Thopoor embargo begins to bite

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A shortage of food and other consumer necessities has arisen at Thopoor, 25 km south of Trincomalee, since last week, when the police intensified restrictions placed on food and other consumer items being transported into the village, said sources in Trincomalee.

Thopoor is a village by the lagoon which is under the control of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA).

Across the lagoon lies territory controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The SLA says that consumer goods transported to Thopoor could either be seized by the LTTE, or that the villagers could sell or hand them over to the Tigers, said sources.

After the restrictions became more stringent, only 5kg of rice, 1 kg of sugar, one box of matches and a limited amount of soap per head, is permitted into Thopoor.

These restrictions, which existed in a less stringent form earlier, have been intensified after Operation Tiger Hunt began in Muthur last week.