Author: TELO Admin

TELO and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, Vino Noharathalingam signed a letter on Wednesday (June 16th), urging Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to provide relief assistance to COVID-19 affected families in the North East.

The letter described the “plight of the poor below the poverty line” in the North-East as “deplorable.”

Families across the North-East have been rendered jobless due to the unending travel ban and have been pushed to the point of starvation and mental exhaustion. However the infection and mortality rates have not decreased and the deprivation of work has caused major economic and mental distress. Many families across the Tamil homeland have suffered due to the travel ban and there have been a few incidents of people committing suicide due to the lack of assistance and brutal travel ban restriction imposed.

Noharathalingam proposed that the financial allocation for his Vanni district in the decentralised budget be reallocated and used to aid those in the district that are suffering in a state of poverty.

He added that the 5000 rupees of financial aid is limited to samurdhi beneficiaries only rendering many ineligible to receive any financial aid. He further added that 5000 rupees could not be considered an adequate relief scheme to compensate for more than five days of goods.

“I believe this is urgent and necessary and acceptable to all.”

Parliament sessions have been limited this week to only two days because of the coronavirus situation in the country.

Sergeant-at-Arms Narendra Fernando told Colombo Gazette that Parliament proceedings will be held tomorrow (22) and on Wednesday (23).

A decision in this regard was taken during the Party Leaders meeting that was held at the Parliamentary complex today.

Fernando further said the Sri Lanka Land Development Corporation Amendment Bill and the regulations under the Lands Acquisition Bill will be taken up for discussion tomorrow.

He added that discussions pertaining to several other subjects, such as imports and exports, and expenditure will be taken up on the following day.

Days after Tamil Nadu fishermen protested Sri Lanka’s efforts to build an artificial reef off Delft island, west of Jaffna peninsula, authorities defended the move “aimed at enhancing fish breeding”.

Last week, Sri Lanka’s Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, with the assistance of Navy, launched a project, dropping around 20 discarded buses into the sea off Delft, as was earlier done in other parts of the island nation, including the eastern Trincomalee district, officials said.

“Many countries, including India, have in the past created artificial reefs to facilitate fish spawning. Old train carriages were used in the US, for instance,” Cabinet Minister for Fisheries Douglas Devananda, who represents Jaffna district in parliament, told The Hindu. The move was backed by research undertaken by Sri Lanka’s National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA), he said.

“By objecting to an initiative in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, Tamil Nadu fisher leaders have only exposed themselves as parties interested in fishing illegally in the Palk Strait,” he said, referring to the long-persisting Palk Bay fisheries conflict.

Persisting problem

Scores of Tamil fishermen living in the war-affected northern and eastern districts of Sri Lanka have, for over a decade now, been protesting Tamil Nadu fishermen’s use of destructive bottom trawlers along their coast, severely impacting the marine ecosystem and their post-war livelihoods. Despite ongoing bilateral discussions and several rounds of talks between fishermen of both countries, Tamil Nadu fishermen are yet to meet northern Sri Lankan fishermen’s consistent demand that they stop bottom-trawling in their seas. On the other hand, Tamil Nadu fishermen have accused the Sri Lankan Navy of attacking and killing fishermen — allegations that the Sri Lankan side denies.

Meanwhile, members of the All Mechanised Boat Fishermen Association, held a protest in Rameswaram last week, urging Sri Lanka to stop dropping “iron scrap” into the sea, since would “affect” marine ecology in the Palk Strait, and also “damage” their own boats and nets.

In a tweet indicating Sri Lanka sees its recent initiative also as a deterrent to bottom-trawling, State Minister of Fisheries Kanchana Wijesekera said while the artificial reef would boost fish spawning, “it will also act as a shield against bottom line trawling conducted illegally by the #Indian Fishermen”.

It is not only the government that defended the move, but also Jaffna-based fisher cooperatives. “This initiative is aimed at helping our livelihoods by increasing fish production, and that is why we have welcomed it. We condemn certain sections of fisher leaders in Tamil Nadu opposing the move,” said Annalingam Annarasa, leader of the federation of fisher cooperative societies in Jaffna.

Following yesterday’s (19) circulation of images allegedly depicting Army personnel forcing people who violated the travel restrictions to kneel and raise their hands in Eravur, the Army personnel alleged to have been involved have been removed from their duties, Sri Lanka Army said in a statement today (20).

The statement detailed that the instructions to remove said Army personnel from their duties were conducted through directives issued by the Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army, General Shavendra Silva.

“An initial Military Police investigation has already commenced after certain photos went viral depicting an alleged harassment, meted out on a group of civilians in one corner of a street in the Eravur area. The Officer-in Charge was also moved out with immediate effect,” Sri Lanka Army said.

Accordingly, it was noted that upon completion of thorough investigations, the Army would adopt the strictest disciplinary action against all errant Army personnel.