayoom's re-election is a formality. "He is set to be overwhelmingly endorsed,'' a western diplomat said. An Asian diplomat concurred. Gayoom has obtained over 90% endorsement at the four previous referenda he has faced.

The new con-stitution proclaimed at the beginning of this year enabled candidates seeking the presidency to submit nominations to the elections comm-issioner. The Majlis thereafter voted for a candidate instead of presenting a candidate by consensus as was previously done. Gayoom was one of five candidates seek-ing the nomination. He received all 50 Majlis votes and was the unanimous choice of the assembly.

A team of SAARC observers, including Mr. Brad-man Weerakoon from Sri Lanka, monitored the voting on Friday. The others on the SAARC delegation were Mohamed Moshin, a former foreign secretary of Bangladesh, Lynopo Dawa Tsering, a for-mer foreign minister of Bhutan, Ambass-ador Kuldip Sahdev from India, former foreign secretary and former SAARC sec-retary-general Y.K. Silval of Nepal and Ambassador Ejaz Naik of Pakistan.

A total of 126,128 voters, both men and women over 21-years old, were eligible to poll at Friday's election. The ele-ctions department had set up 299 polling stations in the various populated islands in the archipelago. A turnout of over 80% and sometimes 90% is common at these elections.

Officials were hopeful of completing the counting and declaring the result within two days of the polling.

Gayoom, 60, who was first elected in 1978 succeeding Ibrahim Nasir has presided over the specutacular economic and social development during his two decades in office. A vibrant tourism industry has powered the country's economic take off and helped pay for a wide ranging development programme.

Ex SLFPer airs adverse views on the meeting

MEP central committee former National list SLFP MP and Ex-advisor to Ministry of Plan Implementation Dr. Mervyn D. De Silva when asked for his comments on meeting organised by the five Chambers of business community for a Bi-partisan approach to national issues at the BMICH next Thursday where the MEP had been invited said in his personal capacity "I can see something profoundly wrong in the protocol of this exercise. Some of the members involved in this task are persons who enjoyed unusual patronage with the previous regime and do the same with the present government. Therefore the credibility they carry to initiate a Bi-partisan approach of this sorts seem somewhat disturbing.

Their first priority should be to ensure the adoption of good business principles based on the so called concept of an equal playing field for all business enterprises big and small in the country.

Secondly how can chambers summon political parties, foreign ambassadors, non governmental organisations and then preside over the evolution of an bi-partisan approach without damaging the principles of separation of fields of specific interest where business sits on judgement of the policies of political parties. Besides being an internal matter the presence of ambassadors in this exercise seems quite unnecessary.

Will this new trend lend to a next step where the chambers may even summon parliament before them and is this the beginning of commerce dictated policy formulation which is ruining some of the countries throughout the globe and can such policies be formulated above the heads of the ordinary man?

A bi-partisan approach can stand some chance if on the other hand the president herself decides for the sake of the country to discuss these matters with the heads of all political parties first and then come to some consensus.

This cannot be done with over 30 political parties, foreign ambassadors and non governmental organisations discussing about 15 to 20 vital subjects as planned to be held at the BMICH.

For there to be any success the head of state has to go through a intensive process of consultation with each party and then together.

If that commitment is not there and the government in power prefers to continue attacking other parties that do not fall in line with their thinking.

There is little hope in achieving any fruitful results in their types of conferences and our nation is bound to come to a sad end.

If the two major political parties cannot reach a consensus in the parliamentary select committee then how can you expect them to come before a group of business people and come to a solution?

When the whole worldÕs financial structure is in a melting pot and economies are talking of a re-run of the 1930 depression how can political parties in Sri Lanka come to an agreement to set a common policy criteria for over 15 years and even if they do will they not treat this in the same manner as they reneged on their election manifestos. (F.R.S)

TULF to postpone nomination of the next Jaffna mayor

The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) at its recent executive committee meeting presided over by Parliamentarian and Senior Vice President V. Anandasangari decided to postpone its decision with regard to the nomination of next mayor and other matters of concern of the Municipal Council, TULF sources said yesterday.

