The biggest and strongest security contingent has been deployed by the Government to ensure a free and fair Provincial Council Election on May 10, the Minister said.

Addressing a media-briefing yesterday in Colombo, the Minister said that the Government has taken all measures to provide maximum security with special emphasis on the polling day.

Security personnel will be at polling duties allowing the public to cast their votes in a democratic manner and there will be no possibility of elections violations in the province.

“No complaint has been received regarding the unlawful acquisition of polling cards by armed factions within the Province,” he said. Maximum facilities specially common transport services have been strengthened for the benefit of voters.

They must produce their identity cards at the polling booths. All officers have been advised to carry out duties without fear and favour and stern action will be taken against those involved in election related violations.

“Only 72 complaints related to election violations have been reported so far with 21 incidents being minor,” he said.

Several ethnic groups irrespectively 44.3 per cent of Tamils, 32.6 Muslims and 22.6 of Sinhalese are living in the East. The Government has established an election-friendly environment in the East.

“As a result many political parties are involved in election campaigns addressing rallies and distributing leaflets even at the midnight.”

A peaceful environment has been established in Vakarai and over 1,400 residents of Vakarai, Kinniya and Lahugala gathered on Tuesday night to present their problems to the President via satellite.

It shows that there is no more fear psychosis among the people in these areas even at night and they live freely and peacefully.

None of villagers raised a problem regarding their security and all problems were related to electricity, education and fishing. According to them, armed groups has caused no trouble.

“The UNP’s propaganda on several armed groups in the Eastern Province is false. No one complained to the President in this regard.

People are enjoying their freedom now after the liberation of the East from the LTTE. Democracy will be further reinforced by the Government with the setting up of the Provincial Council in the East.”

Pilleyan has come to the democratic path and it is a big victory of all of us, the Minister added. The UNP’s rhetoric on armed groups is an excuse for their imminent defeat at the election.

“Today the Eastern Province is blessed with massive development. There were only two roads to access to the Eastern Province before the liberation. The A5 road has been fully rehabilitated and opened to enter the East.”

The Government has allocated Rs. 607.7 million for electricity projects in Ampara while 12 projects have been successfully completed so far. Electricity projects valued at Rs.300.7 million have been completed in Batticaloa.

The President has advised authorities to set up Samurdhi Banks in the Eastern Province with immediate effect for the benefit of villagers. It has also stepped up measures to set up 25 Coop-cities in the East as a relief measure to consumers.

Irrigation projects have given priority in the development and Rs.15 million has been allocated for irrigation development in Trincomalee and Ampara Districts. In order to upgrade infrastructure developments in the Agriculture sector, the Government has allocated Rs.123.6 million.

Agriculture development in the East has been given priority and considerable allocations have been granted by the Government until year 2010.

It has allocated Rs. 418.5 million in 2008 while It would be Rs.227.5 million in 2009. The allocation would be a Rs.123.6 million in 2010.

People in East and North face many social problems. Parents arrange child marriages at age 13 due to boys’ deployment for terrorism by the LTTE. “We have taken a number of measures to change this situation,” he said.

Representative will be appointed to the Provincial Council in East according to the wishes of voters.

They will be selected representing all ethnic groups. The Government expects to launch a massive development programme after the election for the betterment of the people, he remarked.

source:
http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/05/08/pol01.asp

source:
http://kirpitis.blogspot.com/2008/05/from-east-of-sl.html

The President, Mahinda Rajapakse says the benefits of the development activities enjoyed by the masses in the South will reach the people in the East.The people of the East now enjoy the benefits of freedom and democracy now.

The President further said many, including religious leaders lost their lives in the hands of LTTE. The security forces were able to liberate the whole Eastern Province after the operations held at Maavil Aaru.

The President was speaking at a meeting with the people of three villages in the Eastern Province through satellite.

He said that some of the leaders who signed agreements with the LTTE terrorists were unable to travel to these areas. However, the President pointed out that now they were able to travel by roads to these areas. Peoples� representatives are necessary to identify the problems of the masses. That is why the elections to the Eastern Province is to be held.

A resident of Kinniya who participated this live telecast thanked the President for granting freedom to the people. The President said the Kinniya Bridge will be completed within three months. He also instructed the officials to establish Samurdhi Bank at Panama within a day. Those who say that Pilleyan is armed never pointed out about to disarm Prabhakaran. Some of them who were armed in the past have now entered into the democratic main stream. Some of them are Ministers and parliamentarians.

The President said he would give all cooperation to those appraise democracy after liberating the north. Sri Lanka is a single state and no room will be allowed to break it into pieces.

The President promised to appoint English teachers to Lahugala Maha Vidyalaya and officials to the Hospital. At present electricity has been provided to Vakarai. Answering a question raised by a resident of Vakarai the President said arrangements have been made to provide fishing boats and nets to the people of the area.

The main objective of the government is to allow the people to live freely without fear and suspicion. Now the time has come to fulfil the aspirations of the people of the East. All efforts will be made for the prosperity of the children in future.

The unity of the masses is necessity to achieve this. He also pointed out that some of the Non Governmental Organisations are working to get propaganda credit for the development projects carried out by the government.

