Sri Lanka war panel clears military of civilian deaths

AFP | The Nation
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A Sri Lankan government commission's inquiry into the conduct of the island's civil war has cleared the military of deliberately targeting civilians in the final stages of the conflict.

In a 400-page report presented in parliament Friday, the commission said it was "satisfied" the military's strategy had given the "highest priority" to protecting the civilian population.

The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was created by President Mahinda Rajapakse in May 2010, a year after the military's victory over separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

Various foreign governments and rights groups have called for an independent probe into charges that the Sri Lankan army was responsible for thousands of civilian deaths in its final military offensive against the rebels. Sri Lanka narrowly avoided censure at the UN Human Rights Council in September, despite a UN expert report highlighting "credible" allegations of abuses by government troops.

Sri Lanka has resisted all calls for an independent probe, saying the LLRC investigation would suffice, even though the commission was not mandated to probe war crimes allegations.

"The movement of the security forces in conducting their operations was deliberately slow during the final stages of the conflict, thereby evidencing a carefully worked out strategy of avoiding civilian casualties or minimising them," the commission's report said.

It also blamed the Tamil Tigers for targeting and killing civilians who tried to flee to safety.

Widely criticised as biased by international rights groups, the LLRC submitted its report to President Rajapaksa on November 20. Since then the international community has pressed for its early public release.

The United Nations estimate some 100,000 people perished during the 37-year ethnic conflict.

© AFP

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Sri Lanka: Old war torn areas still have military ghosts

Photo courtesy: Steve Chao | Al Jazeera

By Ranga Jayasuriya | Lakbima News
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Past the Paranthan junction we drove towards Vishwamadu where returning civilians from the Manik Farm are struggling to restart their war battered lives from scratch. They live in squalid (tent) huts, cook in the open and are being overwhelmed by thousands of men in the uniform.

Name boards, one after the other stand welcoming the travellers to this less charted part of the Wanni: ‘Welcome to the area of Infantry Division,’ one greeted; ‘Area of the Artillery Brigade,’ another read. It appeared like we were in a military cantonment but in fact we were in the Wanni, dotted with camps.

The former war zone is rising from the ashes. The A35 Paranthan-Mullaitivu road is under construction and new buildings have come up next to the ruins of the war. Many more buildings are under construction. Children go to school, and newly opened shops which sell building material have a thriving business.

It seemed like a perfect take off for post war transformation except for one glitch–the all-encompassing presence of the military which appeared in no mood to let up its control.

The military is doubling up in the role of civil administration. This is in stark contrast to the standard way of the normalization process, in which the military gradually makes itself progressively redundant, allowing the civilian authorities to take control of civil administration.

The military is watching your every step

In the Vishwamadu junction, a young lieutenant ordered a street hawker who was selling clothes in the local bazaar to pack up and leave as the vendor did not have a permit from the local authorities to conduct business. That seemed acceptable (like in Colombo), except again, if only the orders had come from civilian authorities. But, for a man who sells his goods next to the ruins of shell wreaked buildings, such orders would be felt as sheer highhandedness. After all, there were only two hawkers in that part of the bazaar.

And the military is watching your every step. Having ordered the vendor to vacate the area, the young lieutenant turned to us. He spotted a couple of media personnel in our team taking pictures and videoing the town. When we identified ourselves as journalists, he asked for our media accreditation 11-1cards. Fair enough! But then went on to probe us checking on personal details.

“We will be reporting the details of people who visit our area to the Brigade Headquarters,” he said.

When journalists declined to give further details, he quizzed: “Why, would it be a problem to media freedom?” to which one scribe quipped that, “it would be more a problem with the overall democracy in the country than media freedom.” We left the scene, but on our return, a young man in civvies flagged our vehicle down at a military police checkpoint in Vishwamadu.

We were asked who took the pictures, referring to the previous incident and were told to get off the vehicle, at which point, a JVP MP, Ajith Kumara who was travelling with us fished out his Parliament ID and identified himself as a Member of Parliament. We were saved from further hassle.

But when visited the Manik farm IDP camp, even Ajith Kumara, who is a Member of the Parliament Consultative Committee on Rehabilitation, was barred from entering it.

The previous day he had been assured by the Minister of Rehabilitation that he could visit the camp without any hindrance. When he arrived at the gate of the Manik Farm camp, he was told he had to obtain permission from the Ministry of Defence to visit the camp.

