On the loose since 12th May 2007, I spotted this Iranian barge banging against the Galle Fort ramparts just opposite the Fort Dew guest-house, adjacent to the Buddhist Temple, over the weekend. Clearly, the thing keeps shifting with the tide since it’s moved on from where is was spotted last year.

Cerno also has a picture of it here.

In a recent meeting with the President of Sri Lanka, Iran’s minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Dr.Daawood Danesh Jafarji has assured Sri Lanka of its continued support in the development of the island’s economic social and cultural activities.

One wonders if the destruction of Sri Lanka’s cultural heritage by Iranian property was …

continue reading

By Under Dog

Let me count the ways:

1. I love the way you worked for the benefit of the nation by busting through 1.4 billion rupees of public funds in 9 months.
2. I love the way you used 385 million rupees worth of fuel from the CPC without paying for it.
3. I love the way you convinced the Treasury (public funds) to pay off the fuel debt on your behalf.

 

4. I love the way you drove Lankaputhra Development Bank (founded with public funds to make small loans to small businesses) into insolvency by ‘borrowing’ 500 million rupees from it.
5. I love the way you plan to utilize synergies (steal profits away) by rationalizing routes (taking routes from) Sri Lankan airlines.
6. I love the …
   continue reading

The growing use of SMS for information dissemination was discussed earlier on Groundviews, and I would like to mention a recent development.

At least one government department has been pro active and is now making use of SMS for communication with media. The Media Centre for National Security obtained an application to send out SMS to journalists from a four-digit number. They started on Dec 5th, as far as I know.

What I hope now is that the Met Department, Disaster Management Center and other central authorities follow suit and send out quick SMS messages to reporters during an impending or occurring natural disaster. The message could also guide reporters towards a detailed announcement on a website.

It could be a short line …

continue reading

Shanaka Amarasinghe

Nearly three years have passed since the devastation of Boxing Day 2004. Those three years should have sufficed for grief to transform into resolve, for shock to become measured response and for altruism to become tangible benefit. It is impossible to quantify, despite the diverse and often varied reports available, how much has been done, and by whom. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile considering the societal impact that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), and the good and/or evil that has been precipitated by their presence.

The aftermath of the tsunami saw a global outpouring of shock and dollars. The amount of tourists and expatriates affected in the South Asian region saw the world unite in its reaction to …

continue reading

In Vilunthamavadi, one fisherman said he saw a baby goat tied to the sand swept atop a 100-foot high water tank, 50 meters away in the blink of an eye. In P.R. Puram, another said the second wave, blurred ocean and sky in a sheet of indigo-noire, and the third wave’s aftermath left human and cattle corpses strewn in coconut trees, on the beach, on tea shop roofs, over potholes, in the ponds, swallowing villagers like a hungry elephant, its tide dragging them out to sea like the elephant’s trunk while it eats.

The 2004 tsunami, causing much devastation to coastal districts of South India, almost 4 years later, still afflicts a string of Panchayats along Tamil Nadu’s southeastern coast. Local …

continue reading

Chamath Ariyadasa

The coverage by the media of yesterday’s earthquake near Indonesia might be of interest to some readers, and as the editor of JNW, Sri Lanka’s first SMS news agency, I thought of penning my personal opinion and raising some issues that could be discussed further.

My biggest concern at the moment, as a journalist, is getting access to the initial tip off from authorities on an impending disaster and the subsequent official news messages in a timely manner so that they can be passed on to the public as fast as possible.

There isn’t an email or SMS alert system in place, that I know of, that could easily meet this need. I know of the Met Dept website (http://www.meteo.slt.lk/Tswarn.html) …

continue reading

12 Sep 2007 12:31:03 GMT
Source: Reuters

COLOMBO, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka issued a tsunami alert on Wednesday for its north, south and eastern districts following a major earthquake in Indonesia, the National Disaster Management Centre said.
“We have issued a warning for the south, north and east after the quake,” Keerthi Ekanayake, an official at the centre told Reuters. Sri Lanka was battered by the 2004 tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean rim.

- Reuters story ends -

Update #1 (7.00pm): Read the alerts issued on JNW and also visit their site for updates.

Update #2 (7.15pm): Reuters news alert SMS thru Dialog says “Small tsunami hit Indonesia’s Padang, Sri Lanka expects small tsunami by 7.30 - Disaster Management Centre”

Update #3: (7.34pm): …

continue reading

The 28 minute documentary “Wars and Waves: Sri Lanka’s internally displaced” that was produced by COHRE, and directed and written by me, is available online.

There was a small private launch a week ago in Colombo. COHRE plans to do a larger public screening followed by a discussion in the coming weeks.

The purpose of the film is to highlight Sri Lanka’s IDP issue. The film will be used by COHRE as an advocacy tool, and by its network partners to provoke discussion about the issue. It’s primarily aimed at an international audience.

Description of film:
In Sri Lanka, a natural disaster and ongoing conflict have displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Those who lost everything to …

continue reading

Tune in and turn up the volume!

VOR Radio aims to enhance social, political and cultural cohesion in Sri Lanka through podcasts in Sinhala, Tamil and English with a special focus on civil society initiatives and perspectives on peace, reconciliation and democracy. Some of the latest additions to our growing collection of podcasts from Sri Lanka are:

Coastal Rising
Young Asia Television (YATV) has brought together district-based teams of journalists and civil society activists in the East and South of Sri Lanka to highlight tsunami recovery from the community perspective. The series draws attention to how citizens, local government, relief agencies and the donor community have risen to the challenge of rebuilding livelihoods and infrastructure …

continue reading

Abilash Jeyarajah looks like any other ordinary toddler, living with his family in a small village near Kalmunai in the Ampara district of Sri Lanka. But life was not so ordinary for him a little over two years ago, when the tsunami literally swept him into the limelight. At that time, Abilash was more widely known as Baby 81, the famous four month old who was torn from his mother’s arms when the tsunami struck and was later found among the debris and wreckage. He was brought to Kalmunai Hospital and as his identity was unknown and he was the 81st person to be admitted, he became known as Baby 81.

In the weeks following the disaster, many were still trying …

continue reading