The people of Vakarai who participated at the discussion said that they do not know that Pilleyan group is armed. However, they said that the LTTE recruited their children by force for its benefits.

The President also requested not to leave room for the terrorists to control the areas which have been liberated. He also said the basic activities have already in swing to free the people of the north from the clutches of the terrorists.

He said the Madu area has already freed. Very soon the statue of the shrine will be enshrined in the Church. The President also said 30 billion rupees has been allocated for the development of the eastern province.

from Lankaeverything.com :
http://www.lankaeverything.com/vinews/srilanka/20080507003117.php

Posted by Ajith (Perera, Chief organizer, UNP) on May 5, 2008
As I wrote earlier, election campaigning is fun, but nothing can be compared to what we are doing in the Eastern province now. This is far too dangerous than anybody in Colombo can ever think of. Though not so obvious in first looks the ominous smell of Pillayan is everywhere. It is a reality that anybody who dares to campaign in the East should live with.

I keep asking questions from myself what Pillayan could do. How strong is Pillayan’s terrorist network? How many armed cadre he has? (I saw it in papers he has about 700 gunmen but it can be more) Where are they positioned? Finally how far they would go to stop a rival winning the elections? (which is obvious by now) Will they just stop at rigging the polls with the kind assistance of the current government leaders (who will be happy to provide that support) or perhaps failing that go further and try a mass genocide?

These are some simple questions to which we have no answers.

The fact that disturbed us most is that Pillayan is no ordinary terrorist. HE IS A LICENSED TERRORIST, if I were to coin a term. In any society, no citizen is allowed to bear guns without the approval of the state. But Pillayan and his terrorist goondas bear guns, though they are not part of the security forces. The government not just shows a blind eye, but happily endorses this terrorist bearing guns and using them in the territory the government claims to be ‘LIBERATED’ as well.

The weak excuses provided by senior government ministers justifying Pillayan’s terrorist group bearing and perhaps using arms is amusing. According to them, it is for their safety from LTTE. My foot! If LTTE is still so strong in Eastern province why call it ‘LIBERATED’? No, the only reason why government happily keeps Pillayan armed is for rigging. They know they have no chances of winning without mass scale rigging.

The possibility of butchery by Pillayan cannot be ignored. He has guns and he has men trained to use them. Nobody would give evidence against him. Government’s least resistance path too will be covering up such a killing (easy to blame LTTE) than finding the real culprits. So why he should not?

The only consolation is I work in a Sinhala dominated area where Pillayan does not work directly but comes only through other political parties. JHU Akmeemana Dayaratne thero used few Pillayan’s terrorists in their campaign, but it did not look too dangerous. They just sat in the front seat of government vehicles. Anyway JHU has stopped campaigning now. They might have given up after seeing it a dead end for them.

My only hope is the polls will be peaceful and there would be no election violence. Still it is difficult to think Kurrakan boy will let us win so easily. He knows what defeat means. That is why we should be ready for any obstacle.

Still I am optimistic that DEMOCRAY will win over Pillayan’s (government sponsored) terrorism on May 10.

source:
http://bandaragama.wordpress.com/2008/05/05/before-pillayan-kills-
me%E2%80%A6/

Muhamalai, an avoidable mistake with horrendous consequences, represents the quintessence of Rajapakse rule. Muhamalai is a logical outcome for an administration with a penchant for forgetting the past and for living in an imagined reality. Muhamalai is symbolic of the place Sri Lanka is headed to, if the regime persists in refusing to learn from its past errors.

The first Muhamalai debacle (Operation Agni Keela) happened on 24th April, 2001. The latest Muhamalai debacle took place seven years (but one day) later, on 23rd April, 2008. In between, there was another, identical, debacle, in October 2006. On all three occasions the LTTE lured the SLA into its territory (with a beguiling lack of resistance) and moved for the kill. On all three occasions hundreds of soldiers were killed or injured. On all three occasions alarm bells failed to ring, at the LTTE’s amazing absence of resistance on a front line of such strategic importance.

How could such wanton carelessness be possible? Why did memory fail, in the planning stage and on the battlefield? The second and third Muhamalai debacles happened under the same President, the same administration, the same Defence Secretary and the same Army Commander. The Army Commander visited the Security Forces Headquarters in Jaffna on April 21st “to observe the ground situation in the Jaffna FDLs” (Daily News – 25.4.2008). Did he not feel a sense of déjà vu? The President cannot be expected to remember the details of every major battle in the Fourth Eelam War but the Defence Secretary has no such excuse. Failures of memory of this magnitude, on the part of those who are tasked with and paid for remembering, amounts to criminal negligence. The ones who forgot are partly responsible for every death and for every injury.

Sun Tzu exhorts those engaged in warfare to understand the enemy. Are the repeated debacles at Muhamalai due to a fatal inability to understand the Tiger? DBS Jeyaraj (writing in Transcurrents.com) opines that the SLA was deceived by bogus Tiger radio messages bewailing their inability to defend the Muhamalai FDL. Is this why troops were sent to the Isthmus of death for the third time? Is this why air cover was not obtained in time? Is this why official websites carried jubilant notices of victory (subsequently removed) even as the troops were marching into the Tiger death-trap?

The Cowardly Tiger…

What was Muhamalai – defeat or victory in deep disguise? The Army Commander says that Muhamalai was a non-debacle: “According to the Commander, a veteran infantryman whose capabilities are well known to the terrorists than many others, the number of army casualties is nowhere near what could be termed a military debacle. He explained that not all battles are cakewalks and there will be times like this where the LTTE will be pushed to expend its best fighting cadre and resources but with no significant gain. Few more such attempts will bring the LTTE to its breaking point from which it could soon meet its fate, he explained” (Muhamalai Attack: LTTE’s Defeated Aim – The end is nigh for terrorists – Army Chief – Ministry of Defence Website – emphasis mine).

Does the Army Commander seriously believe that three, four, more non-debacles a la Muhamalai will ensure the final defeat of the Tigers? Perhaps he is basing himself on the fantastic statistics given in the same article – 145 dead Tigers, 340 injured Tigers (170 in government hospitals; 170 in LTTE’s medical bases). Creating Tiger deaths on paper will not kill living Tigers; similarly denying Lankan deaths on paper will not give life to the dead soldiers. The state owned Daily News in its Defence Column gives an account of the Muhamalai battle which is remarkable for its pathos. The SLA began moving towards Tiger positions by 2 am and for almost 10 hours it was a cakewalk: “Troops have reached the Tiger FDL by 11 am and it was between 12 noon to 1 pm the fierce battle erupted with rains of artillery and mortar fell onto the Tiger FDL dominated by the troops. Though the casualties were relatively low till 11 a.m. the number of casualties suddenly increased between 12 noon to 1 p.m. as the LTTE was firing directly onto Tiger trenches which were dominated by the troops. Since the number of casualties increased on the part of the Security Forces at 12.30 pm the field commanders decided to withdraw the troops from the second line of the Tiger FDL into the first line. The Field Commanders were of the view that it was a futile attempt to hold that ground with a large number of casualties on the part of the Security Forces. It was at this stage some soldiers went missing when the troops were withdrawing from the Tiger second defence line to the first line. Troops could not recover the bodies of the soldiers due to heavy mortar and artillery fire” (Daily News – 25.4.2008). The men fought and died bravely but their courage provides no justification for the negligence of those who planned and sanctioned this operation.

The Tigers are terrorists who do not baulk at any act of barbarism, as the atrocious bus-bombing in Piliyandala demonstrates yet again. But ‘terrorist’ is not the same as coward. It is when the enemy is underestimated, when his capacities are glossed over, avoidable mistakes are made. The latest Air Tiger attack is a case in point. Last week two Tiger planes got through our air defences, dropped a couple of bombs on the Welioya FDL and departed unscathed. What is significant is not the damage they inflicted (which was miniscule) but that they came undetected, dropped their bombs and escaped unharmed. When we underestimate the enemy we present him with the priceless gift of surprise, a decisive fact in the outcome of many a battle.

Ranil Wickremesinghe underestimated the Tiger’s ferocity and fanatical commitment. He opted for appeasement because he believed the LTTE could be won over through excessive concessions. The Rajapakses correctly see the Tigers as terrorists but believe that terrorists are faint-hearts; they underestimate the courage and the tenacity of hardcore Tigers. When the Tigers retreat without a battle, suspicions are not kindled, because such conduct is seen as natural for the ‘cowardly Tiger’. Euphoria (in peacemaking and in war) blunts intelligence and clouds judgement. Just as Mr. Wickremesinghe’s incorrect assessment of the LTTE defeated the peace process, the Rajapakses’ incorrect assessment of the LTTE will undermine the war effort.

In the war for the East we possessed two major advantages – the ethno religious plurality of the East and the Karuna factor. In fact even with the pluralist nature of the East and the hostility of the Muslim community towards the Tigers, the East may not have been won without the Karuna rebellion. Unfortunately the Eastern victory was attributed to the political will and the ideological clarity of the Rajapakse regime than to the Karuna schism and the Muslim factor. In the resultant jubilation (which often took a Sinhala supremacist form) the very real differences between the North and the East became submerged. Any attempt to point out this difference was decried as treachery. The regime, immersed in hubris believed that the war was as good as won. The Army Commander, who is due to retire this year, declared that he will not leave the task of defeating terrorism to his successor.

It is easy to make extravagant pledges about fast victories and to put up posters in Colombo demanding a non-stop march to Vanni and Killinochchi. But if the Northern war is attempted without the sort of political corollary which can win us the backing of Tamils and the world and can create doubts in the minds of Tiger cadres about the necessity of Eelam, carnages, a la Muhamalai, will result. Oppressed by economic difficulties the Southern public is nearing the end of its tether. Only the (vanishing) prospect of a Northern victory is keeping the South quiescent. More Muhamalais will devastate Southern hopes and break its will. If so, the war will end not in victory but in a ruinous stalemate leading to another appeasement process.

… And The Muslim Bogey

In Muhamalai history repeated itself. A similar error (of far greater magnitude) may be in progress in the East. In 1981, elections were held for the newly constituted District Development Councils. The Jayewardene administration was intent on winning this election, including in Jaffna. The TULF defied the militant boycott and contested the election. It was a situation pregnant with possibilities. But positive potential was destroyed, caught between hammer of militant’s determination to sabotage the election and the anvil of Mr. Jayewardene’s determination to somehow win it. President Jayewardene “despatched Sinhalese policemen from Colombo and two ministers including the rabidly anti-Tamil Cyril Mathew and Gamini Dissanayake, to Jafffna to ensure at least a partial victory for the UNP. (When two policemen were killed by a gunman attacking a TULF rally) policemen in Jaffna went on a rampage…(and) security forces set fire to the splendid Jaffna public library” (Tigers of Lanka: From Boys to Guerrillas – M.R. Narayan Swamy). Despite blatant rigging by the UNP the election was won by the TULF. But by then the damage was done – to Tamil-Sinhala relations, to the chances of a peaceful resolution of the ethnic problem, to Sri Lanka.

A similar mistake must not be made vis-à-vis Eastern Muslims. The regime is intent on winning the Eastern election, come what may. In this context the JHU is introducing an overtly ethno-religious tone to the campaign to win over the Sinhala voters. “Mr. Hakeem has let loose an ‘Otu’ (Arabic) terrorism in areas such as Pottuvil, Panama, Akkarapattu, Samanthurai, Kinniya, Mutur and Kalmunai, JHU spokesman Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe charged…. The party led by Mr. Hakeem is promoting sentiments against the state and the Sinhalese for a ‘Muslim Deshai’ (Muslim state) in these areas…. He compared this to the idea propped up among Tamil youths by the TULF in the 1960-70 period for a separate state for their community. This will end up in another armed struggle, this time by Muslim youths, for a separate state….. Mr. Hakeem has also spoken about the advantage of a ‘Nasaristan’ in a merged North-east. The SLMC leader is spreading Muslim extremism by destroying Buddhist places of worship in the East and taking over the land belonging to them…. The East will come under the grip of Al Qaida terrorism if this situation continues, he warned” (Lanka Dissent .com).

Forget the factual errors (the TULF did not exist in 1960-70). Forget the illogic (can a Nasasristan be formed in a merged Northeast, with its Tamil majority and armed Tigers?). What is truly worrying is the insidious creation of a Muslim bogey to win Sinhala votes for the government. Just as the TULF and Mr. Amirthalingam were falsely accused of manipulating the LTTE, the SLMC and its weak but democratic leader Rauf Hakeem are being accused of creating Muslim terrorists and promoting a Muslim state, of allying with Al Qaida, and of destroying Buddhist places of worship. There isn’t an iota of proof but mobs – especially fundamentalist mobs – are no sticklers for evidence.

This attempt to create a Muslim phobia amongst the Sinhala voter assumes extreme seriousness because the JHU is a part of the governing coalition and is campaigning for it. Is the President aware of these divisive and incendiary utterances and the damage they do to Sinhala-Muslims relations, to Sri Lanka and to the war effort (the East cannot be secured without Muslim support). Or is he, like President Jayewardene, willing to permit any atrocity so long as he can win the election? If so, irrespective of who wins this election, Sri Lanka and all her peoples will be the ultimate losers. Because the JHU, with its rabidly anti-Muslim rhetoric, is sowing the dragon seeds of a violent Sinhala-Muslim divide.
source:
http://www.island.lk/2008/05/04/features16.html

Leaving Arugam Bay: 25th May, 2008 10:00 hrs. (arr. Colombo 20:00)
Leaving Colombo/Airport: 28th May, 2008, 10:00 hrs. (arr. AbaY 18:30)
(Operated by a somewhat more modern version of the above ‘Mini Bus’ of course!)

The Government has launched a massive development drive in the Eastern Province including the recently liberated areas to develop the province on par with other provinces.

Attention has been drawn towards highway development and road development, the health sector and provision of good sanitation facilities to the public, agriculture sector, community development programmes. While developing the infrastructure facilities special attention will be paid to human resource development.

Advisor to the Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry Jeganathan said that the Government has allocated Rs. 450 million to develop the health sector in the province and to provide good sanitation facilities to the public.

The funds will be spent to develop hospitals, dispensaries, staff quarters and ward complexes.

He said MBBS doctors have been employed in the hospitals in the recently cleared areas including Vakarai.

The Government has launched a massive agricultural development drive in the Eastern Province under the Neganahira Navodhaya Programme to assist the farmers and to increase agricultural output. The financial requirement for the upcoming three years are Rs. 153.8 million, 134.3 million and 44.35 million respectively for the year 2008, 2009 and 2010 to carry out agricultural development work in the Eastern Province. Rs. 2.935 million has been allocated so far.

With the funding of the Treasury and other sources, Agrarian Service Centres, fertiliser warehouse and minor tanks are to be renovated.

The Government has distributed 64 two wheel tractors under the “Yen grant for Agriculture equipment. Meanwhile, the Government has reserved 11,000 metric tons of fertiliser to the Eastern Province for the 2007/2008 Maha season. The Government intends to distribute 6,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser for the Yala season this year.

Director of the Road Development and Highways Ministry Dhammika Matharaarachchi said that the Government has focused increased attention towards road development in the Eastern Province. The Government intends to develop the road network in the province to provide better transport facilities.

He said that several issues related to road development have been identified so far. They are insufficient road maintenance, poor linkage within and to other districts due to bad road conditions, delayed road rehabilitation improvement work and poor contribution to the economy due to not having proper infrastructure facilities.

Matharaarachchi said that the Periyakallar Causeway, Kodikallar Causeway, Kalkudah-Valachchanai road (4.42km), Oddamawadi-Vahaneri road (3.0km out of 9.25km), Padiruppu-Vellaveli road (2.0km out of 6.03 km) and Valachchanai Nasivanthivu-Navaladi road (2.12km out of 5.12 km) have been completed so far. The Periyakallar causeway, Kodikallar causeway projects were completed with a Japanese grant.

Construction work on the Ambilanthurai-Weeramunai road costing Rs. 641 million funded by the Asian Development Bank is now in progress.

Construction work on the Maha Oya-Chenkaladi road with a Rs. 1,100 million funding of the Asian Development Bank will commence shortly.

The Oddamavadi bridge will be constructed costing Rs. 380 million with funding from the Spanish Government.

Rural roads were improved through the Highways and Road Development Ministry, District and Divisional Secretaries with the assistance of Local Government Authorities and Provincial councils. The Highways and Road Development Ministry has implemented a rural road development project under the Maga Neguma project.

Meanwhile, Vocational Training Authority Director W.A. Ranaweera said the Vocational Training Authority has initiated vocational training programmes in the province with a view to create skilled employees for the development of the country.

In addition to the existing Vocational Training Centres, three training centres have been built, at Ninthavur costing Rs. 98 million, Sammanthurai costing of Rs. 230 million and the Cental Camp costing Rs. 122 million will be established.

Rs. 20 million has been allocated for the development of Akkaraipatthu training centre and Rs. 30 million for the development of Karathivu training centre respectively. These funds will be utilised to construct buildings and to develop other infrastructure facilities related to technical education and training students.

Rs. 27 million will be spent to construct the Pottuvil training centre and the GTZ will spend Rs. 3 million for other basic infrastructure development.

Rs. 591 million will be spent in total for human resource development in the area.

source:
http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/04/29/news24.asp

COLOMBO, 30 April 2008 (IRIN) - Humanitarian agencies in Sri Lanka are preparing for the fallout as increasing food prices and shortages put vulnerable populations at risk of malnutrition and leave many families no longer able to afford essentials such as medical care and school tuition.

The global food crisis, referred to by World Food Programme (WFP) officials as “the silent tsunami” during a summit in London on 22 April, is hitting home.

Munniandy Muttur, a janitor in the capital Colombo, told IRIN: “I earn only Rs350 [US$3.20] per day, and that amount is not enough if we try to eat well. If I or my wife fall sick, we can’t even think of private hospital. God willing, we will either not fall sick, or just fall dead, that is better.”

The 66-year-old man said he and his wife had cut down on meat and survived as best they could. “Everything is getting expensive, but we are not getting paid more.”

Relief agencies warn that vulnerable communities will increasingly cut back on essentials just to get by.

“Poor communities are surviving from one day to another - the rise in food prices means the poor families are living in a ’survival mode’, planning for their next meal, rather than making and acting on long-term plans for them and their children,” Nayomi Kannangara, Child Protection Program Manager with Christian Children’s Fund in Sri Lanka, told IRIN.

Kannangara warned that children’s education and healthcare may be neglected first.

“Some families may not be able to afford the bus fare to the hospital where the medical care is free and may not be able to purchase the drugs that are not available through the free clinics,” she said. “Symptoms are neglected and less attention is paid to non-critical medical needs.”

Rice stocks have dwindled since the government imposed price controls on 17 April. In addition, the World Food Programme (WFP) has temporarily suspended its work for food project in the war-torn northeast due to a lack of resources. WFP country director Mohamed Salaheen told IRIN the programme had been benefiting 175,000 people.

“We held discussions with the government and agreed on what our priorities are,” he said. “Given the resources we have, we cannot take care of everything.” The suspension will remain in force until new donor commitments allow the WFP to recommence it.

The WFP in Sri Lanka is facing increasing budgetary restrictions given that food prices have shot up by more than 50 percent in the past year and the agency is facing a 40 percent funding shortfall.

“We need an additional US$35 million to meet the funding requirements that were set on older prices, but now they have sky-rocketed,” the WFP country director said.

The food price increases have been exacerbated by a 12.5 percent shortfall in domestic rice supply, the staple food of the islanders, according to government statistics.

Inflation jump

The government Census and Statistics Department recorded that average annual inflation rose by 16.8 percent in March 2008. A monthly 1.5 percent rise in the Colombo consumer price index (CCPI) was due to escalating food prices.

“The increase in the CCPI for March 2008 is mainly due to an increase in prices of rice, fresh milk, condensed milk, Lactogen [baby food], tea, red onions, coconut oil, butter, jam, some varieties of fresh fish, dried fish, coconuts, potatoes and some varieties of vegetables,” it said in its latest CCPI report.

Agencies working with vulnerable populations have already begun to factor in the rising prices into their estimates.

