srilanka1998
Member
- Registriert
- 26. Juli 2005
- Beiträge
- 511
Pro-Tamil Tiger Web site accuses government-backed assailants of killing rebel officer
Updated:2006-01-26 23:28:07
By DILIP GANGULY
AP
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - Tamil Tiger rebels on Friday accused Sri Lanka's government of backing assailants who assassinated a rebel officer just hours after the two sides agreed to restart peace talks, but the military denied involvement in the ambush.
The slaying Thursday of rebel Maj. Kapilan, who goes by one name, was reported by the pro-rebel Web site TamilNet, citing rebel officials who questioned the government's commitment to this week's agreement to restart peace talks that have been stalled since 2003.
TamilNet said "paramilitary cadres" and agents working for Sri Lanka's military intelligence ambushed and killed Kapilan with rocket-propelled grenades and wounded one other rebel on Thursday while they rode on a tractor in a rebel-held area of eastern Sri Lanka.
The region is home to a breakaway rebel group that split from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in March 2004. The Tigers accuse the military of aiding the breakaway faction.
However, the military disavowed any involvement in Thursday's ambush.
"Our armed forces were not involved in any way," military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said. "We do not back any group."
Rebel peace negotiator S. Puleedevan was quoted by TamilNet as saying the attack threw doubt on whether the government was serious when it agreed less than 24 hours earlier to restart peace talks.
"Despite the gesture of goodwill already expressed by" the Tamil Tigers, "the attack on our cadres in the east continues," Puleedevan said, adding that the government was playing a "double game."
The government and the rebels signed a cease-fire in 2002, though subsequent peace talks broke down the following year over rebel demands for greater autonomy in areas they control. The two sides agreed on Wednesday to resume their peace process with negotiations to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, in mid-February.
The rebels in 1983 launched a violent campaign to create a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils in the northeast, accusing the majority Sinhalese of discrimination. The civil war killed 65,000 people before the cease-fire was signed.
Security Forces welcome talks
by Ranil Wijayapala
The Security Forces while welcoming the decision to start direct talks between the Government and the LTTE expressed hopes that the LTTE would take immediate action to cease attacks on the Security Forces.
Military Spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe welcomed the Government-LTTE talks adding that the Security Forces are fully backing the peace process. "Security Forces acted very patiently since December 4. They were not provoked by any of the LTTE atrocities against Security Forces in the North and East," the Brigadier added.
Responding to LTTE allegations that Security Forces were harassing civilians in the North-East, Brigadier Samarasinghe said Security Forces never harassed civilians but were compelled to conduct search and clear operations to defend themselves in the face of series of LTTE attacks on them.
"Hundreds of Security Forces personnel would have perished if not for those operations. We recovered many Claymore mines during the searches. If they were blasted, there would have been many more casualties," the Brigadier added.
He said 15 LTTE cadres were confirmed dead in their attempts to confront the Security Forces."Seventy seven Security Forces personnel were killed, 15 Navy personnel are still missing and 182 Security Forces personnel were injured during this period," he added. "We do not need to harass civilians but the LTTE used those civilians to launch attacks on Security Forces after giving them military training.
After those civilians are given military training we no longer cannot consider them as civilians, he added. "We believe and are hopeful that LTTE would take immediate action to cease attacks on the Security Forces so we can act without inconveniencing the civilians," he added.
'License to fish in Lankan waters can end attacks'
Friday January 27 2006 07:37 IST
CHENNAI: Giving license to Indian fishermen to fish in Sri Lankan waters could provide an effective solution in reducing the persistent and violent attacks against fishermen in the Palk Bay region around Katchatheevu island, said Suryanarayanan, a leading specialist in South and South East Asian studies.
In return, India could offer license to Sri Lankan fishermen to fish in Indian waters, he said at a talk organised by the Madras Book Club and the Centre for Security Analysis at Hotel Taj Connemara on Wednesday.
The Palk Bay region, which separates the coastal regions of Tamil Nadu from the northern parts of Sri Lanka was in the news recently following the attacks on four fishermen from the Rameshwaran coast by the Sri Lankan Navy.
