SL military warns Tamils against protesting land-grab along Pooneryn sandbar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 November 2019, 18:02 GMT]
The commander of the occupying Sinhala military stationed in Ki'linochchi, Major General GV Ravipriya, has threatened the people of Kauthaari-munai and the nearby villages along Ma'n'nith-thalai sandbar of Poonakari (Pooneryn) not to object SL Governor's plan of alienating lands to a planned hotel by an Australia-based Tamil trader collaborating with the unitary state of genocidal Sri Lanka. The SL military is fully backing the land grab, which is promoted by the SL Governor to North Suren Raghavan.

980 Tamil residents belonging to 407 families were living in the area before they were uprooted due to the war in 1990.

The families were self-sufficient in their economy as they were able to operate coconut farms and other palm-related industries.

After the war, only 380 people belonging to 120 families have managed to resettle.

The occupying SL military, Sinhala business owners and politicians from the South as well as their Tamil business collaborators, are now targeting the lands for various exploitative businesses such as tourism-related hotels and wind farms.

The 25 km long sandbar, which extends towards the Jaffna Peninsula from Poonakari in the main island, is of immense natural beauty and archaeological value to the Eezham Tamils.

The area, covered by massive dunes, is dotted with archaeological remains ranging from microlithic/megalithic times to the times of the Dutch.

Chronology: