Trees cut down to reinforce Jaffna FDLs, Police stations

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 August 2005, 13:07 GMT]
Sri Lanka armed forces have begun cutting down coconut and palmyra trees to strengthen forward defense lines and the perimeters of police stations in the Jaffna district, residents said.

A group of Policemen stationed in Nelliyady Police Station in Vadamaradchchi had gone into a private property in Thunnalai recently and had felled large number of palmyra trees, residents said.

Top army and police officials including representatives of the international and national non-governmental organizations agreed at a conference held on 10th December 2004 at the Jaffna district secretariat to stop felling valuable trees to safeguard the environment of the district. Security forces resuming cutting trees again violates this agreement, civil sources said.

It was pointed out at the conference that about one million trees have been felled by security forces to strengthen their forward defense lines, camps and police stations and also for the construction of bunkers and sentry points in the peninsula during the two decade old war , civil sources said.