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+'I have been harassed enough. I
can't take it any more' By Shirajiv Sirimane Speaking to 'The Island' yesterday morning, she said that the time has now come to say 'enough is enough'. 'I have been harassed for a long period and I cannot take it any more. The National Olympic Committee, Athletic Association top officials and Sports Ministry 'elite' officials are behind this harassment,' she charged. 'There was a lot of discrimination for me at the Asian Games from these people. This aggravated my injury and brought my mind to zero. So, how can I compete?' she asked. 'Even my coach was harassed,' she claimed. Outlining her plans, she said that she will try to contact her friends who arranged a training programme in Australia a few years ago. If this fails she will try an European country. Asked if she has to obtain permission for this training, she answered in the negative. 'It is a human right to go abroad. I only have to get permission from the Embassy,' she quipped. Susanthika, Sri Lanka's only athlete ever to win a medal at an Athletic World Cup (Athens) said she will use part of her prize money (US$ 30,000) for this training programme. 'I will have to pay for a coach as well' she said. Susanthika who skipped the Asian Games 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay finals citing injury said that she still loves Sri Lanka. My prime aim is to win for my motherland an Olympic medal and I have now found out that dream cannot be realised in Sri Lanka. Tell the country this is why I am leaving,' she said. Susanthika was accused of taking performance enhancing drugs on three occasions but was acquitted. Her off-season drug case is pending inquiry. She later accused a Sports Ministry official of sexual harassment. At the time of going to press, there were unconfirmed reports that her coach Captain Dissanayake had resigned. No change in India's policy towards LTTE By Zacki Jabbar The assurance comes in the wake of speculation that the BJP led government is being pressurised by some of its coalition partners to review its policy towards the LTTE. The initial two year ban on the LTTE following the killing of Rajiv Gandhi was extended about a year ago by a further two years. 'The Indians have cleared doubts that existed in the minds of Sri Lankans following speculation in the Indian media about an impending shift in India's policy towards the LTTE,' the sources added. President Chandrika Kumaratunga is scheduled to sign a free trade agreement between India and Sri Lanka during her state visit to India scheduled to begin on Sunday. The decision to enter into a free trade agreement was arrived at the conclusion of the Indo-Sri Lanka Joint Commission meeting in New Delhi on Friday. The idea was mooted by the Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during the tenth SAARC summit in Colombo in July this year. Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar questioned by the Indian media about his New Delhi meeting on Friday with Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes who is known to have made several pro-LTTE statements before he became a minister had said ' It was just a courtesy meeting'. Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Mangala Moonesinghe had described the Kadirgamar-Fernandes meeting which lasted for over an hour as 'very cordial and covering various aspects'. The Managing Director of Lionair Palitha Wijesuriya said that they were ready to re-commence flights to Palaly. 'We were ready to begin operations in the middle of last month,' he told 'The Island' on Wednesday. The government in the last week of September suspended all civil flights to and from the Jaffna peninsula following the crash of Lionair flight 602. He said that Lionair was ready to re-commence operations even from mid November and informed the authorities about their ability to do so in writing. He said that they have sent many letters to the concerned authorities, requesting permission to resume flights but so far they have not received any reply. He said that they did not send back to the owners the other passenger aircraft they have and in fact made arrangements to bring down another passenger aircraft of similar type with the necessary crew to operate the schedules. Their principals agreed to keep the aircraft in Sri Lanka without taking it back on the request of Lionair and this aircraft has been parked at Ratmalana for the last 3 months at a tremendous cost to the airline. According to him, a large number of passengers who had purchased tickets from Lionair had not forwarded their tickets for refund expecting them to re-commence flights. There are numerous requests from passengers daily to their main Ticketing Reservations Office at Wellawatte. He said that the Lionair Office and those of their agents have been functioning daily up todate. When asked where the problem lies to the re-commencement of flights he said that he is personally not aware. He went on to say that Airline in inundated with calls daily. The passengers get angry when they are told that Lionair is not in a position to give the restart date. They go on to say that life is not normal in Jaffna and cannot be made normal without free communication between the south and the north. Some of the passengers claim the actions like preventing people to travel to and from the north is forcing the people in the north to go