NGO Consortium urges road opening

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The NGO Consortium of Jaffna has released a statement urging the Sri Lanka Government to reopen Brown Road, where the Open University and the Technical College of Jaffna are situated, said Consortium sources.

These institutions are located between Kokkuvil and Tinnaveli, 7.5 km from Jaffna town.

The statement also urges the SLG to take steps to bring about an atmosphere conducive for education in Jaffna.

Copies of the statement were despatched to Somapala Gunadheera, Secretary, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority of the North (RRAN), Maj. Gen. Balagalle, Jaffna security forces commander, the Ministry of Higher Education and the University Grants Commission.

Meanwhile, Lanka Cement Ltd. which ran the KKS cement factory before 1990 will pay 50 million rupees to employees of its Jaffna branch as arrears of provident fund payments, said sources in Jaffna.

Lanka Cement's accountant Mr. S Balasingham and chief engineer C. Selvanayagam assured the deputy commissioner of labour in Jaffna that the dues, in arrears from 1994, will be paid promptly.

There will be no surcharge despite the payments being in arrears, because of the unsettled situation in the Jaffna said Lanka Cement sources.