Relief supplies hijacked and relabelled in Moratuwa - Colombo paper

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 January 2005, 10:39 GMT]
The radical Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a major coalition partner in the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, has been accused of hijacking relief supplies sent to welfare camps and re-distributing them as supplies from the JVP, reported The Sunday Leader, a Colombo based English weekly in its latest issue.

The Sunday Leader reported that the individuals who attempted to gift supplies to 10 welfare camps in Moratuwa were "redirected to a Buddhist temple saying that the supplies are being stored there".

But quoting the businessmen from the Moratuwa area, the report said that these supplies were later re-sent to the welfare camps with a JVP label saying that it was a donation from the JVP.

According to the report, these businessmen were angered by the attempt by the JVP to gain political mileage at a time of national crisis.