SLA bars paddy cultivation in resettled Trinco village

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2004, 07:10 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has prohibited resettled Tamil farm families in Paththinipuram village from cultivating their paddy fields for the forthcoming season, said in complaints lodged with the Tampalakamam Divisional Secretary (DS) and Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO).

Paththinipuram is an agricultural village, now being rehabilitated by the TRO since the ceasefire came into operation three years ago in 2002. The entire village fled during 1990 disturbances About ten houses has been constructed and handed over to resettled internally displaced families numbering about 20 by the TRO, sources said.

Paththinipuram village came into existence in 1968, thirty-six years ago with lands allocated to landless Tamils in Tampalakamam division. Each had been allotted with one-acre of high land and two acres of paddy lands under the Land Development Ordinance(LDO). Resettled families possess permits issued under the LDO.

Farming families commenced ploughing their fields for the forthcoming season with the first rain. When farmers were doing second ploughing had been ordered to stop from sowing their lands by soldiers located in the Palampoddaru SLA detachment close to Paththinipuram village, farmers said in written complaints lodged with the Tampalakamam DS through their village level office (Grama Sevaka).

Farmers have sent their protest with copies of their land permits to Tampalakamam DS and the District Co-ordinator of the TRO for further action.

Resettled farm families are currently in a quandary to find an alternative to generate income for their survival if they are not allowed to do their paddy cultivation and other subsidiary crops in time, civil sources said.

Meanwhile Palampoddaru SLA detachment is in the process of strengthening its checkpoints, which are located close to Paththinipuram village, sources said