In his book Conflict over Fisheries in the Palk Bay Region, Suryanarayanan looks at the possibilities before the Tamil Nadu fishermen in ensuring, fostering and protecting their interests without depriving the livelihood of Sri Lankan fishermen.
'The conditions to be imposed on the Indian fishermen when they are provided with the license can be looked at in detail at the negotiation table,' he opined. In view of the fact that a major part of the threat is from sea tigers, he also suggested that the Lankan government could be persuaded to allow the Indian Navy patrol the waters around the Katchatheevu islands.
He also vouched for the Sethusamudram project, which proposes linking the Palk Bay region with the Gulf of Mannar, elaborating on its importance from the strategic point of view.
The solutions are not as easy as they appear in theory, he acknowledged. But the issue has to be pushed by the Tamil Nadu government and highlighted in the policy-making circles in New Delhi, he added.
'Our issues need to be acknowledged by the Centre. Whenever New Delhi has drafted policies regarding Sri Lanka, it has sacrificed the interests of Tamil Nadu,' he pointed out.
This is important since India's policies regarding Sri Lanka has always affected Tamil Nadu, just as the Centre's policies on Bangladesh affects West Bengal and that on the Gulf affects Kerala.
Thousands of Sri Lankan garment workers retrenched
By Saman Gunadasa
27 January 2006
About 10,000 jobs have been slashed so far in Sri Lankan garment factories since the end of the international quota system on January 1, 2005. In order to protect profits, companies are passing the burden of the new 'free trade' regime onto workers, closing down factories and attacking working conditions.
According to a survey conducted by the Workers Welfare Centre, more than 60 garment factories out of a total of 735 have closed totally or partially during the past year, retrenching about 4 percent of the Sri Lankan industry's mostly female workforce of 300,000.
Among the large factories that closed recently were: Indev Apparel in Monaragala with 700 workers; PV Garment and Work Wear in the Biyagama free trade zone with 541 and 350 respectively; Pearl Mount Apparel of Matara with 456; Cadillac Garment of Angulana, 400; Hessing Garments of Colombo with 350; Shanex Apparel of Doluwa with 250.
A long list of small factories with less than 100 employees also shut down. In addition, many partial closures and retrenchments were reported.
According to a survey by Oxfam Australia, very few companies paid any form of compensation to the retrenched workers and most of the factories were closed abruptly, without adequate notice. Almost all the closed factories had large employees provident fund (EPF) defaults and some companies had not paid back wages.
One retrenched worker from A.J. Milton & Co told the media at the launch of the Oxfam report that the factory gates were suddenly closed in June 2005. No salaries were paid. 'I am struggling to survive. I am still trying to settle debts due before I lost my job and at 45 years I can't get another job,' she said.
Another 36-year-old unmarried female worker said she was laid off from Cadillac garments after 17 years of service and now had to work in a small factory earning 4,000 rupees ($US40) a month.
Some workers formerly employed in the Ratmalana industrial zone, south of Colombo, explained their plight to the WSWS. About 15 retrenched Best Way Fashion workers had gathered to see whether they could get their unpaid salaries.
A 27-year-old woman said: 'That was my third job. I came to Ratmalana from Welimada (a rural area). The second factory I worked in was closed within nine months without any compensation. Even the EPF was not deposited.
'Then I joined another factory. It was closed last December without us being paid the November salary and other salary arrears. I have six members in my family. My father was a retired carpenter. My sister and I were earning for the family. But we both lost our jobs.'
Another worker said: 'We still have not been able to find another job. Life has become very difficult as there's no money to pay for food and rent.' Some had left their boarding places and were staying with friends until they found work.
Some vacancies had been announced in Ratmalana garment factories but workers explained they were reluctant to apply because they would have to start as unskilled workers for lower salaries.
Most factories have begun slashing workers' attendance bonuses, overtime payments and leave entitlements, while increasing daily production targets. A worker from DNP Garments at Ratmalana expressed her disgust: 'Every day work is compulsory from 8.00 in the morning to 7.00 at night. We didn't even get a holiday for the Christmas festival. I hate this job. The situation is worsening day by day. We have no freedom at all.'
