Vakarai denied dry rations

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Almost 7000 families in Vakarai, 60 km north of Batticaloa, which is under the control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), have not received their quota of dry rations issued by the Sri Lanka Government from December last year, due to an order issued by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) that rations should not be transported to Vakarai, said sources in Valaichenai.

This order, issued by Brigadier R Silva, Brigade Commander of the Valaichenai area, was in place because the SLA claims that stocks of dry rations issued under the SLG's Samudhri welfare scheme, which is taken to Vakarai from Valaichenai, 30 km south of Vakarai, and distributed by the multi-purpose cooperative society (MPCS), was being purloined by the LTTE.

In the past, these goods were transported with an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) escort after permission was obtained from the Valaichenai Brigade Commander.

Brig. Silva's orders in December 1997 was that in future, all stocks would be issued to the residents of the Vakarai area from Ushna Aytram, 2 km north of Valaichenai.

This however would require the people of Vakarai to make a trek of about 30 km to obtain their dues. This scheme was also rejected by the MPCS.

The stock of dry rations are renewed every six months. The new stock which was due to be transported in February this year was not taken across, said sources.

This matter was taken up by the Government Agent Batticaloa A K Pathmanathan with the SLA, but there has been no change in the situation.