“We are in discussions with WFP on whether to increase the monthly amount provided to poor families,” Meneka Calyanaratne, chief of communications for Save the Children UK in Sri Lanka, told IRIN. Such assistance, while important, is marginal in terms of numbers, compared with the WFP programme that has been feeding more than a million people. “It will all depend on what the assessments of WFP and other UN agencies are, but there is a very real likelihood that the individual grants will go up.”

Save the Children provides Rs1,600 (approx $16) per month for 2,672 poor families countrywide.

Calyanaratne also said rising food prices may force older children in poorer families to leave school for lack of funds. “When families find it hard to make ends meet,” she said, “they tend to look for easy avenues for more income; sending children to work is one of the easiest.”

Sri Lankans on average spend 37.6 percent of their monthly expenditure on food, according to the latest Census and Statistics Department data, with vulnerable families spending as much as 70 percent.

ap/bj/mw[END]

In the meantime, I’m also preparing for a two-week jaunt around the island. My dear friend Rachel is stopping by on her way home from Egypt (technically Sri Lanka is on your way home from any destination, depending on which way you choose to fly) and we will spend 10 days seeing the sights. I haven’t actually been anywhere, so this is great for me. It has been difficult to decide where to go since I haven’t seen anything, so I can’t provide the insider information one would hope for when one visits a friend living in a country. Oh well.

The monsoon broke on Sunday (that is early), so at least it won’t be so hot while Rachel is here, but it will be wet.

Tonight I leave for Galle to do another photography workshop. I thought this would be my last one, but I’ve been asked to present at a psychosocial training also. Thursday is a holiday and Friday I’m presenting at the psychosocial training. Not a lot of time in there to do my regular job and work on the Global Fund AIDs stuff (that project is why I went to Indonesia in March).

After I put Rachel on her plane to return to Portland I will immediately jump in a vehicle to go to Arugam Bay for Wesak (for those outside of Sri Lanka that is this month’s Poya name, which is May 20) . I’ll have just been there with Rachel, but I like A’bay so much this doesn’t bother me in the least.

The point of telling you my travel schedule is so you don’t worry when you don’t hear from me for a few weeks.

Jessica Leas

Boralesgamuwa, Sri Lanka

A dire need to work more directly with environmental issues has brought me to Sri Lanka where I advise a local nonprofit on ways to make their community development work more sustainable. Outside of work I like to take photographs (I’m obsessed with Flickr), travel, bicycle, hike and all the things associated with those activities. Oh, and I’m fascinated by all wildlife, particularly non-human primates. Great apes in particular — don’t call them monkeys!

source:
http://expatwithelephants.blogspot.com/2008/04/and-then-monsoon-broke.html

Another Holiday

The yearly “Contract Break” rolled around again, it doesn’t seem that long ago that I was doing it last year. This year was a bit of a repeat of last year, it is such a long way to go to NZ that it is hardly worth doing on the shorter breaks so when the month long break comes, it seems to be the best option.

The A380 at Changi Airport

I went through Phuket again, Steve was having his 40th birthday so I thought I’d drop in for a couple of ales to help him celebrate. As per usual, it was a pretty crazy week. Highlight would have to be trying to rock n roll dance with a bemused and probably slightly scared Thai girl while Max, an English guy that lives there, belted out Elvis over the stereo of some bar. Should really stay off that Samsong I guess, does funny things to you…

Steve ringing the bell to bring in his birthday

Eddie helping Steve with his birthday bikini and water wings

The girls behind the bar in Sirocco - Goong, Fa and Aon

After that flew to Perth and down to Bunbury for a few days. I stayed with John and Ange, Ange was pretty pregnant by that stage (she’s due around Christmas or New Year). Did a bit of visiting around, saw some of the old flatties etc which was all nice. Went to Perth to catch up with Aza but he got the wrong month - he thought I was talking about December when I was actually talking about November. He’s still Spaza.

Langley Park in Perth

From Perth I trooped on to New Plymouth where I did some hardcore sleeping for a couple of days - achieved about 13 or 14 hours on the first couple of nights. Mum cooked me a lamb roast which was grand and I did a fair bit of lazing about and hanging out with my niece. After that I flew down to Christchurch, my first trip back there in a long time, maybe 6 years. Hasn’t changed too much. Caught up with Greg, Rik and Kate, Setter and Cheryl and Poo as well as doing a bit of shopping.

Mountains north of Christchurch

Greg’s dog Kupa

Next was Blenheim, I hired a relocation rental (which didn’t turn out to be as cheap as I thought after petrol was $1.70 per litre) and drove up to Picton which was a nice drive. I stayed with Lorree (she was house sitting). On Saturday, along with Andrea, we went and played mini-golf on the Picton foreshore, where I got a resounding hiding from both the girls as they have both been playing a lot of golf lately and had home-course advantage (OK, I was just really crap). After that we had lunch and a few beers. The next day Lorree and I went across to Nelson to see Marco and Anna in Mapua where we had a nice BBQ lunch and a chat and then an icecream at the inlet.

The Kaikoura coast

Mapua

Marco and Isabella

Marlborough

The new week had me in a plane to Wellington, where I stayed with Luke and Anna. I hadn’t seen them in a long time, and they had moved back from Melbourne earlier in the year so it was good to catch up. We did a short pub crawl then went to a Japanese restaurant, then another short pub crawl before having to go home as everything shuts quite early (or doesn’t open) on a Monday night in Wellington. Except for Luke and Anna’s house, where the bar was open until about 4am… Whilst in Wellington I also had lunch with Sean Gledhill and caught up with my cousins in Lower Hutt and my Aunt in Paraparaumu.

