Subsidy to Thenmaradchi farmers refused

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 October 2003, 04:41 GMT]
The Sri Lanka's Department of Agrarian Services has refused to provide subsidies for seed paddy and fertilizer to farmers to cultivate paddy lands adjoining the high security zones in the Thenmaradchi division in the Jaffna district, as the Sri Lanka Army has not officially informed the department of its decision to release one fifth of the roughly five thousand acres of land in the HSZ, representatives of several farmers organizations said Monday.

The SLA has occupied about five thousand acres of fertile paddy lands located in Koilakandy, Thanankilappu, and Maravanpulo and Kaithady-Navatkuli areas in Thenmaradchi division in the name of high security zones even after signing of ceasefire agreement by the government and the LTTE. However SLA officials who attended a meeting with farmers' representatives held last month agreed to release one fifth of the paddy lands in the HSZ for cultivation this season, sources said.

Meanwhile, farmers who have prepared their paddy fields located between the east of Thanankilappu, north of the railway line and south of Thanankilappu Navatkuli road, for sowing with the break of northeast monsoon rains are now in a quandary to find ways and means to buy seed paddy and fertilizer on subsidy once the SLA officially intimated to authorities concerned about the release of paddy fields, farmers representatives complained.

The Department of Agrarian Services said that it has decided not to provide subsidy to these farmers as an international non-governmental organization " Campaign against Hunger" has started providing assistance to these farmers. But the said NGO too has stopped its assistance to these farmers, saying that the SLA has not released the one thousand acres officially for cultivation by their owners, civil sources said.

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