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Govt-LTTE in six hours of rehab talks
By Chris Kamalendran
Tamil rebels yesterday raised a range of issues with government representatives connected with the resettlement of displaced persons, opening up of roads, fishermen's problems and rehabilitation, but no final decisions have been taken.

The issues were raised when the representatives of a district sub-committee on security related matters met with the government military representatives in the Muhamalai area of the Jaffna peninsula. The meeting went on for six hours.

The meeting was earlier scheduled to take place in Thellipallai, a military controlled area, but they were forced to shift the location as the northern Commander of the LTTE, 'colonel', Theepan could not carry his weapon to an army controlled area.

The meeting was held in the Muhamalai area no man's land. The Government team was led by Defence Secretary Austin Fernando while the LTTE delegation was led by 'Colonel' Theepan.

At a joint briefing given by Mr. Fernando and Theepan, they said all matters raised at the meeting would be submitted to the meeting of the Sub Committee on security matters to be held on December 14 at Omanthai. Prior to that a series of other district level meetings are due to be held .

The LTTE at yesterday's meeting had suggested that 25 roads be opened, fishermen be allowed to use fisheries harbours, and that resettlement work be started in the peninsula. But the government delegation said that security aspects would have to be taken up.

The army had pointed out that regarding resettlement issues the Sinhala civilians who lost their places in Jaffna should also be resettled.


Senior lawyer passes away
Senior lawyer V.W. Kularatne passed away yesterday after a brief illness.

His funeral will be held today at 3 pm at the Colombo General Cemetery.

The late Mr. Kularatne was a one-time senior vice president of the SLFP and the President of the SLFP Lawyers Association before leaving the party with Vijaya and Chandrika Kumaratunga to form the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya (SLMP) in 1983.

He was a member of the three-man Royal Commission appointed by then Governor General William Gopallawa to inquire into the affairs of the Peradeniya University in 1974, and a year later to be a one-man commissioner to inquire into ragging at the Vidyalankara University.

On his recommendation to ban ragging, 12 students were expelled, three suspended and four officials penalized for not taking appropriate action to prevent ragging.

In 1978, Mr. Kularatne, along with Dr. Nath Amarakoon were remanded in connection with what was known as the 'Naxalite plot', but discharged later.

He was a one-time vice president of the Soviet Friendship League and headed his own law firm, V.W. Kularatne Associates.

Speaker blasts Mangala
Speaker Joseph Michael Perera yesterday accused Opposition Chief Whip Mangala Samaraweera of bringing disrepute to parliament by making a false statement regarding the mishap over the committee stage of the budget.

At a news conference on Friday, Mr. Samaraweera claimed that the opposition had sent the relevant letter to the Acting Secretary General of Parliament before the deadline on Thursday. But the Speaker said yesterday the letter proposing amendments to the budget had not been sent in time and this was acknowledged by Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapakse.

The Speaker making statement at the opening of the Parliament said that the member had brought disrepute to the Speaker, Prime Minister and the Leader of the opposition by making a such a statement.

Other sources told The Sunday Times that the Opposition Leader's Office had sent the letter to Mr. Samaraweera to be signed and sent to Parliament but it had been delayed there.

Chief Government Whip Mahinda Samarasinghe on Thursday pointed out that the Opposition had failed to follow the standing orders and take necessary steps to enable the committee stage vote of the budget.

On Friday the government agreed to go ahead with the Committee stage after suspending the standing orders.

Another NE body goes into action
The first meeting of the sub-committee on immediate humanitarian and rehabilitation needs in the North and East is scheduled to take place tomorrow in Kilinochchi.

The sub-committee headed by Peace Secretariat Chief Bernard Goonetillake and the LTTE Political Wing leader S. P Thamilchelvan will discuss specific matters relating to resettlement and rehabilitation.

The meeting takes place prior to the donor meeting scheduled to be held in Oslo on November 25.

The Sunday Times learns that after the aid meeting, the sub-committee will meet again to formulate a programme to channel the funds.

Meanwhile the High Security Zone sub-committee met last Sunday followed by a meeting on Wednesday between top officers of the Navy and Sea Tigers. The sub committee is scheduled to meet on December 14.