Paekakariki and Paraparaumu from Paekakariki Hill

Kapiti Island

Then it was on up to Hawkes Bay for a night with Jock and Kylie before back to Taranaki for Georgia’s 6th birthday party (kids can be so tiring, and I was only there for 1 1/2 hours with all of them!). Next day was on up to Auckland, where I had lunch with Theuns (who I used to work with in Napier) and also saw my Aunty Pat and Uncle Denis and cousins Brian and Craig. Craig had just arrived from Sweden and it’s been a few years since I saw them so we had a cuppa and a chinwag.

Georgia’s “rock star” birthday party - shes in the blue T-shirt and headband

I flew back through Singapore (11 hours, ouch) for an overnight. I got upgraded to a suite at the hotel but couldn’t really enjoy it fully as I was absolutely knackered and only there for about 8 hours, most of which was sleeping. Then back to Colombo where I got stuck until the day before Christmas Eve. Now I’m back out east for Christmas and New Year, Christmas will be in Arugam Bay and New Year I’m not sure about yet.

Ramblings of Fraser at 11:53 AM 0 people talking back

Sunday, 21 October 2007

Work and Play

Just so it doesn’t look like it’s all fun and no work here, I’ve added a couple of pics of some of the roads I am doing at the moment. I’m just about finished the bottom layer of a couple of kilometers, with the macadam (stone) and surfacing to seal it all off will be started soon. We’re going balls to the wall to try and get as much finished off before the rain, but I fear we may be fighting a losing battle.

First (or sub-base for you engineers) layer in Lahugala

Setting out in Panama

Also, here are a couple of photos of beaches that we are lucky enough to be able to enjoy. Both are pretty deserted (Pottuvil Point has a reasonable break so it does get a lot of surfers when it is on) at present which makes them nice. Peanut Farm has a lovely gentle slope and is very calm at the moment, I had a very peaceful swim around there last weekend.

Peanut Farm

Pottuvil Point. How’s the serenity?

This weekend Fergus and I went down and spent Saturday afternoon at Pottuvil Point, where we went for a wee paddle around the lagoon on a contraption consisting of a pallet nailed to a couple of the local fishing “canoes”. During the wet season we’ll get a couple of big torches and go out at night and try and spot crocodiles (there are some “beauties” in there”). Merete (the owner of Stardust where I was staying at the beginning of the year) had the opening party for her restaurant on Saturday night, which she has finished rebuilding after the tsunami. It’s been a bit of a labour of love for her, slowly slowly at times, but she is pretty happy she has finished and it is a beautiful building with great views of the sea and a nice breeze to keep it all cool.

Last week the LTTE attacked a small Army camp south of Panama, inside the Yala National Park. The usual knee-jerk reaction happened, with the military sending in a whole bunch of troops to look for them but by the time they arrived they were long gone. However they have decided to piss everyone off and cut off the mobile networks again in Thirukkovil and Akkaraipattu, and also this time in Pottuvil which they didn’t do last time, so I am kind of cut off with telecoms at the moment, probably for another week or so. It ain’t so bad though.

South Africa won the world cup, at least it wasn’t the Poms. But I’m over rugby…

Ramblings of Fraser at 9:37 PM 2 people talking back

Saturday, 20 October 2007

Gooooooooooood Morning Viet Nam

So off I toodled to Veit Nam (Ha Noi to be precise) for a couple of days for a conference, my nice mid-stint break. I was a little bit excited, a new country and all, and also a chance to get a bit more of an understanding of what the hell we are up to here.

Part of Ha Noi from the hotel

The Red River. It’s not so red, and not as famous as the Mekong

Fergus and I went for the SEACAP (South East Asian Community Access Project) conference. SEACAP is being implemented in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam at present but UNOPS has also secured a contract to implement a similar programme in Sri Lanka in the near future. Basically it’s about assisting with developing national standards for rural roads and providing reliable road access to vulnerable rural communities, kind of the same that we are doing under our EU funded project. We get to build 200 different trial sections and do lots of nerdy engineering stuff with them.

The conference was on 2 days but we arrived a little early so had a free day to have a bit of a wander around the city. Didn’t get too far as it rained a bit (wet season so hardly surprising) so we went and hid in a coffee shop for a couple of hours. After that we wandered through the city, got accosted by a lady trying to sell us t-shirts, who actually followed us down the road on a motorbike twice to show us different stock. Full marks for persistance…We ended up at a small bar/restaurant thing next to the lake which was pleasant (and cheap) for a couple of beers and watch the madness that was going on as the lads from three adjacent restaurants tried to get customers. The later it got into the evening, the more chaos there was as they tried to stop motorbikes and cars, and with “valet” motorbike parking, people would just get off their bikes and leave them in the middle of the road until the lads moved them.

