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South Africa to outlaw LTTE and White mercenaries
From S. Venkat Narayan Our Special CorrespondentNEW DELHI: South Africa may soon pass legislation to outlaw terrorist groups such as the Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers and activities of white South African mercenaries, who stage coups d’etat in neighbouring African countries for a hefty fee.
The proposed anti-terrorist legislation may be taken up in the upcoming parliamentary session in February next year. South African High Commissioner to India Jerry Matsila disclosed this to me in an interview here last week.
Matsila revealed this when asked how Pretoria proposes to ensure that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of Sri Lanka do not open bases in South Africa. An assurance to this effect was given by South African Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo to visiting Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in Pretoria recently.
Matsila, who is concurrently accredited as the South African envoy to Sri Lanka as well, said the Nelson Mandela government is planning to enact legislation to proscribe terrorist activities by alien groups such as the LTTE as well as those by white South African mercenaries.
The envoy said white South African mercenaries have been engaged in staging coups d’etat by taking large sums of money from rival groups in several African countries.
White South African mercenaries have been active in politically volatile African nations such as the Congo, Angola, Seychelles, the Comoro Islands and Sierra Leone in the recent past, he pointed out.
The idea is to pass legislation that will prevent terrorist activities on South African soil against foreign countries by South African as well as foreign terrorist outfits.
Such a law is necessary to support peace and democracy in countries that are likely to be hurt by such terrorist activities, Matsila explained.
Recently, Britain passed a law banning the plotting on its soil of terrorist activities in foreign lands by militant groups such as the LTTE.
No decision yet on Kelaniya varsity re-opening
by Harini Dias BandaranayakeA decision to re-open the University of Kelaniya has not been taken so far, Professor K. Thilakarathna, Deputy Vice Chancellor, told ‘The Island’ yesterday.
The University has remained closed after violence broke out between two students’ factions last Thursday. The university administration will be holding discussions with the majority students body which belongs to neither factions, a university official said.
It’s imperative that the university take decisions to prevent recurrence of violence of this nature before re-opening the campus, he said.
A decision regarding re-opening of the university in the next few days, will be arrived at Prof. Thilakarathna said.
Police suspect a minor tremor at Menikhinna, Teldeniya which caused panic yesterday in Kandy. They said that a powerful noise was heard around 8.35pm and the earth shook.The damage caused by the tremor was not immediately known.
Kandy police said that all of their men were out on duty trying to find out what caused the sound.
Officials at Victoria and Polgolla power stations said that there was no damage to the dams due to the tremor.The last tremeor in Sri Lanka occurred three years ago and was felt by the people in Colombo-[SB]
Bus strike called off, but commuters left in the lurch
by Namini WijedasaTransport authorities yesterday maintained that the crippling private bus strike which hit the Western Province had been called off but large numbers of commuters were seen thronging at bus halts as buses continued to keep off the roads.
Western Province transport officials said that the strike was called off yesterday morning. However, commuters complained that even those buses that had plied the routes during the morning had stopped operations and joined the strike by evening.
Buses plying more than 15 routes in the Western Province were on strike by mid-morning yesterday. These included most buses operating on the High Level road as well as some on the Galle road. Transport sources said, private buses on all routes were being discouraged from operating their turns by the striking factions who were pressing for support. The strike was launched on Saturday by the buses plying the 138 route while buses on other routes joined in gradual process starting on Sunday.
Against this backdrop, an emergency meeting was convened by Western Provincial Council transport authorities yesterday morning on the instructions of Transport and Highways Minister, A. H. M. Fowzie. Following lengthy negotiations, representatives of private bus operators agreed to call off the strike when the officials at the meeting promised to interdict the two officers of the Flying Squad around whom the dispute revolved. Officials also agreed to temporarily suspend the activities of the Flying Squad, Chairman of the Western Provincial Council Transport Authority (WPCTA), Wijesiri Soysa, told ‘The Island’. A further meeting in this regard is scheduled for December 3.
