ENB EAST:Agreement reached on power plant

Agreement reached on power plant site in Sri Lanka
B. Muralidhar Reddy
COLOMBO: India has finally agreed to locate the 500 MW coal-based thermal plant of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in Sampur town in Trincomalee district.
The town was wrested by the Sri Lanka military from the LTTE in September 2006,
According to reliable sources, the decision was conveyed by New Delhi to the Mahinda Rajapaksa government. Though India and Sri Lanka signed an agreement in
December 2006, there was no unanimity between the two sides on the exact location of the plant.
Sri Lanka identified Sampur as a possible location, though an NTPC team preferred a site near the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) oil complex, close to Trincomalee
harbour.
The move locate the power plant at Sampur triggered a controversy with the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance raising political and environmental objections.
The project, involving an investment of $500 million, is to be implemented by a joint venture company in which the NTPC and CEB would each hold 50 per cent
stake and funded with a debt equity ratio of 70:30.
Official sources said the power plant would substantially boost economic relations between the two countries. For Sri Lanka, this was one of the largest ever
infrastructure investment and the project would augment its power capacity by 20 per cent.
‘Hidden political agenda’
The TNA had alleged that the coal-fired power plant project in Sampur had a hidden political agenda to permanently evict Tamils from the Muttur east region. They
claim that around 30,000 Tamils were forced to leave the southern Trincomalee region into Vaharai when Sri Lanka military launched a major offensive and captured
Sampur from the LTTE.
TNA parliamentarian from Trincomalee, K. Thurairetnasingham, in a media release, slammed the government of Sri Lanka for rushing with the project without
consulting the Tamil representatives. The power plant would have an adverse impact on the livelihood of Tamils in the region, he claimed.
Power line project
A ‘pre-feasibility’ report by the Power Grid Corporation of India on the proposed India Sri Lanka Electricity Grid Interconnection project to lay an undersea power
line between Rameshwaran in South India and Talaimannar in Sri Lanka, said that it could be commissioned within 42 months.
The cost of the project is estimated at Rs. 2293 crores based on quotations from leading HVDC (high voltage direct current) equipment manufactures from Sweden,
France and Germany. The report was expedited following the recent visit of Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh to Sri Lanka.
The pre feasibility report is to be followed up by a full feasibility study to be undertaken jointly by the two countries shortly at a cost of Rs. 50 crore on an equal cost
-sharing basis.
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International Community should learn from experience, Vaiko tells Norway
[TamilNet, Friday, 11 April 2008, 23:03 GMT]
Expressing that the lack of implementation by the Government of Sri Lanka on the agreed principles of the February 2002 Cease Fire Agreement (CFA), especially
disarming of army backed paramilitary groups, led to the ultimate breakdown of the peace process, Vaiko, the General Secretary of Marumalarchchi Dravida
Munneatta Kazhakam (MDMK), told Norwegian International Development Minister Erik Solheim and Jon Hanssen-Bauer, the Norwegian Special Envoy, that the
International Community should prevail upon the GoSL to reinstate the ceasefire in order to engage in a meaningful process for a negotiated settlement.

Vaiko meets Erik Solheim
MFA officials Thomas Stangeland and Sondre Bjøtvedt were present at the meeting, that took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Oslo.