Fergus and a statue

Crazy wiring

Me and a big glass o’ beer. Very heavy, had to lighten it a little…

Drummers at the conference dinner

Anyway I quite liked Ha Noi and Viet Nam (what I saw of it at least) and I think it will go on the “visit when I decide to give myself a nice, long holiday” list. One thing that did intrigue me was how they used a version of the Roman alphabet and not script like the Thai or Khmer language or characters like the Chinese. I guess it is a result of the French colonisation.

After Ha Noi, Fergus and I flew to Bangkok for the weekend, after Fergus decided that as it was his birthday on Saturday we shouldn’t spend it in stinky old Colombo. We got in late Thursday night and retired after some pizza and beer just down the road from the hotel.

Bangkok is pretty damned big

On Friday we slept late and eventually I got in touch with Bernardo, the son of Manoel (who we work with). He was in Bangkok on a visa run for a couple of days, so he came over to meet us. We ducked across Sukhumvit Road (a very quick duck, because it is a bloody busy road) and went to the Lebanese quarter for some kebabs and stuff, then jumped on the Skytrain to go to Siam Square and do a bit of shopping. On the top floor of the shopping centre they have car shops - Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche, Lamborghini etc - so we did a bit of tyre kicking and wondered how the bloody hell they got them up the escalators, and how the bloody hell we could scam them into thinking we could afford to buy one so we could go for a test drive.

Bernardo and Fergus outside Siam Paragon shopping centre

I’m not a big shopper so little things amuse me when shopping, like in the Levi’s shop when the shop girl told Bernardo he was fat and laughed at him, as the size he asked for (that he usually buys, according to him) didn’t fit. He spent the next 30 minutes muttering to himself about it as we walked around the shop.After whiling away a few hours there, we hightailed it back to the hotel to change as we had tickets for the Muay Thai at Lumpini Stadium that evening. We picked the wrong time to travel across town (Bernardo was staying on the other side to us), then travel back to the stadium as it took forever but was kind of cool to see Bangkok’s night action beginning, with all the food stalls and markets springing up everywhere.

We had almost ringside seats at the kickboxing, and they bring beer and food to you so you don’t have to miss any of the action. Early in the night they have the younger, lighter fighters and the more experienced guys later. Unfortunately we had to leave after about an hour or so as we were late for meeting up with Fergus’ friends in a pub somewhere. Bernardo and I could have stayed longer but as we had no idea where the hell we were going, we had to leave with Fergus. We just really wanted to see some teeth go flying…

Kickboxing action

Kickboxing Video. The guys in the corners (at the end) were hilarious. Waaaay!

Then we moved on to some pub somewhere and met up with some of Fergus’ friends from when he went to AIT. They were a good bunch and the pub had a good live band playing. However they also sold Whisky and Tequila by the bottle, so I’m sure you can figure out what happened then…I woke up some time the next afternoon, feeling quite strange but I put that down to the Sam Song (Thai rum). Fergus went out that night to have dinner at his friends house which was just down the road from the hotel, but I couldn’t face it and stayed in and went to bed early. We later discovered that no-one could remember who actually paid at the pub, until we got back to Sri Lanka and Bernardo filled us in. Fun times.I like Bangkok, crazy city with heaps and heaps happening all the time. Very noisy and quite polluted though, could get to you after a while.

Ramblings of Fraser at 9:36 AM 2 people talking back

Sunday, 7 October 2007

Sunday, 30 September 2007

My Shitty Week

Just thought I’d share my shitty week. It was pretty shitty.

Shit Monday: My driver got fired after 1 1/2 years. To be honest he probably deserved it. Bright Spot: Got given 1 kilo of wild pork in Panama (the town, not the country)
Shit Tuesday: Tractor driver working for us in Pottuvil got arrested for “illegally” transporting sand between 2 sites, I spend 1 hour trying to get him released then another 2 at the court.
Shit Wednesday: Meeting with Police in Pottuvil to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Bright Spot: The Pottuvil Divisional Secretary (Government Rep) ragging on the Chairman of the Pottuvil Pradeshiya Sabha (Local Council) for 10 minutes about how hard he finds it to work in Pottuvil, and how he has never had so many problems in any other division he has worked in over the past 20 years. We agree.
Shit Thursday: Not much on the shittiness front this day.
Shit Friday: Boundary wall collapses on a site and kills one labourer and injures another. ’nuff said. Visit wailing family, accident site, got offered to see the body but turned it down. Police arrest Technical Officer and Supervisor but release later. Bright Spot: Get another 4 kilos of Panama pork
Shit Saturday: Visit other man in hospital. Bright Spot: Seems like he will be OK with no lasting damage. Fiji beats Wales (sorry, South Pacific solidarity and our Security guy is a big Fijian).
Shit Sunday: Get some sort of weird allergic reaction to something and lips around left corner of my mouth swell up for a few hours. Bright Spot: BBQing some of Friday’s pork tonight. Have lunch in Arugam Bay with Dawn as she is leaving for a few months. Get word that Annette will be back soon. Don’t have to deal with anything to do with work. Guys are here installing generator so I might be able to sleep in AC at nights now (it’s really hot at the moment).

Conclusion: This week SUCKED.

Had to share that. Hope to have some pics from Ha Noi and Bangkok up soon.

source:
http://intheeyeofthetiger.blogspot.com/