The Multi Fibre Agreement (MFA), in force from 1974 to 2004, gave 'developing countries' almost guaranteed shares of the world market. It was initially designed as a short-term measure to allow industrialised countries to restructure and adapt to competition from cheaper imports. Increasingly, however, global garment companies utilised the system to outsource production to low-wage sweatshops run by local entrepreneurs in poor countries.
Many of the same firms are now using the abolition of quotas, demanded by the World Trade Organisation, to shift production to even lower-paying locations. Last October, the UN's International Labour Organisation stated that million of jobs were being affected worldwide. In a recent press release, the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers Federation said serious plant closures and job losses had been reported in Kenya, Cambodia, Mauritius, Philippines, and Tunisia, as well as Sri Lanka.
The US was the single largest market for Sri Lankan garments, accounting for about 60 percent of total exports. While the value of Sri Lankan garment exports to the US grew slightly by 3.13 percent in the first three quarters of 2005, this compared to rises for China, India and Bangladesh of 56.21 percent, 23.96 percent and 12.26 percent respectively.
The Sri Lankan government has been desperate to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US but so far has failed. After discussions with US officials at the recent WTO conference in Hong Kong, trade and consumer affairs minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle lamented that Washington had initially agreed to give Sri Lanka least developed country status, following the December 2004 tsunami. 'But they have backtracked now and the chances are remote,' he said.
Addressing Sri Lankan business leaders in Colombo on January 10, the US ambassador Jeffrey Lunstead said bluntly: 'I would not bank on the FTA as a solution right now... There is a chance but not a great chance.' He insisted: 'Instead of looking at market access for Sri Lankan products as a type of development assistance, Sri Lanka should look at the major benefits that accrue by opening other markets in other countries.'
His remarks reflect the interests of US and other multinational clothing makers and retailers. They are determined to continue reaping the benefits of shifting garment production to countries, such as China, with the cheapest labour and harshest working conditions. Garment workers in Sri Lanka can only defend themselves through unified struggles with their fellow workers internationally against the companies and the underlying profit system itself.
War or peace, tension high on S.Lanka's death road
Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:39 AM GMT
OMANTHAI, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - A long disused and weed-covered railway line runs for miles alongside the potholed single-lane road leading into rebel-held territory in northern Sri Lanka.
No trains have run here for decades. Indeed, the road itself was inaccessible until four years ago, heavily mined and bitterly fought over by government troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during a two-decade civil war.
Since the 2002 cease-fire between the government and the rebels, the A9 highway has been opened to traffic and is the pipeline for flourishing commerce between Sri Lanka's Tamil-dominated north and the south, the homeland of the majority Sinhala community.
But with the truce stretched to breaking point by a series of attacks on government troops since early December, fresh bunkers are coming up along the road on both sides of the de facto border.
There appeared to be no immediate let-up in the preparations although the Tigers and the government agreed this week to hold fresh talks.
"There is a lot of tension," said a policeman in Vavuniya, the last major government-held town before the roads swings north into rebel territory. "Every day something happens. Yesterday, a man was shot on this road."
Driving north from Vavuniya past flat wild grass-covered fields, labourers were hewing tree trunks and piling the logs in triangular shapes to serve as fresh machinegun bunkers. There were government soldiers on guard almost every 500 yards (metres), standing with automatic rifles in front of shelters protected by sand-filled green gunny bags.
Reaching Omanthai, the government checkpoint before entering Tiger territory, vehicles were backed up for almost a kilometre (a half-mile). Every car, bus, truck and van is stopped, and all its contents searched thoroughly before being allowed to proceed.
"It takes almost half a day to clear this checkpoint," said Suleiman, a truck driver. "They are looking for guns, ammunition or explosives. And then there are checks again on the LTTE side."
His cargo, curry paste and malt extract, had been unloaded and was being examined packet by individual packet by a Sri Lankan constable before being thrown back into the truck.
One van receiving particular attention was carrying a large television and several cartons with Arabic lettering, perhaps the goods of a Sri Lankan Tamil returning home from the Gulf.