Vaiko with Erik Solheim and Jon Hanssen-BauerExpressing gratitude on behalf of the Tamils in India to the Royal Norwegian Government for its engagement as
facilitator to the CFA and its continued interest in facilitating to resolve the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, Vaiko told TamilNet that his visit to Norway to attend a
conference, titled "Peace and Reconciliation in South Asia," organized by the International Association for Human Values, gave him a unique opportunity in bringing
the concerns of more than 60 million Tamils in Tamil Nadu, to Norway.
The International Community should be made aware that the Norwegian facilitated CFA had collapsed as the Sri Lankan Government seriously violated the CFA,
clause by clause, and systematically scuttled it fully, before unilaterally withdrawing from the ceasefire, he said.
A key violation of the agreed principles was the clause 1.8 which demanded the Government of Sri Lanka to disarm the paramilitary groups, Vaiko told TamilNet.
LTTE's late chief negotiators Anton Balasingham and S.P. Thamilchelvan, had repeatedly pointed out this gross violation by the GoSL on several occasions, he said.
However, the Interational Community did not engage with this problem before 2006, by which time Colombo launched direct military operations, he said.
The International Community, which had failed to apply timely pressure on the GoSL to honour the CFA, while the agreement was still in force, should now re-
evaluate its approach to Sri Lanka based on the past experiences and adopt a strategy, which will result in restoring the diplomatic balance between the protagonists
to the conflict so as to create and sustain a conducive environment for negotiations.
The two-day conference held in Oslo was attended by H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, one of the founders of the IAHV, Professor Rajiva Wijesinha, Secreatary General
of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOOP), Ms. Erika Mann, Member of European Parliament, Arumugam Thondaman of Ceylon Workers
Congress and a minister in the UPFA government, Jayalath Jayawardene, opposition UNP MP, Venerable Brahmanawatte Seevali Nayaka Thero from Amarapura
Mahanikaya, Venerable Maduluvave Sobitha Nayaka Thero from the Nagavihara Kotte, Prof. Indra de Soysa from PRIO in Oslo and Nirj Deva, Member of
European Parliament. Several others also took part in the workshops on Sri Lanka, Burma and on Naxalism in India and Nepal.
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India should organize peace talks: Karunanidhi
[TamilNet, Friday, 18 April 2008, 16:46 GMT]
"India should organize negotiations between the warring parties in Sri Lanka to bring peace to the island nation," said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Kalaignar
Karunanidhi in an exclusive interview to the Times of India on Friday. His statement comes at a time when India has chosen to ignore all calls to mediate between
Colombo and the Tamil Tigers and has satisfied itself with playing behind-the-scene roles.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi.According to the Times of India, Kalaignar Karunanidhi had said, "to bring about peace in Sri Lanka, the Union
Government should come forward to organise useful negotiations so that a proper political solution is thrashed out."
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EPC CM post:
Hisbullah, Pillaiyan reach consensus
Thursday ,17 April 2008( Posted : 06:04:04GMT)

The scuffle for the post of Eastern Province chief minister that has been taking place within the ruling UPFA over the past few weeks has finally been settled with both
SLMC dissident M.L.A.M. Hisbullah and TMVP Chief Pillaiyan reaching a consensus.
Both Hisbullah and TMVP Spokesman Azad Mowlana confirmed to The Bottom Line that the conflict was over and that they had decided to work to ensure a
UPFA victory.
However, both said they were working hard to ensure victory for their respective communities as well.
Hisbullah said that even though there was no conflict between him and Pillaiyan over the chief ministerial post, he was concentrating on mustering support from the
Muslim community to win the election and become the chief minister.
Meanwhile, Mowlana also said that Pillaiyan too was working hard to get maximum support from the Tamils to win the election and become the chief minister of the
Eastern Province.
It is learnt that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has informed both candidates in no uncertain terms that the chief minister would be appointed from whichever
community that got the highest number of votes at the May 10 poll and that there should be no quarrel in this regard.
Hisbullah said that he had already had three rounds of talks with Pillaiyan regarding this issue and added that they had both agreed to enhance their power base
through their campaigns while at the same time working collectively for a UPFA victory.
Mowlana, expressing similar views, further said that there was no proper chief minister candidate from the UPFA owing to the prevailing competition between
Hisbullah and Pillaiyan.
“Of course, the Tamils have already accepted Pillaiyan as their chief ministerial candidate while the Muslims have accepted Hisbullah as their candidate. Only the
election results will tell us who will be appointed,” he said.
“I am working hard to get more votes from the Muslim community. I can get more seats from the Muslim community. If they want a Muslim candidate, they should
vote for me. I have started my campaign and 50 percent of my campaign is over. I am very confident that I could be the next chief minister. If Pillaiyan becomes the
chief minister, I will work with him,” he added.