It is time to honour the memory of a man who did much for Jaffna In an unprecedented move which earned him the gratitude of the employees, Mr. Jayamanne took the lead in ensuring that even the casual employees of the two cement plants were paid during the
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them
Today October 6, is the 26th death anniversary of Joseph Jayamanne who was the General Manager of Lanka Cement and the principal project manager and constructor of the Kankesanturai Cement Factory. The account of his tragic death is narrated in the book 'The Broken Palmyrah' under the heading: The night of shame. Here is the quotation.
The Broken Palmyrah (University of Jaffna, Jaffna, Sri Lanka). The Night of Shame - page 90.
"At that time Mr. Jayamanne, the General Manager (GM) and Mr. Gajanayake , the Deputy GM of Lanka Cement Ltd (or L.C. L.) were in Jaffna for the recommissioning of L.C.L.'s plant at K.K.S. The plant had been closed on 22nd April when an LTTE attack on K.K.S. harbour had resulted in the deaths of 18 Sri Lankan troops and the reprisal killing of five L.C.L. employees by the Sri Lankan Army. Seventy other employees then working at the harbour were saved by the timely action of the ship captain, a Sinhalese, who fearing reprisals by Sri Lankan troops, promptly took them aboard his ship and put out to sea. The two cement plants at K.K.S. suffered considerable damage during the shelling of the subsequent months.
“In an unprecedented move which earned him the gratitude of the employees, Mr. Jayamanne took the lead in ensuring that even the casual employees of the two cement plants were paid during the long period of closure. Even those who did not agree with his methods of management, respected him as an able and enthusiastic engineer. On the previous day, Mr. Jayamanne had seen off some C.E.B. (Ceylon Electricity Board) engineers whom he had persuaded to come to Jaffna in order to commission a new transformer for L.C.L. Mr. Jayamanne was amongst those Singhalese who believed that Jaffna had a great future following the Indo-Lanka Accord. He was hopeful of restarting the L.C.L Plant the following day.
"On the 5th night, Jayamanne and Gajanayake were having a friendly after- dinner chat with several colleagues including engineers Sothilingam, Velayutham, and Arivalagan at the L.C.L, guest house. Around mid-night several armed men burst into the guest-house and wanted to take Jayamanne and Gajanayake away. Their colleagues protested. Velayuthan who protested strenuously was badly assaulted. Jayamanne and Gajanayake were finally taken away and their dead bodies were found opposite the Cement Corporation gates the following morning".
For the record, Mr. Jayamanne and Mr. Gajanayake were brutally murdered, shot through their foreheads and their sarong clad bodies were ignominiously and humiliatingly exposed to public gaze. Such was the brutal end of a man who provided sustenance to a sector of the Jaffna Tamil population.
The bereaved wife and only daughter waited in vain for something or anything of their beloved husband and father for burial, but no intimation ever reached them from Jaffna from the perpetrators. This was all the more heart rending considering that Mr, Jayamanne had left his wife and infant daughter to live in Jaffna and personally supervise the construction work of the cement plant. Such was his sense of dedication.
A short time after the brutal murders, I met S. J. Emmanuel, Catholic priest and terror ideologue of the LTTE, the male counterpart of Adele Balasingham, for just as Adele B tied the cyanide capsule around the necks of suicide squads, Emmanuel preached the opening of the gates of heaven for them. Emmanuel it will be remembered is presently the head of the Global Tamil Forum now living in Germany. My casual meeting with Emmanuel took place in Colombo. I requested information from him regarding that fateful night.
He answered with an impassive face and emotionless voice that he 'knew' of it but could not say anything more! To this day the Jayamanne and Gajanayake families are in the dark as to the sequence of events that followed this wanton unpardonable crime.
It is reported that the K.K.S. Cement Factory is due to commence work soon. Now that the new provincial council has become operative, I would request the Chief Minister to fill the void of the last 26 years, by offering his regrets and condolences for the dastardly act of the LTTE to the wives and children of the slain men.
I further request him to recognise the immense contribution by Mr. Jayamanne towards the establishment of the K.K.S.Cement factory and harbour (also constructed by Mr. Jayamanne) by erecting a statue in his honour on the cement factory site.
Mario Perera