Chavakachcheri not suitable for resettling -Mayor

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 January 2001, 17:15 GMT]
The conditions in Chavakachcheri are not suitable for resettling people although the government and some parties are attempting to do so, said Jaffna Mayor N.Raviraj, returning from a tour arranged by the Sri Lanka army Wednesday. The SLA's 51-2 brigade commander accompanied the mayor, Mr.V.Anandasangaree, Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) MP for Jaffna and Mr. S.Aravinthan, member of the Jaffna Municipal Council (TULF).

"The hospital, the market complex and the houses in the heart of the Chavakachcheri town are completely destroyed and the region is totally deserted" the Mayor said.

Photo: Market building in Chavakachcheri.Photo:TamilNet

"There is no water in the town. Each family has to be given at least five hundred thousand rupees to rebuild their homes. It will take a long time to finish reconstruction in Chavakachcheri. We can consider resettling people only after this" Raviraj told Tamilnet.

TULF sources said that the party does not consider it safe for civilians to go back now. "The fighting south of Kodikamam is too intense. Resettling civilians might actually suit the army and some groups working with it but it is too dangerous for ordinary people to go back at this juncture," he said.

Photo: A ruined college building in Chavakachcheri.Photo: TamilNet