Saturday, February 15, 2014

Train service to Jaffna on Sri Lanka's northern track to commence in April

People in the south will once again be able to travel to Jaffna by train, the General Manager of Sri Lanka Railways B.A.P Ariyaratne has said.
Reconstruction of the Northern Railway Line to Kankasanthurai in Jaffna peninsula will be completed by April this year and the service will resume by the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, the official told the state-run radio.
The 146-km long track with a design speed of 120km/h was constructed in two phases - from Omanthai to Pallai and Pallai to Kankasanthurai.
The 63-km long first segment of the reconstructed railway track from Omanthai to Kilinochchi was opened for train traffic in September 2013.
The train service on the next segment of 40 km from Kilinochchi to Pallai is scheduled to commence from the first week of February allowing the train service to operate from Colombo to Pallai.
Sri Lanka Railways also completed the reconstruction of first 43 km section of the Thalaimannar Line from Medawchchiya to Madhu Road. The next 65 km section from Madhu to Thalaimannar is also scheduled to be completed soon and the train service will commence before April, the official said.
Ariyaratne said the northern track will be used for the transportation of fuel and the Railway Department hopes to import several more power sets and compartments.
The Indian Railway Construction Company Limited (IRCON) is carrying out the construction work of both projects which is being financed under a US$ 425 million credit facility from India.
Sri Lanka's Northern Line from Vavuniya to Kankasanthurai in the northernmost tip of the island was completely destroyed by the Tamil Tiger terrorists during the three-decade long war. The rebels uprooted the rail tracks to build reinforced underground bunkers.

Source:http://www.colombopage.com/archive_14A/Jan11_1389424541CH.php

We need to move forward and rebuild the North - Jaffna University VC

Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) C.V. Wineswaran had to take a dose of his own medicine at the National conference on Post-terrorism Socio-Economic Development of the Northern and the Eastern Provinces organised by the University Grants Commission under the patronage of its Chairperson Prof. Kshanika Hiriburegama at Taj Samudra Hotel, Colombo on Thursday.
Vice Chancellors of the University of Jaffna and the Eastern University countered baseless allegations made by the NPC Chief Minister who was the chief guest at the conference. Wigneswaran said the powers vested with the NPC was inadequate, the Northern province has not been developed after the end of terrorism, inadequate living standards of the people and the presence of the Security Forces. Vice Chancellor, Jaffna University Prof Vasanthy Arasaratnam and the Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University Dr. K. Kobindarajah shot down wild allegations made by Chief Minister Wigneswaran with statistical and research data.
The findings of the two Vice Chancellors is a setback for Wingeswaran as the two eminent academics have been with the people in the North and the East and have first-hand experience on the situation whereas Wigneswaran, living in Colombo 7, is a political parachute.
Jaffna University Vice Chancellor, Prof. Arasaratnam spoke at length about her personal experience and said that when infrastructure development is taking place, they should move forward. We as academics will give our fullest collaboration in livelihood development of the Northern people,” she said adding that she and the people in the North had suffered enough due to LTTE terrorism. We need to move forward, try to forget the past and rebuild the North, like I have rebuilt my home that was destroyed due to terrorism,she said.
Eastern University Vice Chancellor Dr. Kobindarajah suggested forming a committee of academics to work with President Mahinda Rajapaksa with the support of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). All parties concerned should address the real cause and genuinely work hard.
I firmly believe that if you work with an open heart we could definitely sort out whatever the problems we have. We as the academics are ready to play a key role to promote ethnic harmony and reconciliation,he said.

Source:http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2014/02/16/new05.asp