In spite of a flurry of phone calls to the Minister of Rehabilitation, good-hearted Gunaratna Weerakoon, who in fact called the officer in charge of the camp on behalf of the JVP MP, parliamentarian Ajith Kumara was declined permission. After several hours at the gate of the Manik Farm, we returned disappointed.

This correspondent had visited the camp on several occasions, the first visit being made in the very first months when the camp was teeming with 250,000 Tamil civilians. During subsequent visits, I observed that the conditions in the camp have gradually improved and congestion reduced as many thousands were finally allowed to return to their villages. The two remaining camps at the once sprawling Manik Farm complex now house just around 6000 civilians.

New barriers

However, the military centric ideology of the government, which dictated its conduct during the past two years, has not changed much. And such thinking had helped the government little in redeeming its image.

Why on earth should an elected parliamentarian, let along media personnel have to obtain clearance from the Ministry of Defence to visit a camp where fellow citizens of this country are held, is open to debate. The conduct of the government during the war and its handling of the IDPs have been questioned locally and internationally for understandable human rights concerns. Now when the government raises more barriers against outside scrutiny, it may not look good in the eyes of these outsiders.

Missing?

Lalith Kumar who helped us as the translator in our discussions with Tamil families has been missing since Friday evening. He has left the residence of a friend in Jaffna on Friday evening to go to town. Since then, his whereabouts are not known and complaints have been lodged with the defence secretary and the Jaffna police, his colleagues said.

All is not lost, or is it?

Last Thursday was the third death anniversary of Govindan Thanchalai who died when a stray shell fell near him during the final phase of the war. His mother, Nagamma Govindan had utilized her meagre savings and a few thousand rupees borrowed from her neighbours to organize an almsgiving in order to invoke blessing on her dead son.

After Govindan was killed, the family fled their house in Darmapuram, Kilinochchi and moved further towards Vellamullivaikkal. At the bloody conclusion of the war, they were sent to Manik Farm where they languished for two years until they were allowed to return to their village in May this year. Now they live in a tarpaulin hut erected near the ruins of their old house. Nagamma’s youngest son attends Kilinocchi Roman Catholic School while her husband toils as a manual labourer everyday to make ends meet.

Nagamma lived all her life in the same land since she came to Darmapuram in 1958 with her late parents. After five decades, having lived and toiled in the land, and seen their house destroyed in the war, Nagamma and her husband are now struggling to prove their residency on their own land.

Those who returned to areas east of Kilinochchi are among the last batches of the IDPs to leave the Manik Farm. They were among the most traumatized during the war and continue to suffer even now.

Any plans for organized construction does not appear on the horizon.

Annapuram, (66) a frail Tamil woman had three of her children killed in the final months of the war. Languishing in a takaran (zinc) hut, she confides that she wishes that she too perished in the war.

Shanmugam Pechchalai, a strong willed grandmother is nursing the youngest girl child of her daughter and son-in-law, both of whom had perished in Mullivaikkal during the final months of the war.

However, young Siva Kumari Shiva Brinda suffers from post traumatic disorder; and she could not go to school. Pechchalai’s other three grandchildren are being raised at an orphanage in Vavuniya.

Pechchalai herself is nursing injuries sustained by a shell attack, but she is grateful to her Maker that she could survive to raise her granddaughter.

S. Thayabaran, the principal of Udayarkattu Maha Vidyalam says there are over 100 students who have lost either of their parents in the war. About 50 children have lost both their parents. Before the school was closed in 2008, and as people fled eastward to evade the approaching war, there had been 1400 students. Now, after its reopening in July this year, 1028 students have returned to school.

There are around 50-75 students who have been disabled during the war, says Thayabaran, who laments that he and his staff are unable to give special care to those children. He said none of the local or international agencies have come to help, and urges assistance for those children.

The family was entitled to food rations during the first six months after their resettlement, plus two payments of Rs.5000 and Rs.25,000, paid as a resettlement allowance by the government.

Now that the rations have ended, Nagamma is struggling to feed her family.
“There is hardly any work,” she says when asked about how much her husband could make for a living as a labourer.

Worst still, Nagamma fears the gloomy prospect of her family having to live in the tarpaulin tent for the rest of their lives. The title deed of their land had been destroyed during the war and the local authorities have announced that only those who have a valid deed would be entitled to a housing grant from the government.