Flying Squad officers are employees of the WPCTA and are deployed on roads to keep watch over the activities of private bus operators. The strikers allege that two Flying Squad officers had on Saturday assaulted the driver of a 138 bus in the vicinity of Mr. Soysa’s office when they brought him there for an inquiry.
They also allege that when a complaint was lodged with the Borella police over the incident, no action was taken. Transport authorities promised strikers that the Flying Squad officers in question will be dismissed if an ongoing police inquiry finds them guilty of the offence they are purported to have committed. The inquiry is being conducted by the Borella police who were also represented at yesterday’s meeting. The strike mostly affected services to and from Homagama, Kottawa, Maharagama and Moratuwa. By yesterday, however, outstation buses attempting to enter the city were also being obstructed by strikers who demanded support.
Meanwhile, conflicting reports left the public confused during the period of the strike. The Ministry of Transport and Highways earlier informed the public that the strike had been called off on Sunday morning and that the bus service would normalise by Monday. There was no sign, however, of the strike stopping even yesterday morning. Commuters found, in fact, that more buses had joined and were forced to haunt bus halts for long hours in anticipation of the limited Sri Lanka Central Transport Board (SLCTB) buses available. Among the buses that struck work were those plying the 122, 125, 100, 176 and 196 routes.
Airlanka craft out of operation
A new A340 aircraft belonging to Air Lanka was put out of operation yesterday morning when an ambulift used for loading disabled passengers onto the craft rammed into it by accident.
The incident occurred when the ambulift was being aligned to the door, said Air Lanka officials. They said the aircraft was temporarily withdrawn from operation and investigations are ongoing. Air Lanka engineering staff are inspecting the craft and dealing with repairs.
The flight - UL503, was bound for London and its 190 passengers were about to be loaded at the time of the accident. Forty passengers were sent to London on another flight (not Air Lanka) while the remainder are to fly today to their destination.
According to airport sources, the ambulift had been out of commission for some time and had just been repaired. The aircraft, meanwhile, was purchased in the mid 1990s and has a total capacity of 290 passengers. (NW)
Play by disabled and non-disabled youth
A play titled "Butterflies Will Always Fly" will be staged by disabled and non-disabled youth at the Bishop’s College Auditorium on Wednesday 16th December l998 at 7:00 p.m. The play will be directed by Mr. Wolfgang Stange and Mr. Rohana Deva Perera. Tickets will be available at the Bishop’s College Auditorium from Monday 30th November 1998.
The performance will be presented by the Sunethra Bandaranaike Trust and the box-office proceeds will go towards setting up an Integrated Theatre Workshop for disabled and non-disabled youth.
The Integrated Theatre Workshop will adopt an original approach. It will actively reach out to creative young persons in the various artistic disciplines, irrespective of disability. This interaction will result in their awareness of each other’s capabilities and in the sharing of each other’s talents. The Workshop will work with all ethnic groups.
The Sunethra Bandaranaike Trust will take the initiative in this venture along with any other concerned individuals or organisations in the state or the private sector willing to contribute to the project financially or in any other way.
The performance is sponsored by the Union Bank, German Cultural Institute and the Heritage Foundation.
Villager spills the beans
Priceless bronze statue recovered
by Shamindra FerdinandoKantale police, acting on a tip off on Sunday [22] recovered a priceless ‘Thara Devi’ bronze statue after questioning a villager at Galmitiyawa, a senior police officer in the area told The Island yesterday. A police party had raided the villager’s house at Galmitiyawa situated approximately 13 miles off Kantale town soon after the tip off.
"We moved in after receiving information that the villager was making arrangements to find a buyer for the statue, he said.
The suspect had claimed that he found the statue in the jungle almost 15 year ago. The police headquarters has directed Kantale police to send the statue to Colombo immediately.
Police said that the statue had been already handed over to senior DIG Crimes and Criminal Intelligence, H. M. G. B. Kotakadeniya.
The recovered statue is 36 cm in height. It weighs almost 7 kgs. Police headquarters said that there was evidence to suggest that the statue had been found by a group of persons involved in a series of robberies.
