SRI LANKA experienced worst weather condition in recent history. Several main roads and roads in rural areas of the Western, Sabaragamuwa and Southern provinces remain impassable. More than 20 schools in western province had to close.Some of the families displaced by flooding are using them as temporary shelter. Disaster Management officials said that in Kalutara, Colombo, Gampaha, Ratnapura, Kegalle, Kurunegala, Galle, Puttalam and Trincomalee over 2,20,000 people had been affected by the rains and several houses badly damaged.
Operations at the Bandaranaike International Airport were severely affected with several aircraft being diverted to Chennai. Authorities suspended several flights schedled to leave BIA during the day.
The Ratmalana Airport has also suspended domestic flights owing to the bad weather conditions.
Sri Lanka Army also postponed most of the celebrations of the Ranaviru Week due to prevailing weather condition.
The much awaited report on how to restructure the United National Party (UNP) which was to be submitted to the working committee of UNP didn't materialize again and postponed to another five days. Anyway it will constitute only a couple of pages, MP John Amaratunga, member of the special six-person committee appointed to formulate the report said.
When asked as to why the finalisation of the report has been postponed several times Amaratunga said, “We want to make sure that we get all the points of view into consideration. We are holding daily discussions with various people. It’s a process. That is why the report is getting delayed.”
However, another party senior and former Assistant Leader of the UNP Rukman Senanayake had a different view on why the report was getting delayed: “This is a trick by Ranil to save himself. This should be very simple, just hold an election to elect all the party leaders. Why does a report on this have to get postponed this many times? Ranil is trying everything he can to create a report that favours him.
The recently concluded G15 Summit in Tehran praised Sri Lanka for achieving most of goals identified at the Summit and said the country was an example to the rest of the world. "They especially appreciated the power and energy sector in Sri Lanka for looking for alternative energy sources to petroleum such as solar power, coal power and thermal power," Minister of External Affairs Prof. G. L. Peiris said.
Leaders acknowledged that preservation and economic development go hand in hand and Sri Lankan method of generating power posing minimal threat to the invironment is an example for the rest of the member states of the G 15, the Minister further said.
President Rajapakse was elected as the chairman of G15 summit for two years which comprise a8 developing nations.
The United Nations says the forming of a commission by President Mahinda Rajapakse to investigate alleged incidents which took place during the war will not substitute the need for a panel of experts to brief the UN Chief on accountability issues relating to Sri Lanka.
A UN official from the UN Headquarters in New York, Chois Soung told that UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon was going ahead with the appointment of his expert panel and would send his Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe to the island as soon as the Sri Lankan government issued a green light.
She also said that President Rajapakse’s commission and the UN Chief’s expert panel were two different concepts due to which Ban Ki Moon would not reconsider appointing his panel.
“President Rajapakse can appoint whatever he wants. His commission has nothing to do with Mr. Ban Ki Moon’s panel. It is good that President Rajapakse has appointed a commission as he has to keep his promise which he gave to the international community,” Soung said.
When questioned about the panel, Soung said that the appointment of the panel was ‘underway’ and could not reveal further information as it was not open to the public.
Meanwhile it is learnt that the government has further delayed a trip by UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe to Sri Lanka after the UN sought permission to facilitate a visit by Pascoe in May to discuss the developments in the country.
While the controversial Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) held its inaugural sessions in the US city of Philadelphia over the last three days, the US Embassy in Colombo noted that the U.S. continues to investigate and prosecute individuals and entities that have provided material support to the LTTE.
LTTE activist Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran who acts as its Coordinator said in a press statement that the TGTE meeting is being held in the US where the LTTE is listed as a terrorist outfit and comes in the wake of the Sri Lankan government urging foreign government not to give credence to moves by the LTTE to create a government in exile in support of an Ealam state.
"We are very pleased to announce that the historic event of inaugural sessions of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) are to take place at the National Constitution Centre (NCC) at the Independence Mall in the US city of Philadelphia on 17-19 May, 2010. NCC commemorates the 1787 Philadelphia Convention when the first steps were taken to write the constitution of America. The Declaration of Independence was also debated and signed in Philadelphia,” Rudrakumar said in the statement.
Rudrakumar said that May 17-19 was chosen for the inauguration of TGTE in order to demonstrate the will of Eelam Tamil nation for its independence and coincides with the first year remembrance of the military victory against the LTTE.
“By forming the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) through a self organised democratic practice for electing people representatives by direct voting, Eelam Tamil nation declares to the Government of Sri Lanka and the International Community that it will continue its struggle until conditions are created which will enable the Tamils to realize their right to self determination and exercise their sovereignty,” Rudrakumaran added.
When contacted over the TGTE meeting in the US, the US Embassy spokesman in Sri Lanka Jeff Anderson said that there are a number of organizations in the United States that represent various interests of the Sri Lankan Diaspora community with a wide range of views on issues concerning Sri Lanka, and have the right under the U.S. Constitution to express their perspectives and advocate their interests peacefully.
He said that although the U.S. Government fully supports an active civil society in their own country and abroad, they do not always agree with all of the viewpoints of such organizations.
“The United States unequivocally supports a united, peaceful and democratic Sri Lanka. Further, we note that the LTTE has been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in the U.S. since 1997. This designation remains in force. The U.S. continues to investigate and prosecute individuals and entities that have provided material support to the LTTE,” Anderson told.
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