SLA urged to reopen Powerhouse Road to ease congestion

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 August 2005, 17:09 GMT]
Dr.S.Gunarasa, Jaffna Municipal Commissioner, during a conference held at the Jaffna district secretariat Tuesday afternoon, requested the authorities to take steps re-open the Powerhouse Road for public use to ease traffic congestion in Jaffna town, sources said. The Power House Road in the heart of the town has been declared high security zone where the headquarters of the 51-2 Brigade of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) is located, district secretariat sources said.

Civil groups have been agitating for the re-opening the Power House Road for the past several months. But the government security establishment has rejected the proposal for security reasons, civil sources said.

The conference decided to introduce national level traffic laws in the Jaffna peninsula to reduce accidents and other traffic offences. Mr.K.Ganesh, Government Agent presided.

Mr.M.A.Perera, Operational Director of the National Transport Commission (NTC), Mr.J.A.Wirasinghe, Co-ordinator, and Planning Unit of the NTC, Mr.V.Senaretna, Superintendent of Police in charge of Jaffna District Traffic Unit participated, sources said.

The conference also decided to shift the private bus stand to a site in the vicinity of the Jaffna Fort with effect from September 1st as a step to reduce traffic congestion in the Jaffna market area, sources said.