But finally, after clearance by an inspector listening to the commentary of a Sri Lanka-South Africa cricket match on his transistor, the vehicles drive slowly over speed bumps and potholes into no-man's land.
TIGER LAND
Five hundred yards down the road, a Tamil Tiger policewoman in a blue uniform waves vehicles forward, but the crossing formalities are done another mile or so ahead.
Several tin sheds have been set up along the road where cargo is searched again, forms filled out and bits of paper stamped and signed.
Everywhere, there are posters of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the reclusive Tigers leader. Most have him in camouflage uniform, but some have him in a business-like shirt and trousers and without his trademark thick moustache, which he has now grown again.
Back on the highway, there seem few signs of Tiger defences. But at some distance from the road, new bunkers are being built here too. But the fields are untended and white egrets by the scores are perched on what had once been rice paddies.
For miles there are few signs of life, but then there are some shops on the roadside and a group of children in bright yellow jerseys, one hugging a football to his chest.
Police on a mobile patrol drive past - this is Kilinochchi, the Tigers stronghold.
It was down the A9 that government troops launched a major offensive in 1997, killing hundreds and shelling Kilinochchi. But after several months of losses, the Tigers counter-attacked and drove the government troops back almost to Vavuniya.
If this truce collapses, as many fear, the government will almost certainly attack from Vavuniya again, defence experts say.
"I am certain they will try that again," said Arulchelvan Veerakathyar, a 20-year old man trained by the Tigers who runs a bicycle stand in Kilinochchi. "But that will be the last battle."
World Vision & LUTW solar project lights up family time in tsunami-affected Sri Lanka
27 Jan 2006 01:10:00 GMT
WHEN the sun sets in the tsunami-affected district of Ampara, more than 200 families now have a safe, free way of lighting up their houses.
Thanks to a joint project between World Vision and Light Up The World Foundation (LUTW) each of 257 families in Ampara has received a solar panel, battery and two innovative white light-emitting diode (WLED) lamps for their temporary shelter.
This means that when night falls, activities like studying and cooking no longer need to be done by the intermittent, polluting light of kerosene lamps or by candlelight.
Project manager for LUTW, René Scalabrini said, “this lighting systems cost around US$85 per unit, require very little maintenance and are extremely energy efficient, as they generate almost no heat. The lights and the panel will last up to 15 to 20 years. The battery will last anywhere between three and five years. Then a replacement costs about US$7.
Tiny WLEDs fabricated from layers of silicon and seeded with atoms of phosphorus, or germanium, arsenic and other rare-earth elements, exploit the quirky laws of quantum physics to transform electrons directly into photons of light, without heat. A cheap plastic reflector focuses the light into a conical beam that can be narrow and very bright, or wide and diffuse.
'The batteries are charged by sunlight during the day, providing enough power to light homes throughout the night. There are also two settings that allow families to have a dimmer setting using only three of the 15 LEDs. This is useful as an all-night security light, a particular comfort to mothers with young children.
'Along with installing these units, another of our tasks is to ensure the durability of the solar systems installed. While the lights don't need any servicing, we've trained people to maintain the units. We provide these people with a toolbox with the necessary tools and a technical manual, which we've recently had translated into Tamil'
This system, also planned for World Vision's shelters in Mullaitivu and Jaffna in the north of the country, has done more than just provide light. It has also reduced the reliance of some families on illegally tapping electricity from overhead power cables; a risky practice that has the potential for electrocution and fire.
'It is unbelievably dangerous what these people are doing,' said Mr. Scalabrini. 'With a very long stick they hang a wire with a hook on the end over the power lines. In some places these loose wires run over a long distance across trees, bushes, on the ground, through shelters and on to the next one. All without any fuse breakers or protection.'
This scheme is also a cash-for-work program at the same time. The units are so quick and easy to install that local men and women are being paid to the work themselves. In fact, these hired staff along with the assistance of World Vision staff, led by Mr. Scalabrini, provided light to 257 transitional shelters, at eight different sites in less than 10 working field days.