© Lakbima News

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Motorbike of disappeared activists found

BBC Sinhala
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The motor bicycle which both Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganathan travelled has been found in Jaffna.

The wife of disappeared activist, Kugan Muruganathan had seen the motorcycle in Achchuveli police station when she went to enquire about the on going investigations on Thursday evening, Udul Premaratne of ‘We Sri Lankans’ told BBC Sandesaya.

Udul Premaratna quoting wife of Kugan Murugananthan said that Achchuveli police had told her that the police found the bicycle near Sivan Kovil in Kopai, Jaffna.

Police confirmation

Police Spokesman, Superintendent of Police, Ajith Rohana cofirmed that the motorcycle is now in Achchuveli Police Station and it was found in Kopai on December 13th.

He said that no other evidence has been revealed with the finding of the motorcycle.

Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganathan disappeared last week. They organised demonstrations on behalf of the families of missing people.

Civil society activists in Sri Lanka say they fear for the lives of the men.

© BBC Sinhala

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Sri Lanka military to counter UN Panel report

By Shamindra Ferdinando | The Island
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The military would counter allegations contained in the unsubstantiated report by UNSG Ban Ki-moon’s Panel of Experts (PoE), Army Chief Lt. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya said yesterday.

A confident Jayasuriya emphasized that the military was in the process of finalizing its response to the PoE’s allegations.

Responding to a query by The Island, the former Vanni Commander said that the UN report had contained a spate of erroneous information pertaining to the deployment of those fighting formations deployed on the Vanni east front.

Sri Lanka is expected to present the report to the UN early next year. A senior spokesperson for the External

Affairs Ministry told The Island that there were many inaccuracies in the PoE report. Some of these shortcomings had been exposed by Sri Lanka’s No 2 at the UN Ambassador Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva.

The armored corps veteran was speaking to the media after inspecting a parade at the Rock House Camp to mark 56th anniversary of the Sri Lanka Armoured Corps.

Lt. Gen. Jayasuriya said that the military would provide details regarding deployment of troops during the final stage with the required evidence to back Sri Lanka’s position. The SLA would also provide information regarding deployment of fighting formations vis a vis No Firing Zones on the Vanni east.

Earlier in the day, the Army Chief paid a glowing tribute to the Corps for not promoting its interests at the expense of the national interest. The Colonel Commandant of the Corps said that it had won praise as the best and the most disciplined formation due to leadership given by successive Colonel Commandants, senior officers and the sacrifices made by all officers, non-commissioned officers and other rankers.

Jayasuriya’s predecessor, Gen. Sarath Fonseka, too, held the prestigious post of Colonel Commandant of the Sinha Regiment during the eelam war IV.

He emphasized the importance of the SLA’s role in the ongoing post-war development process not only in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, but other areas as well. The army chief urged officers and men to be disciplined and loyal to the Corps and the SLA and strive to achieve the top post in every field.

© The Island

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Sri Lanka Reconciliation Commission report presented to the parliament

To read the full report click here

Colombo Page
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The report of Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) has been presented to the parliament today, local media reports said.

The Leader of the House, Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva has reportedly presented the report to the House a short while ago.

Economic Development Minister of Basil Rajapaksa earlier said the 400-page final report of the LLRC would be tabled in parliament in its entirety and not just the observations made by the Commission.

The eight-member Commission, appointed by the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to probe the three-decade long armed conflict with the Tamil Tiger terrorists, handed over its final report to the President on November 20th.

The President has said that the government will take actions without shielding anyone if the LLRC found any human rights violations during the war that ended in May 2009.

The United States recently said that it has high expectations for the LLRC report and noted that the report will be of 'highest quality'.

© Colombo Page

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Nun cleared of selling babies in Sri Lanka

Associated Press
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A Sri Lankan court on Thursday cleared a Roman Catholic nun from Mother Teresa's charity who was accused of selling babies for adoption.

Judge Yvonne Fernando discharged Sister Mary Eliza without presenting charges. The nun, from Mother Teresa's Indian-based Missionaries of Charity, was arrested last month for allegedly selling babies born from unwed mothers.

The Missionaries of Charity says its home in Moratuwa, south of Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, houses women who become pregnant outside of marriage or after being raped, and gives the babies up through legal adoption if their mothers don't want them.