The executive committee received representations from its representatives in Jaffna Municipal Council and Jaffna district with regard to efforts at reviving the civil administration and the many problems encountered in this regard, the sources said.

It was also pointed out that the members of Jaffna Municipal Council were anxious to ensure that they were also fully consulted before any final decision was taken in regard to this matter and the executive committee agreed to accede to this request, the sources said.

The committee also paid a tribute to the departed leader Pon Sivapalan for the courage and determination with which he had upheld the democratic values and endeavoured to provide leadership to the Jaffna Municipal Council, the sources said.

The party noted that Mr. Sivapalan was an indefatigable worker who had deep understanding of the problems of ordinary people and made his best efforts to resolve their problems, the sources said. (FRS)

Navy destroys Tiger craft

Naval craft on patrol in the East on detecting a Sea Tiger craft with two persons proceeding towards the coast of Vakarai in Batticaloa district gave chase and opened fire destroying the craft at dusk on Friday Naval sources said.

The boat sank with the two occupants on board the sources said.

On Friday morning a Naval picketing party were attacked by a group of Tigers at Kanagarayankulam, Naval sources said.

The naval personnel retaliated successfully, the Tiger attack the sources said.

A further search of area of attack by the Tiger group led to the discovery of a communication set used by the terrorists, the sources said.

Green light for Dr. Jayalath to visit Madhu

By Zacki Jabbar
The Defence Ministry has once again granted UNP National List MP Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena permission to visit the Madhu area.

Additional Secretary Ministry of Defence M. S. Wickre-marachchi last week informed Jayawardena by letter that clearance has been granted for him to visit the Madhu area for the purpose of inspecting repairs to the Madhu Tank.

Dr. Jayawardena told "The Island' that Defence Ministry clearance for a second trip to Madhu following his earlier visit to the area on May 29 this year proves that the allegations made by the President and given wide publicity in the State media on September 9, were "totally untrue'.

"The truth must have been revealed by the CID investigations,' he added.

The State media on September 9, quoted President Chandrika Kumaratunga as having said on the previous day at the SLFP district convention in Kurunegala that Dr. Jayawardena had recently met the LTTE's political wing leader Thamil Chelvam in the Vavuniya jungle with a view to toppling the government.

The President had also allegedly said that the government was exploring the possibility of taking action against Jayawardena.

On September 9 , a team of CID officers questioned Jayawar-dena on the allegations made by the President at his Colombo residence for more than four and a half hours.

If there is an iota of truth in allegations levelled against me by the President will the Defence Ministry headed by the President herself grant me permission to go to Madhu again?, Jayawardena queried.

"Attempts to defame me and also destroy my political career have failed. Truth has prevailed,' he added.

Jayawardena, a medical doctor by profession, said that his frequent visits to the North and East over the last few years have been purely to help provide the many refugees in the region their basic needs irrespective of ethnicity.

"During my last visit to Madhu on pilgrimage some refugees in the Madhu Church camp complained to me about the lack of water, food and medicine. There are about 30,000 refugees in this camp. On humanitarian grounds and also as a parliamentarian I could not ignore their appeals. So I agreed to provide Rs 400,000 out of my DCB funds for repairing the Madhu water tank for the use of the refugees,' he said.

Housing complex for 8,000 Katunayake FTZ girls

by Namini Wijedasa
The Board of Investment (BOI) is in the process of negotiating with a company for the building of a housing complex for about 8,000 female workers in the Katunayake Free Trade Zone (FTZ), a BOI source told 'The Island'.

The BOI has stipulated that the company, a local firm with Chinese collaboration, should commence the first stage of the project before December 31. A final agreement, however, is yet to signed between the company and the BOI.

Twenty four acres of crown land in Katunayake have been identified for the purpose and the BOI is to make this available to the investor at the normal concessionary rate. Each housing unit is to have a minimum of three floors (excluding the ground floor) but it may vary, he said. Some may have dormitories while others may have rooms. The objective is to make maximum use of the prime land. Once built, the housing units may either be sold to companies in the FTZ or made available to individual workers. The BOI source explained that in the eventual sale, the companies in the FTZ will be given priority with employees being second in the list.