For more information contact World Vision's Tsunami Response Team Communications Manager, Mr Jan Butter on +94 773 290045
Updated:2006-01-26 23:28:07
By DILIP GANGULY
AP
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - Tamil Tiger rebels on Friday accused Sri Lanka's government of backing assailants who assassinated a rebel officer just hours after the two sides agreed to restart peace talks, but the military denied involvement in the ambush.
The slaying Thursday of rebel Maj. Kapilan, who goes by one name, was reported by the pro-rebel Web site TamilNet, citing rebel officials who questioned the government's commitment to this week's agreement to restart peace talks that have been stalled since 2003.
TamilNet said "paramilitary cadres" and agents working for Sri Lanka's military intelligence ambushed and killed Kapilan with rocket-propelled grenades and wounded one other rebel on Thursday while they rode on a tractor in a rebel-held area of eastern Sri Lanka.
The region is home to a breakaway rebel group that split from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in March 2004. The Tigers accuse the military of aiding the breakaway faction.
However, the military disavowed any involvement in Thursday's ambush.
"Our armed forces were not involved in any way," military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said. "We do not back any group."
Rebel peace negotiator S. Puleedevan was quoted by TamilNet as saying the attack threw doubt on whether the government was serious when it agreed less than 24 hours earlier to restart peace talks.
"Despite the gesture of goodwill already expressed by" the Tamil Tigers, "the attack on our cadres in the east continues," Puleedevan said, adding that the government was playing a "double game."
The government and the rebels signed a cease-fire in 2002, though subsequent peace talks broke down the following year over rebel demands for greater autonomy in areas they control. The two sides agreed on Wednesday to resume their peace process with negotiations to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, in mid-February.
The rebels in 1983 launched a violent campaign to create a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils in the northeast, accusing the majority Sinhalese of discrimination. The civil war killed 65,000 people before the cease-fire was signed.
Security Forces welcome talks
by Ranil Wijayapala
The Security Forces while welcoming the decision to start direct talks between the Government and the LTTE expressed hopes that the LTTE would take immediate action to cease attacks on the Security Forces.
Military Spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe welcomed the Government-LTTE talks adding that the Security Forces are fully backing the peace process. "Security Forces acted very patiently since December 4. They were not provoked by any of the LTTE atrocities against Security Forces in the North and East," the Brigadier added.
Responding to LTTE allegations that Security Forces were harassing civilians in the North-East, Brigadier Samarasinghe said Security Forces never harassed civilians but were compelled to conduct search and clear operations to defend themselves in the face of series of LTTE attacks on them.
"Hundreds of Security Forces personnel would have perished if not for those operations. We recovered many Claymore mines during the searches. If they were blasted, there would have been many more casualties," the Brigadier added.
He said 15 LTTE cadres were confirmed dead in their attempts to confront the Security Forces."Seventy seven Security Forces personnel were killed, 15 Navy personnel are still missing and 182 Security Forces personnel were injured during this period," he added. "We do not need to harass civilians but the LTTE used those civilians to launch attacks on Security Forces after giving them military training.
After those civilians are given military training we no longer cannot consider them as civilians, he added. "We believe and are hopeful that LTTE would take immediate action to cease attacks on the Security Forces so we can act without inconveniencing the civilians," he added.
'License to fish in Lankan waters can end attacks'
Friday January 27 2006 07:37 IST
CHENNAI: Giving license to Indian fishermen to fish in Sri Lankan waters could provide an effective solution in reducing the persistent and violent attacks against fishermen in the Palk Bay region around Katchatheevu island, said Suryanarayanan, a leading specialist in South and South East Asian studies.
In return, India could offer license to Sri Lankan fishermen to fish in Indian waters, he said at a talk organised by the Madras Book Club and the Centre for Security Analysis at Hotel Taj Connemara on Wednesday.
The Palk Bay region, which separates the coastal regions of Tamil Nadu from the northern parts of Sri Lanka was in the news recently following the attacks on four fishermen from the Rameshwaran coast by the Sri Lankan Navy.