The police was expected to get in touch with the Archaeology Department to elicit more information about the statue. The Director General of the Department, Dr. S. U. Deraniyagala was not available for comment yesterday.
Police said that the statue found at Galmitiyawa was not the one which disappeared from Anuradhapura Archaeology Museum on November 13.
A priceless ‘Thara Devi’ bronze statue belonging to the 5th Century BC was reported lost on November 13 night by a security officer attached to the museum.
R. M. Herath, the administrative officer of the Anuradhapura Archaeology site told ‘The Island’ a few days after the robbery, the missing statue was kept in a showcase along with two other bronze statues. The statue is in a sitting posture and 3 1/2 inches in height with a width of 2 1/2 inches.
Police are baffled by the mysterious disappearance. Police believe that the statue had been smuggled out of the museum with the help of some employees.
The museum is open to the public from 8 am to 5.45 pm every day. Police firmly believe that the robbery had occurred just before the closure of the museum.
No rice imports –Minister
by Azhara RabanMinister of Agriculture and Lands, D. M Jayaratne has decided not to go ahead with the decision to import rice as local production is sufficient to meet the demand.
Speaking to "The Island" the Minister said, most traders in Sri Lanka create an artificial shortage of rice to push-up their prices. This happens when there is a scarcity. That’s the reason for the high price of rice, he said
In other countries there is a law to prevent such artificial shortages and if traders store their commodities without introducing to the market, the law allows the government to step in and ensure the produce is available in the market, the Minister explained. As there is no such mechanism in Sri Lanka, it is necessary that the Trade Ministry moves in and do what is required, Minister Jayaratne said.
If the government imports rice, farmers will stop producing as the prices will go down and they will not get a fair price. " The production of potatoes, B- onions, red onions and chillies dropped when the government began importing them. The same fate will befall rice", Minister Jayaratne said.
Therefore the implementation of the decision to import rice has been suspended. Earlier as a result of a recommendation by the sub-committees of the Cabinet, it had been decided to import 90,000 metric tons of rice for the up coming season, he said
A petition filed by Munidasa Nanayakkara, Kesbewa Magistrate (CA 1223) dated November 19, for contempt of court, will be supported in the Court of Appeal shortly
The respondent is cited as Senior Superintendent of Police, Criminal Investigations Department, Bandula Wickramasinghe.
The complaint is against the alleged illegal arrest of Colombo High Court Judge Mahanama Tillekeratne. (CW)
Isipatana College ‘Kala Eli Mangalya’
The Kala Eli Mangalya 1998 of Isipatana Vidyalaya will be held on Nov. 26 at the auspicious time 10.52 a.m.
Ves Pelandeema of Nuwan Sanjaya de Silva, a 13 year arts student will be the main feature of the occasion.
SAARC takes up Lanka’s proposal to reduce SAPTA requirements
By Namini WijedasaSri Lanka’s proposal that the domestic content requirement under the South Asian Preferential Trade Arrangement (SAPTA) be reduced from the current 50% to 30% was taken up by SAARC members at the Committee of Participants (COP) meeting held yesterday in Katmandu.
The COP is also scheduled to meet again today at the same venue for further discussions on this and other issues. At present, the requirement that any product for export from one SAARC country to another must have a domestic content of at least 50%.
Sri Lanka has maintained that there must be a downward revision of this figure to the benefit of smaller SAARC producers who have limited raw material and resources. Sri Lanka has also pointed out that it would encourage increased intra-SAARC trade and help reduce the bridges between the different SAARC countries who are in different levels of industrialisation.
The COP is being held at the tail end of the Inter-Governmental Group (IGG) meeting that concluded its sessions in Katmandu yesterday morning. The IGG meeting was attended by finance, trade and commerce as well as other relevant officials of the seven SAARC nations. The delegates deliberated on economic issues facing SAARC nations. Among the topics on the agenda were possible easing of tariff barriers to encourage smoother trade between SAARC nations.