against the government and the task of the military to maintain the goodwill they won of the northern people very difficult, he said. He noted that unlike in the past there are no items in Jaffna, which gave adequate semblance of normalcy to the life in the peninsula as the two private airlines transported passengers as well as cargo. Duo to the lack of air transport, a beetle leaf is now sold at Rs 5/-, a cigarette at Rs 9/- and they say even these are hard to get. They complain that the sea journey, which is normally difficult, is now extremely difficult due to the rough seas as the monsoons have set-in. Most of them blame the airline for not taking enough initiative to recommence flights and thereby bring some consolation to the plight of the Tamil people. Mr. Wijesuriya said that they could only tell the people that the Airline should not be blamed for non-resumption of flights, which he himself says, is unprecedented. Nowhere in the world would an airline be suspended of operations as a result of an accident. The recent crash of a Swissair flight out of USA did not result in the grounding of the airline. When asked about the payment of compensation to the victims, he said that the insurance company with whom they had covered the passengers, cargo and third party has acknowledged the claim forwarded by the Airline but they cannot process it without the official report issued by the Civil Aviation authorities. He further said that Lionair is a BOI approved commercial airline. It was established in 1994 to set up a professional airline in Sri Lanka starting with domestic flights. They themselves are monitoring the present situation carefully, and assured that Lionair is not planning to put up shutters, and is waiting to resume flights immediately to Jaffna but to other internal airports too in the near future. The government has so far not taken a decision to resume flights. President calls for peace and harmony "As another year draws to its close we look back on the blood and tears that have soaked and stained this one-time happy peaceful land of ours. We regret past actions, opportunities lost, mistakes made. We think of the thousands of our sisters and brothers who have sacrificed their lives, of those rendered homeless, huddled in refugee camps or on the streets, in bleak desolation born of multiple deprivation, President Chandrika Kumaratunga said in a christmas message. "At the same time we dare not forget that there are still with us, diabolical forces hell-bent on destroying all that we hold as good and true and beautiful. They want to see bloody conflicts continues; they engineer the erosion of our moral and spiritual values; they perpetuate the abomination of child soldiers, of drugs, rape and child abuse that recall the massacre of the innocents at the birth of Jesus Christ. These diabolical forces must be resisted, with a strong resolve to restore in both private and public life, those values and principles on which our spiritual heritage rests. With goodwill we must shed our deeply entrenched prejudices, suspicions and hatreds and open our minds and hearts to the nation's yearnings and aspirations for a peace born of justice. None of us has the power to change what is past, but every one of us has the power to use today well, to shape a better tomorrow. The noble principles of Buddhism - Metta and Karuna, are the essential ingredients of peace. They harmonise splendidly with the message of Christmas. Let its assurance of peace and brotherhood be fulfilled in every one of us. The conquest of Peace is the result of courage and of respect for others. It demands commitment from us all, the President added. She further noted: "On this Christmas Day which Commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity, all the world, joins in the celebration of its timeless and universal message of PEACE ON EARTH TO MEN AND WOMEN OF GOODWILL. It mirrors the hopes and aspirations of all humanity as peace is the infinite longing of us all. I extend my warmest good wishes to our Christian brothers & sisters for the riches and blessings of Love & Peace. May you be blessed with the Peace and Joy that will bring us all from the north and the south, from the east and west, to live together harmoniously as sisters and brothers of one Sri Lankan family. No reprieves for prisoners this x'mas By Himangi Jayasundere A committee was appointed in June this year because the President was not very happy with the fact that criminals like murderers and rapists were given reprieves and became a threat to society, he added. The committee comprises a Supreme Court Judge, the Attorney General, the Commissioner General of Prisons, the ministry official said. The official further said that no reprieves were given on Vesak day this year as well. He said that recommendations have been made by the committee to give a reprieval to prisoners on Independence Day next year. About 500 prisoners are usually released during Christmas. 