Officials from the National Child Protection Authority and police raided the home on Nov. 23 and arrested Sister Mary Eliza, its head, after a tip-off.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the head of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka, called the allegations groundless and vowed to boycott all state functions until the case was resolved.

© AP

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"Stand by your principles" - Civil society leaders write to Tamil parliamentarians

Read the full memorandum

Tamil Net
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Prominent members of the Tamil civil society of all walks of life presented a memorandum to the Tamil National Alliance leadership on Tuesday, strongly condemning deception and deviatory polity of the leadership while times demand well-defined solutions to a long struggle.

The civil society members urged firmness of leadership in political stand in convincing India and the US of the indispensability of addressing fundamentals of the aspirations of Eezham Tamils, i.e., nation and the right to self-determination. Tamils are not a ‘minority’ requesting concessions, but a nation demanding self-rule, the memorandum said. The impressive list of signatories included prominent religious leaders, academics, educationalists, professionals, trade unionists and community leaders. For the first time the TNA leadership faces such an open challenge of the first magnitude from the civil society.

The uprising of the civil society of Eezham Tamils, coming from a realization that nothing but fundamental solutions only could guarantee their existence, is inevitably impelled by the brutal and suffocating oppression committed on them by occupying Colombo, political observers in Jaffna said.

One SL military personnel for every 12 civilians in Jaffna, and for every 4 civilians in Vanni is the gravity of the nature of the military occupation. The international community ostensibly plays down the crucial fact that the occupying military cannot be considered a State military, but in this context is an ethnic Sinhala military of genocidal intentions and potentiality, the political observers said.

Taking advantage of the plight of Eezham Tamils gagged in the island, sections lured by collaborative polity in the diaspora used to project every truthful Tamil opinion coming from the island as fabricated ones, by citing them as 'unnamed'. But now, surging above all the oppression and pressures from the powers, the Tamil civil society in the island is openly up in arms, shaming the section of the impotent critics in the diaspora, the political observers further said.

For how long the simulated leadership in the clutches of powers attempting to hijack diaspora politics is going to sit on any uprising in the diaspora, they asked.

Representatives of the civil society of Eezham Tamils, after conducting a convention, handed over a 7-page memorandum signed by more than 75 signatories to TNA Secretary General Mavai Senathirajah MP at Uthayan Guest House in Jaffna on Tuesday evening.

Mr. Senathirajah's objection to the presence of journalists along with the civil society members and his enraged comments over the role of Tamil media in spoiling TNA's agenda, resulted in verbal exchanges between him and the journalists on the occasion.

The journalists later left the scene.

The TNA General Secretary told the civil society representatives that he could not freely discuss matters with them in the presence of the journalists. He was also enraged over certain points mentioned in the memorandum.

© Tamil Net

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Kombavil 'New Village' : Resettlement or forced relocation?

By Aru'loaviyam Maniram
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There is a saying in Tamil, that “you will find the house, if there is a path”. It means, there won’t be residences without a path or road. It has a deep cultural meaning in Tamil.

Kombavil 'camp', will be the new form of famous Manikfarm camp. Earlier, the vanquished Tamil people were detained in Manikfarm camp, from where their cries at least reached outside world. But now, once more they are going to be relocated against their will, which will ensure that any such cries will not be heard by anyone.

This well calculated measure to forcibly transfer the war affected population in to the deep interior areas in North, which should be considered as a part of the long term genocidal strategy of Sri Lankan regime is very much supported by the so called humanitarian agencies too.

When the military of Sri Lanka, began to destroy the Tamil people and their assets in their traditional homeland, the international community not only remained in silence and failed to stop the tragedy, but also overtly and covertly supported the genocidal military actions. During the humanitarian catastrophe, same international community requested the people to move into government control areas, where barbed wired camps were waiting to greet them. Since the advent of the offensive, international community failed to take any adequate measures to protect Tamil civilians, apart from being ill prepared to provide the required humanitarian assistance. In most cases, either they just repeated the government fabricated stories or “obeyed” government “orders” rather than playing a role as international humanitarian actors, who must act with responsibility. Particularly, the UN and its bodies, provided open assistance to hide the casualty numbers, apart from backing government's claims about the reduced numbers concerning displaced civilians remaining inside the final battle zone.

Al though organizations like ICRC and MSF tried their best to ease the burden of the population, no one raised any serious questions about fake resettlement programs and “re-integration” projects.

