TNA opposes police station in Silaavaththurai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 October 2007, 05:19 GMT]
No useful purpose would be served in establishing a police station in the deserted village Silaavaththurai in Mannar district without taking immediate steps to resettle them in their traditional habitats, said Mr. Selvam Adaikalanathan, Wanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian. Silaavaththurai residents have all been displaced to other areas after the recent offensives by Sri Lanka military on 01 September.

About four thousand members 1081 families fled from Silavathurai leaving their properties and livelihood equipments worth several hundred thousand rupees following the offensive.

They have been currently staying in welfare centres and public buildings, and some of them with their relatives in villages located in divisional secretariat divisions of Mannaar and Nanattan under immense difficulties without basic facilities.

The Sri Lanka government has not taken steps to provide them with necessary relief and assistance and also to resettle them even after one month, said Mr. Adaikalanathan.

Establishment of a police station at Silaavaththurai without any residents and where only stray cattle roam clearly indicates the aggressive into Tamil traditional land, he added.

Large number of residents of Silavathurai, Arippu, Kokupadaiyan, Mullikulam, Kondachchi, Koolankulam, Musali, Pandaraveli, Puthuveli, Manatkulam, Poonochchikulam, and Ahathimurippu in Musali division had been engaged in agriculture and fishing before displacement, contributing to the economy of the Mannar district.

Now these people have been rendered destitute in other villages where they sought refuge, stated Mr. Adaikalanathan.

The foremost duty of the government is to resettle the IDPs in their own villages and to provide them with livelihood assistance and not to establish police station in no man's land, he said.