Sri Lanka Latest News: 05/21/07

Monday, May 21, 2007

Sri Lanka gets four bids for new port next to Colombo

Four investor groups have sent in bids to build the infrastructure and do the dredging for the Colombo Port Expansion Project, a new deep-water harbour next to Colombo.

Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) officials said big international players were among those who submitted bids for the project.

The technical proposals are being evaluated first after which the financial bids will be opened, they said.

Some 30 parties collected documents to bid for the infrastructure work on the planned new Colombo South Port.

Cathay Pacific assess the situation to resume flights

Hong Kong's flag carrier Cathay Pacific is now assessing the situation in the country to decide resuming flights, Civil Aviation Authority sources said. The airline suspended its flights to Sri Lanka after the second air attack by the Tamil Tigers.

The airline made two unscheduled flights to Colombo last week from Hong Kong, airport sources said.

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airline previously restarted its flights to Colombo after a lapse of a period around a month after the first Tiger air attack on the Sri Lanka Air Force base adjacent to the Katunayaka Bandaranaike International Airport on March 27th.

Peace could be achieved only if Sri Lanka divided into two Nations! – Tamilselvan

Peace to Sri Lanka could be achieved on the day that “will mark the emergence of two peaceful, individually strong and economically powerful nations in this island,” said Tamilselvan, leader of the political wing of the tiger organization in an interview he held with a Tamil web site.

He said a solution can be found with the efforts of the international community only if it accepts the balance of power of the two sides.

A good foundation for peace was laid “after a long time with the facilitation of the Norwegian Government.

It resulted in the signing of a ceasefire agreement. The Sri Lankan Government has destroyed this ceasefire agreement and poisoned the climate of peace,” said the leader of the political wing of the tiger terrorist organization and added that,

“Sri Lankan Government has, through many attempts, destroyed the foundations of the peace talks and eliminated all efforts towards peace.”

Read more,
http://www.lankatruth.com/full_story/2007/may/21/200700521_5.htm

Omanthai entry/exit point to be reopened today

The Omanthai entry/exit point will reopen today after both the LTTE and the military gave written security guarantees to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), ICRC spokesman Davide Vignatti told the Daily Mirror.

LTTE sources also confirmed the re-opening of Omanthai today after it had given security guarantees following a meeting between the ICRC and the Vavuniya LTTE political head S. Gnanam in rebel-controlled Uliyankulam, Vavuniya yesterday.

At the meeting, the LTTE has said attacks across the border in Vavuniya occurred every time the ICRC was not present at the crossing point after dark. The rebels had urged the ICRC to look into this concern at its meetings with the military.