In his book Conflict over Fisheries in the Palk Bay Region, Suryanarayanan looks at the possibilities before the Tamil Nadu fishermen in ensuring, fostering and protecting their interests without depriving the livelihood of Sri Lankan fishermen.
'The conditions to be imposed on the Indian fishermen when they are provided with the license can be looked at in detail at the negotiation table,' he opined. In view of the fact that a major part of the threat is from sea tigers, he also suggested that the Lankan government could be persuaded to allow the Indian Navy patrol the waters around the Katchatheevu islands.
He also vouched for the Sethusamudram project, which proposes linking the Palk Bay region with the Gulf of Mannar, elaborating on its importance from the strategic point of view.
The solutions are not as easy as they appear in theory, he acknowledged. But the issue has to be pushed by the Tamil Nadu government and highlighted in the policy-making circles in New Delhi, he added.
'Our issues need to be acknowledged by the Centre. Whenever New Delhi has drafted policies regarding Sri Lanka, it has sacrificed the interests of Tamil Nadu,' he pointed out.
This is important since India's policies regarding Sri Lanka has always affected Tamil Nadu, just as the Centre's policies on Bangladesh affects West Bengal and that on the Gulf affects Kerala.
Thousands of Sri Lankan garment workers retrenched
By Saman Gunadasa
27 January 2006
About 10,000 jobs have been slashed so far in Sri Lankan garment factories since the end of the international quota system on January 1, 2005. In order to protect profits, companies are passing the burden of the new 'free trade' regime onto workers, closing down factories and attacking working conditions.
According to a survey conducted by the Workers Welfare Centre, more than 60 garment factories out of a total of 735 have closed totally or partially during the past year, retrenching about 4 percent of the Sri Lankan industry's mostly female workforce of 300,000.
Among the large factories that closed recently were: Indev Apparel in Monaragala with 700 workers; PV Garment and Work Wear in the Biyagama free trade zone with 541 and 350 respectively; Pearl Mount Apparel of Matara with 456; Cadillac Garment of Angulana, 400; Hessing Garments of Colombo with 350; Shanex Apparel of Doluwa with 250.
A long list of small factories with less than 100 employees also shut down. In addition, many partial closures and retrenchments were reported.
According to a survey by Oxfam Australia, very few companies paid any form of compensation to the retrenched workers and most of the factories were closed abruptly, without adequate notice. Almost all the closed factories had large employees provident fund (EPF) defaults and some companies had not paid back wages.
One retrenched worker from A.J. Milton & Co told the media at the launch of the Oxfam report that the factory gates were suddenly closed in June 2005. No salaries were paid. 'I am struggling to survive. I am still trying to settle debts due before I lost my job and at 45 years I can't get another job,' she said.
Another 36-year-old unmarried female worker said she was laid off from Cadillac garments after 17 years of service and now had to work in a small factory earning 4,000 rupees ($US40) a month.
Some workers formerly employed in the Ratmalana industrial zone, south of Colombo, explained their plight to the WSWS. About 15 retrenched Best Way Fashion workers had gathered to see whether they could get their unpaid salaries.
A 27-year-old woman said: 'That was my third job. I came to Ratmalana from Welimada (a rural area). The second factory I worked in was closed within nine months without any compensation. Even the EPF was not deposited.
'Then I joined another factory. It was closed last December without us being paid the November salary and other salary arrears. I have six members in my family. My father was a retired carpenter. My sister and I were earning for the family. But we both lost our jobs.'
Another worker said: 'We still have not been able to find another job. Life has become very difficult as there's no money to pay for food and rent.' Some had left their boarding places and were staying with friends until they found work.
Some vacancies had been announced in Ratmalana garment factories but workers explained they were reluctant to apply because they would have to start as unskilled workers for lower salaries.
Most factories have begun slashing workers' attendance bonuses, overtime payments and leave entitlements, while increasing daily production targets. A worker from DNP Garments at Ratmalana expressed her disgust: 'Every day work is compulsory from 8.00 in the morning to 7.00 at night. We didn't even get a holiday for the Christmas festival. I hate this job. The situation is worsening day by day. We have no freedom at all.'
