Sinhala family in the South donates 1500 books to Jaffna library

Jaffna Library received another round of generous donation of 1500 books from new supporters, this time a Sinhala family in Nugegoda, Colombo. With sheer intention of quenching the thirst for knowledge of Jaffna students and other interested readers, a generous family in the south donated a volume of valuable books to the Jaffna Library recently.


The donation coordinated by the Security Forces Headquarters- Jaffna included 1500 books on various disciplines such as a set of encyclopedia, novels, famous story books for children and a rare collection of educational books. The latest donation by Mr. Vipula Wijeratne, Ms Nilmini Jayasinghe and Ms Menaka Jayasinghe of Nugegoda reached the Security Forces Headquarters- Jaffna as a response to the request.
On behalf of the Sri Lanka Army, Security Forces Headquarters- Jaffna, General Officer Commanding 51 Division Major General Janaka Walgama and Lieutenant Colonel Deeptha Ariyasena handed over the consignment to library authorities on Tuesday 09 July. Both the authority of the library and the Army expressed sincere thanks to the generous family for their book donation. The library authority also said “we are extremely grateful for this assistance. It is certainly a worthwhile cause”.

Donating books to a library is a worthwhile cause. Therefore the Sri Lanka Army have committed themselves to filling the shelves of the Jaffna library and requested the help of the general public to make this happen. Commander of the Security Forces- Jaffna, Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe and staff officers of the Security Forces Headquarters – Jaffna have made requests from various persons and organizations in Sri Lanka and as well as in abroad to contribute to restore the Jaffna public library, once served as the oasis of knowledge to Jaffna intellectuals, in its former glory.

However after Security Forces Headquarters – Jaffna made the announcement of filling the shelves of the Jaffna library and donations for the refurbish of the buildings, the library literally receives hundreds of books every week from thoughtful individuals and organizations around the world.

Source:http://www.onlanka.com/?p=5623

Build friendship bridge among students: Puthumadam students meet new friends from Panagoda Army School

A group of teachers and students of the Army school in Panagoda paid a goodwill visit to Puthumadam Roman Catholic Primary School in Inuvil, Jaffna last Sunday on 07 July. This visit was organized by the 513 Brigade of the Security Forces Headquarters – Jaffna as an ongoing coordination programme for last two years to build the friendship bridge among students between the North and South. This worthy project was introduced by the Sri Lanka Army, Security Forces Headquarters under the leadership of Commander of the Security Forces- Jaffna, Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe.

Twenty teachers and sixteen students of Army School in Panagoda, together with some of their family members, as a goodwill token of new friendship presented parcels of books and other school items to students at Puthumadam R.C. Primary School at a simple ceremony held at the school premises. They also donated some office equipment to the school.

Principal of the Puthumadam RC School, Mrs. S. Sooriyarajan told that the students of her school had a memorable day in their school’s history with their counterparts of Army school in Panagoda. She further added that it was a clear sign that the students had built up strong links between them.

Principal of Panagoda Army School Mrs. Sriyani said that having identified needs of their fellow students at Puthumadam RC School- Inuvil, the students of her school in Panagoda guided by their teachers and parents, donated a stock of books, school items and sportswear to Puthumadam RC School. She further stated that they were received with a warm welcome on their arrival at Puthumadam, Jaffna.

General Officer Commanding 51 Division Major General Janaka Walgama participated in the ceremony as the Chief Guest and said after eradicating thirty years of terrorism students of the Southern part of the country have commenced stretching cooperative hands towards those in the North and East in a major friendship-building exercise which was introduced by the Army. So far they have organized hundreds of such events for last two years. Thus, friendship and cordiality between the young of the North and South will get an opportunity to bloom, after 30 years.

Principal of Panagoda Army School Mrs. Sriyani, principal of Puthumadam RC Primary School Mrs. S. Sooriyarajan, senior Army officers and parents were present on the occasion. The visit was organized by the 513 Brigade of the Security Forces Headquarters – Jaffna as another event of their civil military coordination programme.

Source:http://www.onlanka.com/?p=5633

Breathing new life into Sri Lanka's Jaffna Public Library

JAFFNA: It is a rare privilege for international media to visit the former war torn northern Jaffna peninsula.

En route to Jaffna town centre - one still notices soldiers taking up positions at street corners ensuring peace prevails following the end of the civil war in May 2009.

It is not long before one is greeted by a historic building, the Jaffna Public Library. It has survived the destruction of a fire and the ravages of a civil war, and now stands as a symbol of hope, especially for the children of Jaffna.

The people of Jaffna are yearning for a return to normalcy, hoping their children will receive a good education.

However, the road to reconciliation remains an uphill task.

K. N. Douglas Devananda, Minister for Traditional and Small Industries for Sri Lanka, said: "Its taking effect very steadily and slowly. However, there are still some anti-government supporters amongst the Tamil people, who are still trying to mislead the people, to possibly stir up another civil war.

"I hope that the people would be able to separate the good from the bad and look ahead for a more peaceful future."

In 2009, Sri Lankan authorities asked Singapore's then Foreign Minister George Yeo for help in improving the children's section of the library.

Yogeswaray Patgunarajah, the Mayor of Jaffna, said: "In an attempt to resume the function of this once world famous public library, our municipality council contacted Minister Douglas Devananda and our governor G A Chandra Sri. They helped us to discuss our plans for the library with the Singapore representatives when they visited Sri Lanka. And it was because of that, we have now got the opportunity to restore the children's section of the library."

Inside the library is the newly improved children's section, built with help from Singapore.

At a special ceremony, Mr Yeo lights the kuthu vilakku - which symbolises a new beginning. And with the official handing over to the Jaffna Mayor - it completes an almost year long capacity building project.

Mr Yeo said: "The war is over but political reconciliation will take time because the long years of conflict have poisoned the soil and removing that toxicity will take time and effort and the cooperation of all parties involved.

"There is still a lot of bitterness, a lot of suspicion in the diaspora, which we can fully understand. So an effort has to be made by the Sri Lankan government and by members of the diaspora themselves to find ways to move on. The past is not the way to the future."

It is estimated that 1,500 children between the ages of five to 14 will benefit from the improved services at the library and Jaffna authorities are hoping more projects like these will spring up with increased linakges between Sri Lanka and Singapore.

The project is driven by the Singapore International Foundation and supported by the Singapore Cooperation Programme, the Singapore Sri Lankan Community, the National Library Board, and The Prima Group.

-CNA/ac

Jaffna fish boats to go hi-tech

The authorities are to provide sophisticated monitoring systems to multi-day boat operators in the north to prevent them from straying into Indian waters where they face arrest and jail sentences.
The Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) that will cost some Euro $ 400,000 will be given to the boat owners before the year’s end, Fisheries Minister, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said today.

He said this will be one effective manner the ongoing fishing dispute on both sides of the Palk Straits could be minimized and help maintain the good relationship between the two countries.

At present there is some 40 multi-day fishing craft operating in the Jaffna Peninsula, S. Thavaratnam with the Jaffna District Fishermen’s Co-operative Society’s Unions’ Federation (Ltd) (JDFCSUFL) said.