Sri Lanka Attends Elephant-8 Ministerial Meeting in Delhi

2 Friday 27th May, 2011 The Island Home News Govt. determined to Deputy ... From page 1 eradicate ragging - SB Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Chief of entrants and they would be instructed how to BY SAMAN INDRAJITH Mission of IOM Richard Danziger and stand up against abuse. The students would be Ms Anoja Weerasinghe with some The Government is determined to elimi- versity entrants, the Minister said that ragging given training to bear the pressure and stand for rehabilitated youth in Colombo nate ragging from the universities, Higher had become a nuisance and it was high time that their rights instead of becoming cat’s paws of Education Minister S. B. those acts of torturing freshers was swept out political parties, the minister added. Dissanayake said in Parliament yester- from the university system once and for all. He admitted that there could be single inci- Minister Milinda Moragoda, he had day. The ragging phobia has taken a heavy toll dents of mishaps and troubles in the implementa- an opportunity to join with several “There would be no ragging in universi- among the students and many had opted out of tion of the leadership training programme. others to assist in the rehabilitation of ties next year. We will put an end to this horri- the university education due to a verbal, physical However, the opposition should not harbour any child soldiers. “In fact, we were the ble practice and if the need arises we will or psychological abuse of newcomers. Each year, fears of the outcome of this programme because first outsiders given access to child sol- shut down the universities to stop rag- dozens of students leave their course due to the government was determined to continue with diers before the army moved them to ging,” Dissanayake said. unbearable ragging they undergo. Some students what it had started. The parents of the students Ratmalana Hindu College to recom- Answering a question are forced to drink toilet waters. Some are who undergo the training have praised the gov- raised by DNA MP Anura ordered to parade naked in front of seniors. We ernment for this novel programme. The training mence their studies,” he said. Kumara Dissanayake, in would not let these horrible acts of abuse contin- programme is conducted in military establish- He praised the authorities for relation to the ongoing ue, the minister said. ments since there were no other spacious institu- enabling the ex-combatants with leadership training The government had introduced a leadership tions to accommodate large numbers of students required qualifications to enter univer- programme for uni- training programme to the new university at once, he said. sities. Deputy British High Commissioner, Mark Gooding, said: “The successful rehabilitation of former combatants and their re-integration into communi- Sri Lanka attends Elephant-8 ties is an important part of the recon- ciliation process in Sri Lanka. The UK strongly supports efforts towards this goal, and has provided significant ministerial meeting in Delhi financial support for the rehabilitation and re-integration process. In recent BY S VENKAT NARAYAN to Sri Lanka’s culture, religious Elephant Orphanage—-the only years, the UK has contributed £1.5 mil- beliefs, history, mythology as well one of its kind in the world—- Our Special Correspondent lion to fund vocational training for for- as politics. The elephant is of spe- where more than 80 elephants res- mer child soldiers in partnership with NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka on cial importance to both Buddhists cued from the wild are being UNICEF and the Sri Lankan Tuesday (24) attended the and Hindus in the island, home to cared for. In addition, Sri Lanka Elephant-8 ministerial meeting, a sizeable population of 6,000 ele- has also established the Elephants Government. As a result of this sup- comprising eight major elephant phants. Transit Home—-another unique port, over 1,500 former child combat- range countries. The countries Sri Lanka has set aside 14 per initiative that is found nowhere ants have completed the re-integration where elephants live in large num- cent of the land as Protected else in the Range States. process and have now returned to their Areas for the conservation of Abandoned or orphaned elephant bers are: Botswana, Congo, India, families. We are also providing ongo- wildlife. Mindful of the need to calves that are rescued are reha- Indonesia, Kenya, Sri Lanka, ing financial support to the process of Tanzania, and Thailand. ensure the long term survival of bilitated in this home, and re-integration for 700 adult former The meeting was an initiative the elephant, the island’s govern- released back into their habitat in of the Indian Government, and ment had prepared a National the wild. combatants through IOM in line with hosted by Minister of Policy for the Conservation and The minister also attended the the Government’s