SL Resettlement minister meets Sinahala families claiming resettlement in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2010, 05:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka minister of Resettlement Affairs, Milroy Fernando, on a special directive of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa paid a sudden visit to Jaffna Monday to meet the Sinhala people brought into Jaffna by Sri Lanka government claiming resettlement in Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said. The minister assured the Sinhala families now lodged in the old Jaffna Railway Station that their problems will be solved within the next three months. Meanwhile, some of the Sinhala families have been allowed to erect shelters in vacant lands adjoining some of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps in Jaffna town, the sources added.

The lands of the Tamils located near SLA camps which had been abandoned by the owners due to fear of the SLA are to be settled with the Sinhala families which have no legal rights to the said lands, the sources said.

Jaffna Municipal Council administration takes care of the basic facilities of the Sinhala families lodged in the Old Railway station building while dry food relief rations are supplied through Jaffna Secretariat.

SLA and police provide security to the Sinhala families.

Meanwhile, SLA has declared Sinhala Makaa Viththiyaalayam in Jaffna as out of bounds for public.

Sinhala people from various parts of Sri Lanka brought into Jaffna peninsula by Sri Lanka government claiming resettlement has raised suspicion of Sinhalicisation in the name of resettlement among the residents of the peninsula, civil societies had said in a message to local media Sunday.

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