A team of technical staff from the company are expected in the country before the end of October to look into the costing of the project and to present these figures to the BOI. The BOI had indicated to the company that the housing units must not be exorbitantly priced because the eventual cost of boarding to the worker must remain around Rs 450 per head. "We have made it clear that the houses must be sold at a reasonable price because the ultimate aim is to provide low-cost boarding to these workers,' explained the source, "We want to ensure that no company ends up building expensive houses and selling them to the rich.'

If the costing is high even after pruning to a maximum, the BOI may look at the possibility (subject to government approval) of providing off-site infrastructure such as roads, pipelines, street lights, sewage etc., from funds procured from the government. "However, this must not be mistaken for BOI concessions to the company,' the source stressed, "The BOI's main concern is to provide housing at a cheap rate for workers and any assistance given would be to further this aim.' If the investor is able to erect his buildings but are unable to market it, the purpose of the project would be defeated. The minimum wage stipulated by the BOI in the FTZ is Rs 2,500 exclusive of allowances and overtime.

The BOI will be actively looking into the project in order to assure that their terms and conditions are adhered to. The project will be developed in three phases, the first phase of which will last 12 months. If the target of 8,000 workers is achieved, the complex will accommodate about 20% of the boarder population of the Katunayake FTZ.

300,000 poppy flowers on sale for Nov. 3

by Lishanthie Siriwardena
Over three lakhs of flowers will be on sale islandwide on the poppy day, which falls on November 3 this year.

Some of these poppy flowers will be turned out by disabled soldiers who are undergoing vocational training at the Ranawirusevana in Ragama.

Proceeds of this year's sales will be utilized to fund launching of a counselling service for war widows. There are over 2,500 widows of Army personnel alone who have made the supreme sacrifice, said Air Vice Marshal Harry Gunesekara of the Ex-Services Association and chairman of the Poppy Committee. The number of orphans and the destitute is twice that number. The counselling service will offer the services of psychiatrists and other experts who would help overcome their depressed mental conditions caused by the loss of their loved ones, he said. This service will be decentralised to benefit those in remote areas, he said.

The proceeds of sales will also benefit the disabled soldiers, elders homes and help the needy ex-servicemen and thousands of widows and orphans rendered destitute by the ongoing war.

Over 1,252 schools in the Western Province will be mobilised to help in the arrangements connected with the poppy day.

The proceeds will be for the exclusive use of Sri Lankan ex-servicemen and their families. Not a cent will be sent out of the country as some people believe, Mr. Gunesekara said.

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'Land deal racket, still in full swing'

by Sumadhu Weerawarne
The land deal racket which surfaced some time ago is still in full swing according to banking sources.

It appears that banks are swindled out of money which is borrowed in the guise of purchasing property for which the purchased property is held as security. But in reality no transfer of property takes place and indeed no transaction takes place. This invariably means that the banks are left with no alternative but to write-off such lendings as bad debts.

"We can never recover this money. After all we have no real claim to the property as the documents are forged,' banking sources said.

Sources believe that there is a triangular link between an employee of the bank, the land registry and the swindler. It is in conjunction that these parties are able to cheat the banks.

According to banking sources there have been as much as 20 such cases in recent times. "They were largely on loans ranging from Rs. 50,000 to Rs 350,000 and a great number of them have been in relation to land in Matara. There is a particular suspect who has been involved in a number of cases,' the source disclosed.

According to general practice when an application is made for a loan to purchase land, the income of the applicant is checked. The quantum that is actually given is dependant on income and the valuation of the property which is to be purchased. At the most the loan is no more than 60 per cent of the market value.

The land purchased with the loan is held as security for the lending. It is a virtual mortgaging of the purchased land. When the borrower defaults payment, the bank gets into action and seeks to acquire the property. The banks however discover that the land has not been sold and that it is in the ownership of another. This basically means that the bank has no hold over the property. The transaction with borrower in effect is one of no value.