Now, the unfolding Kombavil tragedy, which is nothing but an extension of the same genocidal policy of the state has got the same backing from the same international bodies. Under the new scheme, helpless Tamil civilians are going to be relocated to Kombavil without considering their true grievances and genuine concerns.

In Kombavil, 600 acres will be cleared or prepared by the military to "resettle" the Tamils who are now waiting to be moved out from the Manik Farm. In a meeting held in Mullathievu with the Government Agent of the area and the Sri Lankan Army(SLA) Commander in early August this year, it was decided that Kombavil will be a permanent 'settlement' for the people who were earlier detained in Manik farm. The government and its military are determined to make this happen before the end of 2011. As to a humanitarian aid worker active on the ground, “the people do not want to go to another Manik farm, they simply want to go back only to their places of origin (home)."

At this meeting, UN Resident Coordinator Subinay Nandy also took part after visiting Kombavil area. Even though the government has already hinted to the international community that they have laid the final plans to empty the camps, in reality the camps will only be moved into an area which will be almost inaccessible to many concerned parties.

Kombavil is going to be another militarized area and freedom of movement of the Tamil people will be further restricted. Each and every step regarding the Kombavil relocation will be carried out under the close scrutiny of the occupying Sri Lankan military, including the so called “Go and See” visits. According to a reliable source on the ground, the people from Manik farm have clearly opposed the decision to move them from Manik Farm to Kombavil. They told to the Additional Government Agent (AGA) of Puthukudiyiruppu (PTK) that “we would like to return to our own lands rather than moving to another camp situation.” But the AGA has assured them that the relocation will be “temporary” and it’s only until the demining work is completed. However, no one including AGA, UN or OCHA is aware how long will it take to complete the so-called demining operations. The AGA, who is functioning under strict instruction of the government, is planning to initially relocate at-least four hundred families before end of this year.

Many have earlier criticized the living conditions in Manik Farm voicing concerns over the detained population. But Kombavil situation will be worse than that. According to a leaked document, 7,506 individuals are still remaining in Manik Farm camp. Currently no health care services are available inside the camp (a clinic is available 5kms out) and only few teachers are available to educate several hundred children. Food rations provided by the WFP have been drastically reduced. UNHCR sources confirmed about cases of malnourished children “passing out” at school during the morning sessions. Individuals inside the camp are able to transit in and out, but have to use the old unwieldy pass system which needs multiple signatures and military approvals, plus a payment of 20LKRs, which effectively curtail the freedom of movement. If this reflects the grim reality prevailing in relatively well known Manik Farm, there is more than enough evidence to believe that the situation in unknown Kombavil will be far more horrifying.

Therefore, a concrete action to prevent another humanitarian tragedy is immediate and important.

According to the Mullaithivu map (below), the demining operations in 8.5 Grama Niladhari(GN) divisions are yet to be completed. However, as to the information coming from sources close to the SLA Commander confirms , that the 3 GN divisions in the costal belt (marked in the Map) will never be returned to the people. Unconfirmed sources say that the plans are underway to convert these 3 GN divisions into a High Security Zone (HSZ) and later into a special economic zone following the plans previously implemented in the East.



According to TNA Parlimentarian Sivashakthi Anandan, the IDPs from Puthumathalan, Mullivaikkal West, Mullivaikkal East, Ambalavanpokkanai, Valaignar Madam and Anandapuram in the Mullaitivu district who are presently at the Manik Farm camp at Chettikulam or with host families mostly living in and around Vavuniya will not to be resettled in their original home-towns. He also accused the government of preventing people from returning to their original lands in a desperate bid to cover up war crimes. He further said that “these were the areas where the final phase of war took place and thousands of people died. The government is depriving these people the right to return to their lands, in order to cover up the evidence that would confirm the atrocities committed during the last days of war.”

Meanwhile, a considerable section of the international relief agencies which are otherwise allowed to provide humanitarian assistance, have been prevented from getting involved in Kombavil relocation program. The government is already in the process of setting up new military camps surrounding the area to closely monitor the day to day activities of the war affected population, effectively maintaining a climate of fear among the people. It is obvious that the Sri Lankan state is determined to pursue the same old genocidal strategy against Tamil people by carrying out forced population transfers even two years after the war. But the important question is how the reputed international organizations, such as UN and its affiliated OCHA can support such a project backed only by the naked military might of the state.

If timely action is not taken by the responsible parties , the entire Tamil areas will end up by being transformed in to a huge military run camp like Manik Farm.