LTTE police: Inside story from the East

Chris Kamalendran in Palugamam Batticaloa
Sivabalasingham Rajag opal, the 'Officer in Charge' of the LTTE's police station in Palugamam, 20 kilometres south west of Batticaloa town was in the government controlled areas of Irruwil on Wednesday. He was there to investigate a killing which had taken place in the area.

The relatives of the victim had lodged a complaint with the LTTE police in Palugamam which was declared open on November 5. They had by-passed the local police in the government controlled area.

Give us your son and we'll give your husband
Tamil rebels are holding hostage the father of an LTTE cadre who escaped from them and are demanding that the family returns the youth back to their movement.

Kandhia Kovindansamy, the father of the LTTE cadre had been taken into LTTE custody, last month after his son Rajeevan, escaped from the movement..

"My husband who was serving as a work supervisor at the Irrigation Department in Kalawanchikudy was taken into LTTE custody while on his way to office. Three days later after the incident I found that my husband was being held at Tharavai LTTE base," Mrs K. Rasavalli said.

Mrs. Rasavalli was at the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) office in Batticaloa this week to seek assistance to obtain the husband's salary by getting him to place a signature on a document provided by his department.

She said that the LTTE had informed her that only when her son was returned would they release her husband.

"My son last came to see us in April. He spent one month with us and said he was going back to the LTTE. Since then we have not heard about him. The LTTE regularly comes home and demands that he be handed back," she said.

"They also threatened me and demanded that I disclose the whereabouts of my son," she said.

The OIC after a brief investigation had ordered the chief suspect in the killing, to report to the LTTE's police station - a private house which has been turned into the police station, manned by 50 policemen and women.

The suspect was remanded until the investigations were completed.

The case was one of the many investigations handled by the LTTE's police force for the Batticaloa and Ampara districts in the eastern province. Since they opened they have received 135 complaints varying from disputes over land transactions, money transactions and family disputes.

"I have been instructed to visit any area whether it is in the cleared or uncleared areas and carryout investigations. At the moment we have only one unit, but we will soon be forming other divisions to handle crime, traffic and minor offences, " inspector Rajagopal said.

The response to the LTTE Police has been good says the OIC for the station as complaints were coming in not only from the rebel controlled areas, but also from the cleared areas where there are government police stations.

"I came here to lodge a complaint with the LTTE police as they are prompt in settling disputes. I have been having a long standing land dispute and I felt the LTTE would provide a quick solution," K.Arulanthanan 52, of Lloyds Avenue Batticaloa town who had travelled 27 kilometres," said.

At the Police station the police personnel especially the women were courteous to those who called over to lodge complaints. The people are often provided meals and even accommodation if they came from distant areas. Transport is also provided whenever possible.

The station is seen as a prelude to the court system which the LTTE will be introducing later this month.

"We were due to open the courts last Friday but had to postpone it as our cadres are preparing for the Heroes week next week,"Rajagopal said.

The preparations were being made to open the courts in a location close to the police stations as both 'institutions' will be working closely.

The Judge who is due to take up his duties has already arrived from Jaffna.

The OIC also is from Jaffna but is to be replaced by a suitable person from the area. For this the LTTE has just begun its recruitment drive for the police force in the east. Pamphlets calling for new recruits were distributed this week in the Batticaloa and Ampara villages.

For the 'Sub Inspector' post they have called for men and women between the ages 18 and 30 with Advanced Level qualification and offered a salary of Rs. 5,000. For 'Police constable' they have called for Ordinary level qualified persons between 18 and 30 years and offered a salary of Rs. 4,450.

The interviews are in progress for the new recruits at the political office of the LTTE.

It is clear the LTTE is gradually expanding its control in the east. Its police already is sent out on duty to track down on illicit felling, illicit liquor and ensure that goods of archaeological value are not removed.

The LTTE will not have many police stations, but plans to have guard posts at every village and thereafter expand. The police posts are likely to come up in the areas linking the eastern province to the north eastern Trincomalee district.

Life in the eastern province has not changed significantly after the peace process began. Little assistance has come into the areas which have been badly affected by the war.

"The funds are not sufficient to provide assistance to the affected people as well as carryout rehabilitation and reconstruction work," Batticaloa's district secretary R.Monagurusamy said.

