Sri Lanka Army to remove camps in Jaffna and to establish an Army colony
Sat, May 25, 2013, 09:40 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

May 25, Colombo: Sri Lanka Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya has said that the plans are afoot to set up a new Army colony in Jaffna peninsula.
The official told the Sunday Sinhala newspaper, The Divaina that only three camps would be kept in the peninsula and the rest of the camps would be withdrawn. The withdrawn camps are to be relocated in the Army colony.
The lands where the camps are presently established would be returned to the legal owners, the Army Commander said.
The new Army colony will be established in the Palaly area where the defense forces headquarters and the airport is situated. The Kankasanthurai naval harbor will also be established in the colony.
The government has decided to acquire 6,381 hectares of the land in Jaffna that is now being used as High Security Zones permanently and to pay compensation to the owners of the land. The government has allocated Rs. 400 million to pay the land owners.
According to the government, the lands in the High Security Zones of Weligamam North in the Palaly and Kankasanthurai (KKS) areas are to be acquired for the expansion of the Palaly airport and the KKS harbor.

The Army Commander further said that the maintenance of law and order in relation to civil administration of the areas released for civilian activity would be the sole responsibility of the police.

4,000 rooms pre-booked for CHOGM
By Sachin Parathalingam-2013-05-26 

The government has already pre-booked in excess of 4,000 rooms within the city limits of Colombo from 7 to 17 November, with Rs 25 million in public finances expected to be spent on hosting 54 Heads of Governments of the Commonwealth nations.This is in addition to Rs 1.1 billion that is earmarked for importing 55 of the latest edition Mercedes Benz S400 hybrid cars.

The government will be hosting in excess of 50 Heads of Governments of the member states of the Commonwealth from 15 to 17 November at the tax-payers' expense. Ceylon Today learns three rooms per government delegation are being paid for by the Sri Lankan public to accommodate each Head of Government, with average room rates in Colombo standing at US$ 200 per night. Ceylon Today also learns the total expenditure for the accommodation of Heads of Governments stands at Rs 25 million.

Speaking to Ceylon Today, President of Sri Lanka Tourist Hotels Association, M. Shanthikumar, confirmed the bookings made by the Ministry of External Affairs. "Rooms have also been booked in hotels in Hambantota to cater to the side events of CHOGM such as the Youth Forum and Business Forum, which will be held concurrently."

At least 6,000 delegates are expected to participate in the forums with several sight-seeing tours also scheduled for the visiting delegates. Shanthikumar also said the bookings are on schedule and that CHOGM is indeed bringing in much needed income to Sri Lanka's hotel industry.