Sri Lanka first put forward the proposal to revise the domestic content requirement at the SAARC Commerce Ministers’ meeting in Islamabad earlier this year. It was accepted at this discussion. However, when the matters was taken up again at Dhaka in July this year, parties to the negotiations could not agree on the extent of the downward revision. The SAARC Heads of State instructed after the Colombo Summit that the COP takes it up again. It is expected that the extent of the revision would be finalised at the end of the ongoing COP meeting in keeping with the terms of the Colombo Declaration.
The report of both the IGG meeting and the COP will be presented at the SAARC Inter-Ministerial meeting, scheduled for February next year.
62 positive cases of cholera in city
Indira PereraThere has been a steady increase of cholera cases in the Colombo city during the last three days’ according to the Colombo Municipality health authorities .
The number of suspected cases have zoomed up to 146 while 62 are reported positive .Twenty two food outlets were closed by the C.M.C. . Three were later reopened as the food tests carried out in these outlets proved negative.
In addition to the 28 in service 153 temporary Public Health Officers were deployed by the C. M. C. last Friday and Saturday, the sources added. The total number of positive cases in the Western province has risen to 96, according to health secretariat sources.
UNP PC candidate, two others killed in accident
by Percy KuruneruThree people including a UNP PC candidate were killed and five others wounded when an Intercity bus collided with a van, along the Anuradhapura-Kurunegala road in the Galgamuwa district last Friday.
Those killed were identified as Cyril Dissanayake, a UNP PC candidate for the North Central Province who was Anuradhapura district who was a businessman in Thalawa, his son Buddika (12) and driver, Ginoris.
The wounded, his wife Nanda, two daughters Buddika and Dumithika, a relative, Jayanthi and the servant Nilanthi were admitted to the Kurunegala hospital.
The accident occurred when the Dissanayaka family were heading towards Colombo from their home in Thalawa. Galgamuwa police are conducting investigations.
Police find explosives hidden in house
From Percy Kuruneru in AnuradhapuraPolice found a cache of ammunition and explosives hidden in the house of a kachcheri minor employee in Kendaratmale on Sunday afternoon.
Policemen who raided the suspect’s house came across the deadly cargo concealed in a wood shed.
Among the explosives found were two 60 mm mortars, three 60 mm mortar fuses, 104 T-56 bullets, and 18 cartridges packed in three boxes, police said.
The raid was carried out on information received by RSI Sujeeva Bandara of Anuradhapura crime branch. The Suspect Kachcheri employee was taken into police custody.
Police are expected to question more persons to ascertain the source from which this lethal consignment had been acquired.
Security Forces on Sunday killed four terrorists in separate incidents in the North.
Troops on a fighting patrol Northwest of Mankulam killed two terrorists and injured two others, according to Operational Headquarters, news communique.
A terrorist was sniped by troops operating ahead of defences at 1.30 pm at Pulamaichchinatikulam and another was sniped at Paranthan.
Security Forces also detected an anti-tank mine at Paththamoni, Jaffna while on a search and clear operation. They also recovered five grenades in Puttur, Jaffna on a tipoff.
Another hand grenade was found in Vankalai, Vavuniya during a search operation.
The MOD reported that troops continue to dominate newly captured areas.
Man attempting to enter Trinco naval yard shot dead
From K. ThambirajahNavy shot and killed a man who attempted to enter the Trincomalee naval yard through the barbed wife fence. The incident occurred around 5.30 a.m. last Saturday. Police said that the deceased a resident of Kinniya, is believed to be of an unsound mind.
A woman who was living in her house close to the area was injured due to firing and had been admitted to the Trincomalee Hospital.
Meanwhile, twenty six foreign letters kept in a wooden box had been stolen from the Trincomalee main post office on Saturday night. The culprits had gained entry into the building through the roof by removing the tiles. The mail bag containing 27 foreign letters were kept inside the wooden box. The intruders had broke opened the wooden box and removed the letters. One foreign letter had fallen on the ground in which there was a dollar. Police believe that the 26 letters reported stolen had contained foreign currency.
Harbour Police are conducting inquiries.