'Navy lost four vessels, but inflicted heavy casualties on Sea Tigers' Navy headquarters said that four vessels were lost in confrontations with the Sea Tigers this year. Vessels, 'Pabbatha' and 'Valampuri' were destroyed in a confrontation off Point Pedro on February 22. Patrol craft P 195 and P 498 were destroyed in confrontations just outside Trincomalee harbour and east of Mullaithivu in March and October this year. However the navy has been able to inflict considerable damages on Sea Tigers, an officer said. According to records maintained at the headquarters, approximately 415 terrorists had been killed in confrontations with naval troops in 1997 and 1998. Dead include hard-core terrorists holdings the ranks of 'colonels' and 'lieutenant colonels'. He placed the enemy craft [mostly fibre glass dinghies] destroyed as a result of naval action at 106 and damaged 121. During the same period 38 navy vessels had been damaged in confrontations. He said that 55 navy personnel were killed this year. Sixty four had been placed missing in action but believed killed and 94 had been wounded. Navy has also increased deployment in the northern theatre of operations. Headquarters said that navy took over security of Kayts, Mandaithivu and Punguduthivu this year. Naval troops had been also involved in ongoing Wanni operations aimed at weakening the LTTE, sources said-[SF] Christmas
messages 'We Sri Lankans today and in the past fifteen to twenty years are a people living in darkness and in the shadow of death. The present ethnic war has touched all of us, all our families and friends. Perhaps there isn't a single person in Sri Lanka who has not lost a relative or a friend in this senseless war that has enveloped not only the North and the East but the whole country including the capital city of Colombo and the jungles of the Yala sanctuary', Archbishop of Colombo, Rt. Rev. Dr. Nicholas Marcus Fernando said in his Christmas message. His message further stated: "Jesus Christ is called the Prince of Peace. When the precursor of Christ, John the Baptist was born his father Zachariah prophesied about Christ saying. "The God of tender mercy will send us the rising Sun to visit us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of Peace." (LK: 1; 78-79) "It was at a time when the people of God had lost and given up all hopes of peace, that the Lord Jesus came to guide their feet to the way of peace. Jesus Christ did not begin to bring about peace in the way that people had been trying all along. He did not begin on the surface of things, but went deeper into the human make-up, human nature, and preached that real peace has to begin in the heart of man. It is a difficult and circuitous route but no other route is possible since even those who sit at peace tables cannot bring about peace unless their hearts and minds are attuned to peace. "We have to begin with the fact that we are all brothers and sisters of the same human family. We have to admit and realize the fact that wherever we came from, and whatever time we came into this island, now this land belongs to all of us. We have to admit that we should be free to follow our traditional cultures, to speak the language of our choice, to practise the religion we believe in, to enjoy legitimate freedom in our day to day lives. Legitimacy consists of having one's own freedom that does not limit the freedom of the other. Fear and suspicion can be removed from our minds and hearts, only when we admit the basics that are common to all. "This is what Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace taught us when he said: "Love you neighbour as you love yourself"; "Forgive your enemies and do good to them that hate you"; "Do not do unto others what you would not like them to do to you". All these and more of his saying teach us the way to peace. We have so farfailed in all our human attempts at peace talks. No one really knows the way out of this dead end and all hopes too have died. The only way that lies open is what the founders of all our religions have taught us. Christmas gives us the opportunity to remember what Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace taught about peace. Let us listen to him and arm ourselves with spiritual values which is the only way to Peace. " Pope's Christmas message on Rupavahini today Rupavahini will telecast the Christmas message of Pope John Paul II from Vatican City at 5.45 p.m today. No other way to achieve peace than by negotiation - Bishop of Colombo The Bishop of Colombo Rt. Rev. Kenneth M. J. Fernando in his Christmas message states: This Christmas, it is the Message of Peace once again that we Christians must emphasize. Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace and when we ponder his birth among us and his Message, there are many important truths about Peace Making that we can learn from Him. We call him the world Made Flesh. He came among us to reveal God's Message - to speak to us. There is no other way of making Peace among human beings, except by speaking, by dialogue and by negotiation. We need to keep saying this repeatedly until all are convinced. "In our own country too, we eagerly await the day when there will be a dialogue among those who are now at variance in an effort to make Peace in our land. "In the life of Jesus too we discern many Truths that make for Peace. Jesus simply did not recognise distinctions of race, culture or class among human beings. For Him the whole human family was one. We Christians must uphold that belief and live according to it. In Christ we are one. "Jesus moved among all kinds of people including the very bad and the very evil but for him all human beings were human beings, not demons. We can never make Peace in our world if we demonise the enemy. There are people of goodwill everywhere and they ultimately are the ones who are capable of becoming Peace Makers. "Christians