The Multi Fibre Agreement (MFA), in force from 1974 to 2004, gave 'developing countries' almost guaranteed shares of the world market. It was initially designed as a short-term measure to allow industrialised countries to restructure and adapt to competition from cheaper imports. Increasingly, however, global garment companies utilised the system to outsource production to low-wage sweatshops run by local entrepreneurs in poor countries.
Many of the same firms are now using the abolition of quotas, demanded by the World Trade Organisation, to shift production to even lower-paying locations. Last October, the UN's International Labour Organisation stated that million of jobs were being affected worldwide. In a recent press release, the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers Federation said serious plant closures and job losses had been reported in Kenya, Cambodia, Mauritius, Philippines, and Tunisia, as well as Sri Lanka.
The US was the single largest market for Sri Lankan garments, accounting for about 60 percent of total exports. While the value of Sri Lankan garment exports to the US grew slightly by 3.13 percent in the first three quarters of 2005, this compared to rises for China, India and Bangladesh of 56.21 percent, 23.96 percent and 12.26 percent respectively.
The Sri Lankan government has been desperate to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US but so far has failed. After discussions with US officials at the recent WTO conference in Hong Kong, trade and consumer affairs minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle lamented that Washington had initially agreed to give Sri Lanka least developed country status, following the December 2004 tsunami. 'But they have backtracked now and the chances are remote,' he said.
Addressing Sri Lankan business leaders in Colombo on January 10, the US ambassador Jeffrey Lunstead said bluntly: 'I would not bank on the FTA as a solution right now... There is a chance but not a great chance.' He insisted: 'Instead of looking at market access for Sri Lankan products as a type of development assistance, Sri Lanka should look at the major benefits that accrue by opening other markets in other countries.'
His remarks reflect the interests of US and other multinational clothing makers and retailers. They are determined to continue reaping the benefits of shifting garment production to countries, such as China, with the cheapest labour and harshest working conditions. Garment workers in Sri Lanka can only defend themselves through unified struggles with their fellow workers internationally against the companies and the underlying profit system itself.
War or peace, tension high on S.Lanka's death road
Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:39 AM GMT
OMANTHAI, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - A long disused and weed-covered railway line runs for miles alongside the potholed single-lane road leading into rebel-held territory in northern Sri Lanka.
No trains have run here for decades. Indeed, the road itself was inaccessible until four years ago, heavily mined and bitterly fought over by government troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during a two-decade civil war.
Since the 2002 cease-fire between the government and the rebels, the A9 highway has been opened to traffic and is the pipeline for flourishing commerce between Sri Lanka's Tamil-dominated north and the south, the homeland of the majority Sinhala community.
But with the truce stretched to breaking point by a series of attacks on government troops since early December, fresh bunkers are coming up along the road on both sides of the de facto border.
There appeared to be no immediate let-up in the preparations although the Tigers and the government agreed this week to hold fresh talks.
"There is a lot of tension," said a policeman in Vavuniya, the last major government-held town before the roads swings north into rebel territory. "Every day something happens. Yesterday, a man was shot on this road."
Driving north from Vavuniya past flat wild grass-covered fields, labourers were hewing tree trunks and piling the logs in triangular shapes to serve as fresh machinegun bunkers. There were government soldiers on guard almost every 500 yards (metres), standing with automatic rifles in front of shelters protected by sand-filled green gunny bags.
Reaching Omanthai, the government checkpoint before entering Tiger territory, vehicles were backed up for almost a kilometre (a half-mile). Every car, bus, truck and van is stopped, and all its contents searched thoroughly before being allowed to proceed.
"It takes almost half a day to clear this checkpoint," said Suleiman, a truck driver. "They are looking for guns, ammunition or explosives. And then there are checks again on the LTTE side."
His cargo, curry paste and malt extract, had been unloaded and was being examined packet by individual packet by a Sri Lankan constable before being thrown back into the truck.
One van receiving particular attention was carrying a large television and several cartons with Arabic lettering, perhaps the goods of a Sri Lankan Tamil returning home from the Gulf.