The law requires the transaction document pertaining to the land to be registered with the Land Registry. And this is done in the course of the transaction. However, in the case of the fraudulent deals the original is found missing. That is it is found to have been removed from the folio in the Land Registry.

In the case of one state owned bank, on two occasions the bank had been swindled out of Rs 1.6 million and Rs 0.8 million. The first case had been in regard to a plot of land in Piliyandala. When the bank had sought to acquire the land for default of payment it had been discovered that the land belonged to an unrelated party which was unaware of the deal altogether.

In the second instance the land which had been mortgaged was discovered to be that which belonged to a church.

A private sector bank which had been approached for a loan of Rs 1.3 million had checked the documents produced and had discovered that the deeds and plan were forged.

Women's group calls for an atmosphere of co-operation

The Women's Coalition for Peace an organisation comprising women of all communities, has issued a statement calling upon the government and the opposition to build an atmosphere of co-operation towards solving the problems of the country and to restore civility to national politics.

The statement reads: "At a time when regions in the world from Ireland to the Middle East are seeking peace, Sri Lanka continues to descend deeper into a war that is no longer justifiable. Increasingly the Sri Lankan people are not persuaded by either the government's or the LTTE's claims of 'victory'. The Sri Lankan people are well aware that no political party or militant group can solve the conflict alone. It is therefore time the leaders of the country work towards a peaceful solution of the conflict which is exacting an enormous cost in both human and economic terms and is brutalising our society.'

The statement suggests, among other things, that the government and opposition arrive at a consensus on constitutional reforms aimed at satisfying the democratic and peaceful aspirations of all Sri Lankans, take steps towards resuming peace talks and work together to seek third party facilitation to promote negotiations between the parties concerned in the conflict.

The signatories to the statement are as follows:

Darini Rajasin-gham-Senanayake, Malathi de Alwis, Radhika Coomara-swamy, Kumudini Samuel, Sepali Kot-tegoda, Kumari Jaya-wardena, Nimalka Fernando, Sunila Abeysekera, Yasmin Tambiah, Kishali Pinto Jayewardena, Shafinaz Hassandeen, Annathi Abeysekera, Pearl Stevens, Deepika Uagama, Selvy Tiruchandran, Bernadeen Silva, Ameena Hussein, Lisa M. Kois, Rani Savarimuttu.

Army snipers kill four terrorists

Troops operating forward of defence at Vannivilankulam sniped and killed two terrorists on Thursday. Troops observed a group of terrorists and engaged them with small arms in the same area on Thursday and killed two other terrorists, Operational Headquarters announced yesterday in a press release.

In another incident North of Mankulam around 5.45 p.m. the same day troops sniped and killed two more terrorists.

At Kanakarayan-kulam around 3.40 p.m. Naval troops engaged a group of terrorists with small arms causing the terrorists to flee. On a subsequent search in the area Naval troops recovered a communication radio set and a few military items.

Troops continue to dominate areas ahead of defences.

On 16 October during daytime at Idaikku-richchi in Jaffna District troops on patrol recovered five hand grenades and a small stock of military items from the area.

On 14 October around 10 p.m. at Beach Head of Pallimunai in Mannar District, terrorists opened fire at troops on patrol with small arms. Troops retaliated with small arms killing one terrorist and subsequently troops recovered the dead body of the terrorist.

On 16 October around 7.50 p.m. East of Kurisuddamadu in Vavuniya District, a Police bowser got caught up in a claymore mine explosion and as a result two Police personnel received minor injuries. The casualties were evacuated to Vavuniya Hospital for treatment.

On 15 October during the evening at Gurunagar in Jaffna District, 26 displaced persons of 13 families reached Gurunagar Jetty from uncleared areas.

On 16 October around 12.10 p.m. at Tolpuram in Jaffna District, on information received from a civilian Naval troops recovered two hand grenades from the area.

On 16 October around 10.50 p.m. at Samachchithive in Trincomalee District, terrorists fired with small arms at Police personnel on duty at the Police point. Police personnel retaliated effectively causing the terrorists to withdraw. Six Police personnel received injuries in the incident.

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