engage in Peace Making with unceasing hope. They will never give up. Jesus overcame all evil when he rose from the dead. Some believe that in the end Justice and Truth will reign triumphant. Peace will come and Peace Makers are Blessed for they shall be called the Children of God." X'mas message from the Bishop of Galle 'The message of Christmas, the good news of great joy and peace, proclaimed at the birth of Jesus Christ, echoes in the world and summons humankind to give a thought to it at the close of every year. The sign that identifies the Saviour is always the same which eludes the majority of us except those who seek the Truth relentlessly. Year after year it points out to 'the babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger', a sign that has become insignificant for most of us, wrapped in selfishness, greed and material pleasures. We have become unaware of our noble destiny shaped by God. To recapture the forgotten joy and to attune our ears again to the good news, we must retrace our steps back to the manger. There we find the true image and destiny of all men and women of goodwill and the strength to disengage themselves from the tarnished and confused image of themselves. This is the invitation extended to all the followers of the helpless babe of Bethlehem. In a world infected with consumerism, with unbridled capitalism and amassing of wealth, leading to gradual process of exploitation of human person and nature, the simplicity and detachment portrayed by the signs that accompanied the birth of Christ, will help the world to emerge from the quagmire of senseless persuasion of wealth, success and efficiency at any cost. Looking into our own land of Lanka we see the ethnic conflict that started more than a decade ago still lingers on. A slow but steady invasion of social evils like drugs, child abuse, unemployment and impoverishment is overtaking the people of the country. Struck by this stark reality we begin to understand the wisdom of God coming to take up a dwelling place in the human family. All this should not discourage us but rather spur us on to greater optimism, a characteristic of a true Christian, to commit ourselves selflessly to the task of ushering in an era of justice, peace and prosperity for our brothers and sisters in our country. Christ became a man for others showing us the way to become men and women for others. Let this Christmas massage reverberate in us in whatever we do so that one day it will be a reality - a perennial Christmas in our lives! Industrial Development Minister C. V. Gooneratne in his Christmas message says: 'Peace on Earth and Good will to men is an all-pervading and universal celebration. Peace to Sri Lanka is the devoted prayer of all our people. The underlying message of Christmas is the creation of a crying and sharing society with ill will to none and good-will to all. We are all saddened by the on-going conflict in the Northern and Eastern parts of our country and here we seek solace in the message of Lord Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace. Let us shed all our differences to commit ourselves with dedication to be active partners in the peace efforts of President Chandrika Kumaratunga think not that the way be long and instead let your will be strong. We send greetings to one another as we commemorate gods gift to man which is a shining symbol of Peace and Goodwill. I sent my personal good wishes to everybody for Christmas and the New Year. Christmas cheer and sanctimony
all around By R. L. Fernando The Festival of Christmas in other words known as X'mas or the Yuletide signifies the Birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, Judea, an incident which took place about 2000 years ago. The birth of Christ was following a prophecy made thousands of years prior to his birth by the prophets of that time as quoted in St. John's gospel (C1. V1) as 'In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us'. Churches in the metropolis, the nearest suburbs and outstations were packed to capacity with Christians of every denomination to greet the Holy Birth. The message delivered by the Angel to the lowly poor shepherds in the fields shortly following the birth - "Glory to God in the Highest, peace on earth to men of of goodwill" would have been the theme of the sermons preached. The Archbishop of Colombo Dr. Nicholas Marcus Fernando celebrated mass at St. Lucia's Cathedral, Kotahena while The Bishop of Colombo Kenneth Fernando conducted service at the Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour in Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo. Bishop Frank Marcus Fernando conducted mass at St. Mary's Cathedral, Chilaw, Bishop Oswald Gomis at St. Joseph's Church, Anuradhapura, Bishop Andrew Kumarage at the Cathedral of Christ, Kurunegala, Bishop Malcolm Ranjith at St. Aloysius Church, Ratnapura and Bishop Thomas Savundranayagam at St. Mary's Cathedral, Jaffna. Masses were also conducted at St. Anthony's Church, Kochchikade, Colombo, Christ Church Cathedral, Mutwal, Christ Church, Galle Face, All Saints' Church, Borella, St. Paul's Church, Kynsey Road, St. Philip Neri's Church, Pettah, St. Luke's Church, Borella, St. Mary's Churches in Bambalapitiya and Dehiwela, St. Paul's Milagiriya. The Ragama Basilica, St. Mary's Negombo, St. Paul's Church Kandy and St. Sebastians's Church, Moratuwa. Several other denominations had scheduled their worship for