Facilities inadequate in Lanka camps: Doctors

Doctors treating displaced Tamils in the government-run welfare camps in Sri Lanka’s north have written a letter to President Mahinda Rajapakse complaining about inadequate facilities and shortage of medical staff.

"It is difficult to stay in these shelters. The doctors examine patients from 7 o’clock in the morning to 7 o’clock in the night (in the Menik camps in Vavuniya). They need a proper place to sleep. The doctors do night shift. They are virtually alone there. There is no adequate nurse or staff members," a representative of the doctors told reporters here.

Spokesman for the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) Upul Gunasekara said that only 50 doctors were available for treating over 2.5 lakh Tamils in these camps.

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Tamils stay indoors on Independence Day

Indicating that President Mahinda Rajapakse’s healers will take some time to sink into their psyche, Tamils across Sri Lanka chose to stay indoors while the rest of the society hoisted the Lion flag atop homes and offices celebrating the nation’s 61st Independence Day on Wednesday.

Tamil sources in Colombo said three reasons led to the decision to stay at home, rather than venturing out near the Galle Face Green to try catching a glimpse of the celebrations by the Indian Ocean. “We will have to pass through so many check-posts even if we step out to go to the shop and it’s going to be tougher today with heightened security. Also, we could not bring ourselves to celebrate when our people are dying in the Wanni, whether they are militants or just civilians,” said a Tamil MP, who did not want to be named.

“Besides, the TV at home was relaying the I-Day show live, so why go through the hassles of travelling there?

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24 die in 2 attacks by Tigers in Lanka

At least 24 civilians were killed, nine of them women, in suspected LTTE bombings of two buses: one near Colombo on Friday morning and the second at central Kandy in the evening. President Mahinda Rajapakse condemned the “repeated acts of brutality by the LTTE in its cowardly strategy of targeting innocent civilians” and appealed to the people to stay calm and “not give in to deliberate provocation aimed at fanning communal hatred and violence”. The Tigers have not yet reacted.

According to the Lankan defence ministry, a road side clay more mine placed at a location between the Shailabimbaramya temple and the University of Moratuwa, the top engineering university in Sri Lanka, was detonated to target a packed civilian bus travelling from Kottawa to Mount Lavinia. The explosion took place around 7.30 am. The initial toll showed 22 dead and over 50 wounded.

Another bomb went off on Friday evening inside a bus at Polgolla in Kandy, about 100 km from Colombo, killing two persons and injuring 12 others. DIG Kingsley Ekanayake said a suspect had been picked up for questioning.

The military said it defused a “high-intensity” clay more at Dehiwella, close to the site where the morning blast occurred.

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