World Bank will support Joint Mechanism- Peter Harrold

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 May 2005, 17:12 GMT]
Mr.Peter Harrold, World Bank Country Representative in Sri Lanka, Friday said in Puttalam, a Muslim dominated town in the north of Western Province, that the World Bank extends its full support to the implementation of the Joint Mechanism proposed by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for tsunami rehabilitation in the northeast.

Mr.Harrold Friday paid a visit to Puttalam at the invitation of the Rehabilitation and Vanni Development Minister Mr.Rishard Baddiudin to see the condition of displaced Muslim families from Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Mannar and other areas now sheltered in 136 camps in Puttalam since 1990.

Mr. Harrold was taken to several camps where displaced Muslim families reside, according to sources in Puttalam.

Mr. Harrold later addressing a gathering said the World Bank is prepared to provide assistance to the displaced Muslim families now sheltered in Puttalam, he said.

The World Bank is not serious about the opposition of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) to the implementation of the Joint Mechanism, he added.

Early March, Mr. Harrold created a furor among the ultra nationalists in the South, for allegedly saying that the LTTE is a key stake holder in the post-tsunami development and that there is an unofficial state in the island’s NorthEast.