© JDS

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Call to investigate Sri Lanka disappearances

BBC News
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A human rights group has called on Sri Lanka's government to investigate the disappearance of two activists in the northern city of Jaffna.

Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganathan disappeared last week. They organised demonstrations on behalf of the families of missing people.

Civil society activists in Sri Lanka say they fear for the lives of the men.

Police in Jaffna say they have no information about the whereabouts of the two men and are investigating.

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo says that this is just the latest in a series of disappearances in recent months.

The Asian Human Rights Commission issued a statement on Monday highlighting the latest case and calling on the government to ensure that cases of "forced disappearances" are thoroughly and effectively investigated.

'Anonymous calls'

Our correspondent says that for several months Mr Weeraraj and Mr Muruganathan were part of a group that had been organising protests in Colombo, bringing mothers, fathers and wives of missing people from the north to the capital to highlight their desperation.

These families are searching for relatives who disappeared during and after Sri Lanka's civil war, which ended in 2009 after government forces defeated Tamil Tiger rebels fighting for a separate homeland.

A similar rally had been planned by the two men for the northern city of Jaffna on Saturday but before it could happen they went missing - apparently abducted while travelling by motor bike.

Mr Weeraraj had been detained and questioned about his activities and recently told the BBC he was being tracked by state security officials.

An associate of the two, Nuwan Bopage, said that because of the heavy security presence in Jaffna, the security forces must be responsible for the abductions.

But the military spokesman told the BBC that, according to his information, the security forces were not involved. The military was ready to help the police trace the missing men, he said.

The police said they had no information but were investigating.

Mr Weeraraj's father is quoted by colleagues of the men as saying his son had received anonymous phone calls saying he would be "eliminated" from politics if he continued his political involvement in the north.

'White van' abductions

Separately, there are reports of at least nine other men being abducted within the past couple of months, all of them in or near the capital.

The local Sunday Times newspaper quoted eyewitnesses as saying they were bundled away in white vans - unmarked vehicles of a type used for many unexplained past disappearances.

The newspaper says one person was released, one was found dead and the others are unaccounted for. The report quotes opinions blaming the incidents on state-sponsored hit squads, drug cartels or contract killers.

Our correspondent says it appears to mark the reappearance of a trend of abductions that had diminished since the war ended two years ago.

© BBC News

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SL Army launches ‘Geo-Citizen Information System Project’

Cartoon courtesy of awanthaartigala.blogspot.com

By Cheranka Mendis | Daily FT
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The Sri Lanka Army, in a first for South East Asia, has developed a citizen information collection scheme known as the ‘Geo-Citizen Information System Project’ at a cost of Rs. 2.5 million.

Run under the authority of the Defence Ministry and created by the Centre for Research and Development and Sri Lanka Army, the project aims at creating a digital data base on all citizens living in the country.

IT Advisor to Sri Lanka Army and Head of IT Centre for Research and Development of Ministry of Defence Colonel Dr. Thiran De Silva told the Daily FT on Wednesday that the pilot project of the ‘Geo-Citizen Information System Project’ had been conducted in Gampaha.

Dr. De Silva said: “This project aims at collecting all information about persons living in the country, even a month-old child, and putting it together on a database.” This system would cover not only personal information but also what is known as ‘spatial information,’ which would offer satellite images of the residencies of the people as well.

“The data collection would have personal information, family background and even household data coupled with satellite images of their homes. We have added in to the system, details such as the road network, electricity, water and even the drainage system to compile a comprehensive data book.”

The technological application for the project has been designed and developed by the Sri Lanka Army free of charge along with the Centre for Research and Development of the Ministry of Defence. Additionally 140 students have been recruited from Kelaniya University for collection of data etc.

The pilot project had been initiated over a year ago in Gamapaha, according to Dr. De Silva. He revealed that it took 12 months for the training of the grama niladaris and district secretaries and for collection of data.

Currently, the project is in Phase Two, at which spatial data is being collected. Data collection of other districts will happen soon, when the signal is given from the top hierarchy, Dr. De Silva expressed.

“The project is a brainchild of Economic Minister Basil Rajapaksa, who wanted to have a central database for the country,” he noted.

The project once completed will be distributed among key Government bodies such as the other military organisations of the country and the Urban Development Authority (UDA) for their purposes.

© Daily FT

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