Families await resettlement in Vavuniya district

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 January 2003, 04:35 GMT]
1795 families displaced from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled areas and Liberation Tigers (LTTE) controlled areas in Vavuniya district have requested assistance to resettle in their villages and details of these families have been collected by the Vavuniya civil authorities, sources in Vavuniya said.

702 families from SLA controlled high security zones covering Grama Sevaka divisions of Thandikulam, Notchchimodai, Kallikulam, Puranattakal, Poovarankulam, Salambaikulam, Pampaimadu, Maruthamadu and Maruthankulam, 795 families from LTTE controlled areas covering Grama Sevaka divisions of Panrikeithakulam, Arumukathanputhukulam, Semammadu, Ilamaruthankulam, and Malikai and 298 other families have expressed their desire to resettle.

Sri Lanka military officials have indicated that only the families whose names have been recorded in the 1990 voting registry to have been residing in their said villages will be allowed back to their villages. Sources said the civil officials are in the process of getting the list of resettlers approved by the military.

Certification from an international agency declaring the areas free of land mines and live ordnances is also part of the requirement before the displaced are allowed to resettle in their villages, sources added.

Civil authorities are also making arrangements to provide resettling assistance to the needy families.