TAMILNET reports that the Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang last Saturday morning called on Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse at the Presidential residence House.
On Friday, China and Sri Lanka signed six agreements to enhance cooperation between the two countries, at the office of the Prime Minister DM Jayaratne in the latter’s presence.
Dejiang arrived in Sri Lanka early on Friday morning on a three-day official visit.
The six agreements are to enhance co-operation in the spheres of technology, industry, information technology and construction, according to the officials of the Rajapakse government in Colombo.
Acting Ports and Aviation Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena and Chinese Transport Minister Lin Shenjin signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development of maritime ports.
The second phase of the Hambantota Port will commence under this agreement and the Chinese Government will provide a loan of US $600m which is repayable within 20 years, the sources further said.
A certificate of donation by ZTE Corporation of China was also presented to Hambantota District Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa by the ZTE Corporation Chairman Hou Weei.
This grant of US $500,000 would be utilised for the promotion of IT technology among the youth community in Sri Lanka.
The event took place at the office of the Prime Minister and in the presence of the Prime Minister DM Jayaratne and the visiting Chinese Vice Prime Minister Zhan Dejiang.
Finance Ministry Secretary Dr PB Jayasundera and Chinese Assistant Commerce Minister Wang Chao signed two agreements pertaining to the maintenance of the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) which is a donation by the Government of China.
Road Development Authority (RDA) Chairman Ranjith Premasiri and National Technical Import and Export Corporation in China President Tang Yi signed an agreement on behalf of the two sides for the construction of the last stage of the Southern Expressway from Pinnaduwa to Godagama.
Meanwhile, the new boat service between Kurunakar and Poonakari in the North which is to be inaugurated on Sunday by Namal Rajapaksa, son of President Mahinda Rajapakse, is to be entirely serviced by boats owned by Namal Rajapaksa.
This boat service is a most lucrative source of income as people travelling to Vanni are expected to prefer using it to travelling along the A9 land route because of the duration of the journey.
Employment is to be monopolised by men who are retainers of Namal Rajapaksa.
His ruling party rival, Minister Douglas Devananda, who mints money in the A9 land route between Jaffna and Colombo from the four luxury air-conditioned coaches operating in his men’s names, has not been invited to the Sunday inauguration of the boat service.
Minister Douglas Devananda had earlier shown a keen interest in beginning the said boat service with the motive of making more money, the sources said.
It is evident that the government and its powerful backers from the South are taking over all of the possible sources of income in the Jaffna peninsula, residents of Jaffna said.
This is taking place as Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are hastily destroying hundreds of human skeletal remains that lie in the weed overgrown bunkers which the Vanni civilians had crept into to try to save their lives when SLA moved into Vanni in its final offensives.
A representative of an International NGO who recently visited places not permitted for resettlement in Vanni has seen this operation at close range.
Also, a Saiva priest, an eyewitness to the massacre, recalled how the advancing SLA soldiers had thrown grenades into the bunkers and how SLA tanks had dumped tonnes of earth on top of them, even with people alive in them.
The NGO official, who recently visited areas from Puthukkudiyiruppu to Puthu Maaththa’lan where the people of Vanni were driven during the last phase of the war, added that human skeletal remains are visible in the former bunkers now that torrential rains have washed away the upper layers of earth.
He added that he saw the SLA soldiers hastily trying to obliterate all such evidence of the thousands of Vanni civilians killed indiscriminately in the very bunkers in which they had sought safety for their lives.
The Saiva priest recalled how the advancing SLA troops into Mu’l’livaaikkaal on 18 and 19 May 2009 had fired rocket launchers and lobbed grenades into the bunkers where thousands of civilians with their families had desperately tried to stay alive.
The SLA soldiers, on orders from their superiors, are actively destroying whatever evidence of the massacres of Vanni that remain in the places where resettlement is yet to be permitted.
Meanwhile, China is not alone as India and the USA work to increase their influence in Jaffna.
China, India and the United States of America are gradually strengthening their presence in Jaffna.
India and China have openly sought to influence the ‘post-war development’, which is being unilaterally undertaken under the supervision of Basil Rajapaksa, the brother of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse.
Tamil circles in Jaffna commenting on the corporate race by the powers said articulate sections of Tamils in Tamil Nadu and in the diaspora should come out with an appropriate response that the powers should respect the rights of the people of the land in deciding their own development.
Government-owned and private corporations of India have recently secured ‘development’ contracts including reconstruction of railway lines, the renovation of the Kaangkeasanthu’rai (KKS) Cement factory, the reconstruction of Palaali Airport, which is now the largest Sri Lankan military base in the north and the KKS Harbour, all falling within the militarised High Security Zone.
Meanwhile, southern Sinhalese labourers are engaged in excavating limestone inside the HSZ, which is threatening the entire groundwater salinity of the peninsula.
The Sri Lankan military have occupied the High Security Zone (HSZ) along the northern coast of Jaffna peninsula, and evicted a large number of Tamil civilians from their homes for the last two decades.
During his recent visit to India, Mahinda Rajapakse signed a number of agreements, including the ‘development’ and exploitation of the KKS Cement factory and the reconstruction of communication facilities attached to the High Security Zones that have been denied access to the people who have been uprooted from their homes.
Further, large tracts of agricultural land also come under the HSZ.
The Achchuveali Industrial Estate, which had ceased to operate will also be revived by India.
China, which has already secured the contracts for constructing five principal roads in the Jaffna peninsula has its surveyors working along with the surveyors of the Sri Lanka Survey Department.
A Chinese firm, Northern Power, is operating the Chu’n’naakam Power Station, generating electricity to Jaffna.
Meanwhile, the USA is moving to open American Corner in Jaffna city, linking it to the American Center in Colombo.
Earlier, a similar move to launch a US center attached to Jaffna Public Library was given up as the then Jaffna Municipal Council administration had refused to provide accommodation due to alleged Indian influence.
India has now established a visa bureau in Jaffna, which will soon become a consulate.