re-integration pro- Environment and Forests Jairam Management of Wild Elephants in launch of the UN Decade on gramme.” Ramesh. It was a precursor to a Sri Lanka in 2006. Biodiversity for Asia & Pacific Gooding was responding to a query larger International Forum of ele- This facilitates the co-existence which was held in New Delhi, dur- of both man and elephant, Yapa ing his visit to India. by The Island regarding the rehabilita- phant range countries India will tion project undertaken by the host in 2013. said. Through this policy, the gov- Yapa was accompanied by Sri Government of Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan Minister of errnment has established Lankan High Commissioner to Environment Anura Elephant Conservation Areas India Prasad Kariyawasam, B. K. Commissioner General of Priyadarshana Yapa participated (ECA) and Managed Elephant U. A. Wickramasinghe, Secretary, Rehabilitation Maj. Gen. Sudantha in the meeting attended by minis- Reserves (MER). In 2009, the gov- Ministry of Agrarian Services Ranasinghe told The Island that the ters and senior level government ernment introduced the ‘Gaja and Wildlife, and other senior offi- rehabilitation programme was mak- representatives from the eight Mithuro’ (Friends of Elephants) cials from the Ministry of programme mainly to mitigate the Economic Development and the ing rapid progress and by end of this countries. Gen. Sarath Fonseka arrives at the Colombo High Court on Thursday year the total number of persons Speaking at the meeting, Yapa human– elephant conflict. Wildlife Department. to make his dock statement. (Photo Kamal Bogoda) undergoing rehabilitation could come said that the elephant is intrinsic Sri Lanka has established an down to about 1,500. At the conclusion of the war, the military held about CLASSIFIED 11,700 LTTE cadres, including hard- Ranil... From page 1 Anura... From page 1 core members. ADVERTISEMENT CPA... From page 1 former army commander, sources media had telecast Lal Perera’s He warned Parliament on July 20, 2010 of the said. statement slamming Jayawardena danger of a major crisis due to failure on the part M. A. Wickremesinghe didn’t respond to and his family. of the government to take meaningful steps to SB rejects... Sumanthiran Premadasa’s allegations. Meanwhile, the Premadasa group address grievances of the academic community. appeared for the Premadasa recently secured the was readying to call a public meet- From page 1 He had brought the situation to the notice of the petitioner. post of Co-Deputy Leader and ing at the Dr. N. M. Perera auditori- Minister Dissanayake said that only Deputy Opposition Leader after um in Ruwanwella on June 4 to step President twice, though the government did noth- The Bench com- 35 per cent of teachers had resigned prised the Chief reaching an understanding with the up pressure on the leadership, ing except playing politics with the issue, MP from their voluntary posts. None had Justice Dr. Shirani leadership, though a fresh battle sources said. Dissanayake said recalling how Higher Education Bandaranayake, erupted over the denial of the post of The dissidents will also hold Minister S. B. Dissanayake had promised to resigned in the South Eastern University Justice P. A. the National Organiser to Madduma meetings at Polonnaruwa, increase the salary of the lowest grade from Rs. and medical faculties of the universities. Ratnayake and Bandara. Anuradhapura, Galle and Matara 20,750 to Rs 72,000 and lowest salary of senior lec- Those who quit the Ayurvedic campus Justice Chandra The Wickremesinghe camp said over the next few weeks, with sever- turers from Rs 57,755 to Rs 200,000. had later withdrawn their resignation Ekanayake. that the Premadasa faction should al leading Opposition MPs and The MP said that the government wasn’t gen- letters. The minister alleged that only take the blame for causing the latest activists pledging their support. uine in its efforts to settle the issue. universities of Peradeniya and Ruhuna altercation. Responding to a query Among those expected to address the had been severely affected by trade by The Island, sources said that Lal gatherings are Premadasa, Dayasiri union action. Perera had targeted Dr. Jayawardena Jayasekera, Imthiaz Bakeer Markar, The minister said: “Secretaries to at the behest of Premadasa, who was Buddhika Pathirana, Talatha More SL... From page 1 ministries draw between Rs. 45,000 to Rs. now making an attempt to under- Atukorale, Ranjith Madduma 55,000, though a senior professor draws a Sri Lanka first participated in UN peacekeeping mine the party leadership. Sources Bandara, Rukman Senanayake and salary of about Rs. 85,000. As I have once was back in 1960 by deploying six peacekeepers in said that a section of the electronic Rosy Senanayake. said the salary of a probationary lectur- the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo er should be increased up to Rs. 72,000.” (MONUC).

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