He said a large number of people were depending on government assistance with nearly 3000 people being disabled. The LTTE's authority over the villagers is spreading. One of the reasons is that communication between the LTTE and the people is easier and the other is that the influence of the LTTE is growing. On the surface, many of the villagers would speak in favour of the LTTE, but going into details they would complain about the continued collection of ransom, collecting taxes, abduction of children, and failure to allow Muslims to return and re-cultivate their own land. The rebels explain that they have to maintain some 3,000 cadres in the east and therefore are forced to collect taxes. But many of the villagers are not convinced as they believe with the dawn of peace they should be free of such harassment. The LTTE is making sure that its target is not only the uncleared areas where it is currently based in, but also the cleared areas where it is strongly involved in political activities.

Trinco Tiger cops in action
Sinniah Gurunathan,
Our Trinco Correspondent
The newly opened Police station at Sampoor in Trincomalee district will entertain complaints from the government controlled areas as well, Avaikumaran, Trincomalee Tamil Eelam Police Superintendent said . He said for the start the Tamil Eelam Police will engage in crime prevention activities and minimize motor traffic offences. He said they hoped to get the co-operation of the people to curb crime.

He said many complaints relating to land and financial disputes had been reported to the station since it was opened last week.


Batticaloa GA seeks LTTE help
Batticaloa District Secretary R. Monagurusamy says he believes that without the assistance of the LTTE, none of the development projects could be fully implemented in his district.

Mr. Monagurusamy told The Sunday Times that he had returned to the Batticaloa district as the Government Agent for the third time and found that some of the funds allocated for various projects had not been put into proper use.

"There are also cases where the money has been utilized, but the project has not been completed,' he said adding that inefficiency and malpractices were the main reason for the projects not being completed properly.

"We need the LTTE's support to carry on with the projects to get better results as corruption could be minimized by getting its help," he said.

Mr. Monagurusamy said there was a major power project coming up in the uncleared areas and with the LTTE assistance the project was being carried out without much problem.

The District Secretary said he had also sought the LTTE assistance to implement some of the projects in the cleared areas as well.

He said that regular consultations are held with the LTTE to discuss projects in the cleared as well as uncleared areas.

LTTE taking over main bus stands
Moves by the LTTE to take over the administration of the Vauvniya and Batticaloa main bus stand have come under fire by the Private Bus Owners Association which blames the Government for ignoring warning signs by the Association.

The LTTE last week informed the members of the Private Bus Association in North and East that they will take up the administration of the bus stand. Although there were moves by the LTTE to take over the administration for many weeks on Friday the LTTE had sent out an order.

Following the order, the Private Bus Owners Association sent a letter yesterday to the LTTE seeking an appointment to discuss the matter.

Association President Gamunu Wijeratne told The Sunday Times that the Government should take the blame if the LTTE took over the administration of the bus stands as the Government had neglected the administration.

"On several occasions we have informed the Government that the administration is not done properly and a special unit be set up. We can't expect the Government Agent to look into the administration," said Mr.Wijeratne.

The association in its letter to the LTTE said that the decision to take over the bus stands had created much tension among the public and also that the LTTE had no right to take over the administration. The association has also called for a meeting with the LTTE.

"We will be meeting the LTTE in the first week of December to discuss the matter," Mr. Wijeratne said.


Quick fix by Tiger police
"I have been having a land dispute with my sister in-law for several years. We tried to resolve the matter and could not reach a settlement.

I tried to go to the local police station in the area some time back and settle the matter, but it was not helpful," said K. Arulananthan, 52 of Lloyds Avenue, Batticaloa "later I decided to visit the LTTE political office in town. They advised me to call over at their office in Palugamam and make a complaint. That is why I came here.

"Today is my third visit in a week's time and they have summoned both parties and have inquired into the matter. They have been able to work out a settlement to the dispute.

"I came to the LTTE police station to make a complaint that my neighbour was blocking the main road to my house. I tried my best to settle the dispute without going to the police but it did not work out," said K.Nallathamby, 43 of Weeramunai, Ampara.

"Eventually I decided to come here . This has been my second visit to the police station and the other party had been summoned for an inquiry.

"The matter has been settled now as my neighbour agreed to open the main road.
"This is a great relief to me. If I had gone to courts it would have taken several years to settle the dispute.


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