But finally, after clearance by an inspector listening to the commentary of a Sri Lanka-South Africa cricket match on his transistor, the vehicles drive slowly over speed bumps and potholes into no-man's land.
TIGER LAND
Five hundred yards down the road, a Tamil Tiger policewoman in a blue uniform waves vehicles forward, but the crossing formalities are done another mile or so ahead.
Several tin sheds have been set up along the road where cargo is searched again, forms filled out and bits of paper stamped and signed.
Everywhere, there are posters of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the reclusive Tigers leader. Most have him in camouflage uniform, but some have him in a business-like shirt and trousers and without his trademark thick moustache, which he has now grown again.
Back on the highway, there seem few signs of Tiger defences. But at some distance from the road, new bunkers are being built here too. But the fields are untended and white egrets by the scores are perched on what had once been rice paddies.
For miles there are few signs of life, but then there are some shops on the roadside and a group of children in bright yellow jerseys, one hugging a football to his chest.
Police on a mobile patrol drive past - this is Kilinochchi, the Tigers stronghold.
It was down the A9 that government troops launched a major offensive in 1997, killing hundreds and shelling Kilinochchi. But after several months of losses, the Tigers counter-attacked and drove the government troops back almost to Vavuniya.
If this truce collapses, as many fear, the government will almost certainly attack from Vavuniya again, defence experts say.
"I am certain they will try that again," said Arulchelvan Veerakathyar, a 20-year old man trained by the Tigers who runs a bicycle stand in Kilinochchi. "But that will be the last battle."
World Vision & LUTW solar project lights up family time in tsunami-affected Sri Lanka
27 Jan 2006 01:10:00 GMT
WHEN the sun sets in the tsunami-affected district of Ampara, more than 200 families now have a safe, free way of lighting up their houses.
Thanks to a joint project between World Vision and Light Up The World Foundation (LUTW) each of 257 families in Ampara has received a solar panel, battery and two innovative white light-emitting diode (WLED) lamps for their temporary shelter.
This means that when night falls, activities like studying and cooking no longer need to be done by the intermittent, polluting light of kerosene lamps or by candlelight.
Project manager for LUTW, René Scalabrini said, “this lighting systems cost around US$85 per unit, require very little maintenance and are extremely energy efficient, as they generate almost no heat. The lights and the panel will last up to 15 to 20 years. The battery will last anywhere between three and five years. Then a replacement costs about US$7.
Tiny WLEDs fabricated from layers of silicon and seeded with atoms of phosphorus, or germanium, arsenic and other rare-earth elements, exploit the quirky laws of quantum physics to transform electrons directly into photons of light, without heat. A cheap plastic reflector focuses the light into a conical beam that can be narrow and very bright, or wide and diffuse.
'The batteries are charged by sunlight during the day, providing enough power to light homes throughout the night. There are also two settings that allow families to have a dimmer setting using only three of the 15 LEDs. This is useful as an all-night security light, a particular comfort to mothers with young children.
'Along with installing these units, another of our tasks is to ensure the durability of the solar systems installed. While the lights don't need any servicing, we've trained people to maintain the units. We provide these people with a toolbox with the necessary tools and a technical manual, which we've recently had translated into Tamil'
This system, also planned for World Vision's shelters in Mullaitivu and Jaffna in the north of the country, has done more than just provide light. It has also reduced the reliance of some families on illegally tapping electricity from overhead power cables; a risky practice that has the potential for electrocution and fire.
'It is unbelievably dangerous what these people are doing,' said Mr. Scalabrini. 'With a very long stick they hang a wire with a hook on the end over the power lines. In some places these loose wires run over a long distance across trees, bushes, on the ground, through shelters and on to the next one. All without any fuse breakers or protection.'
This scheme is also a cash-for-work program at the same time. The units are so quick and easy to install that local men and women are being paid to the work themselves. In fact, these hired staff along with the assistance of World Vision staff, led by Mr. Scalabrini, provided light to 257 transitional shelters, at eight different sites in less than 10 working field days.
For more information contact World Vision's Tsunami Response Team Communications Manager, Mr Jan Butter on +94 773 290045