Christmas Day morning and services were expected to commence from 6.00 a.m. especially for the convenience of children and adults who were unable to attend midnight mass. Among those churches are St. Andrew's Scots Kirk, Colpetty, the Ceylon Pentecost Mission in Mattakkuliya, Assemblies of God Mission, 6th Lane, Colpetty with Chairman Pastor Rev. Coulton Wickramaratne the preacher, The Salvation Army at Wiliam Booth Hall, Slave Island with Col. Keith Wylie the preacher, Methodist Church, Colpetty with Rev. Asiri P. Perera the celebrant and the Dutch Reformed Church, Wellawatte with Rev. C. V. Passe the preacher. A worship service is also scheduled to be held in the Welikade Prison Chapel at 8.00 a.m.today. During the night the streets were flared by the sparkle of sky rockets, fireworks and the sound of crackers. Several carol parties too were seen around visiting Christian homes after midnight mass to deliver the message of the season in song. Election Secretariat under DIG for NWPC polls Police headquarters has re-established an Election Secretariat under DIG O. K. Hemachandra in view of the January 25 elections for the North Western Provincial Council. Mr. Hemachandra, a former director of the Criminal Investigation Department [CID] has been directed to supervise the polls operation. Mr. Lucky Jayewardene will function as SSP, Elections, police headquarters said. Police said that the Secretariat has so far received 41 complaints, the majority from the UNP. However, no serious incidents have been reported so far, police said. There had been no killings, no firearms attacks resulting in injuries or major eruptions of violence. 'We received only one complaint on Wednesday,' police said adding that when compared to the level of violence reported in run up to polls in the past ten years, incidents reported from the North Western Province were insignificant. Meanwhile, police sources in the NW province said that as far as they were aware of only four OICs in the province had been transferred with effect from January 1. Two of the transfers had taken place within the province, sources said. The OICs at Pothuhera and Katupotha had been transferred to Polgahawela and Kurunegala, respectively. However, the remaining two had been moved out of the province, one to Welimada and the other to Negombo. - (SF) Hotel employee involved in racket KALUTARA: Kalutara Crimes Investigation Unit submitting a report to the Magistrate's Court had stated that Waduvelu Ambegei Balan, Chief Accountant of Eden Tourist Hotel, Moragalla-Alutgama had detected a racket of an ex-employee and another official of the hotel. The two of them had taken telephone calls amounting to Rs. 303,984 by disconnecting the computer-telephone wires of the hotel without anyone's knowledge. According to the complaint, an exemployee at the reception counter and the officer at the telephone-exchange were the too involved. The hotel officials detected the racket as there was a vast difference in the reports of the computer and the bills despatched by Sri Lanka Telecom Institute. According to investigation conducted by the hotel officials it was revealed that an ex-employee in the hotel had taken telephone calls to his son-in-law employed in Italy. The calls were not included in the hotel computer. He had also taken calls to Germany, America, England, Belgiam, Austria, Korea and the Netherlands and the value of calls amounted to the figure mentioned earlier. The racket had taken place in June and July this year and the employee had resigned from his post. According to police report, after resigning of the officer, another employee had taken telephone calls up to Rs. 45,000 which was also not recorded in the computer. A. M. S. B. Abeykoon, OIC Crimes, Investigation Unit of the Kalutara South Police and PC Ratnasiri are inquiring. The executive committee of Asia Crime Prevention Foundation for the year 98/99 elected at the AGM held on December 6, 1998, President - Hon. Parinda Ranasinghe (Rtd. Chief Justice) Vice presidents - Hon. D. G. Jayalath (Rtd. Judge of Appeal Court) H.G.Dharmadasa (Rtd. Commissioner General of Prisons) D. P. Kumarasinghe PC (Rtd. Additional Solicitor General) Secretary - K. W. E. Karalliyadda (Commissioner General Of Prisons) Treasurer - I. Canagaretnam (Rtd. DIG) Asst. Secretary - P. H. M. Ratnayake (Rtd. Commissoner of prisons) Committee - Lalith Gunasekera (SSP) Eric Perera (SSP) Chandra Fernando (DIG) D. S. D. P. R. Senanayake PC S. P. K. Ekaratne (District Judge- Colombo) E. P. Amarasinghe (Rtd. Deputy Commissioner of prisons) S. K. Jinasena - Senior AssistantSecretary (Legal) Ministry of Defence) T. P. F. De Silva (Rtd. IGP) Kolith Dharmawardena (Deputy Solicitor General). Rahula College OBA Members Day Rahula College, Matara O.B.A. Colombo branch will hold its Member's Day at Police Park Colombo 05 on 26.12.1998 at 9.00 a.m. onwards. A limited over cricket match, games for families, draw of a lottery to raise Rs. 100,000 for the Sports Club will be held during the day. Diamond Jubilee Commemorative plaques, mugs, umbrellas and Rahula diary 1999 will also be available at the venue. Mr. B. P. Ariyawansa, former Principal and Ms. Ariyawansa who are now on holiday will grace the occasion prior to their return to New Zealand next year. Members are kindly requested to contact Ms. Kandamby (580679) or Ramanayaka (569738) for advance bookings. |
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