GA requests data on SLA occupied private properties

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 January 2003, 01:33 GMT]
The Government Agent (GA) of Jaffna, Mr. S. Pathmanathan, ordered the Assistant Government Agents (AGAs) in Jaffna district to obtain details on civilian residences and private lands occupied by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in the peninsula, sources in the Northern town said.

The GA further requested the AGAs to categorize the details of the buildings that lie within the High Security Zone (HSZ) separately from those that lie outside the HSZ.

Sources say that AGAs have already started collecting the required information.

Fourth round of peace talks in Thailand between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) focussed on the issue of resettling internally displaced persons (IDPs). GOSL and LTTE agreed to start the process by first resettling IDPs in areas outside the HSZs.

Meanwhile, 17 houses in Manipay main road which were being used as SLA camps, have been given back to the residents following complaints made by the owners to the GA and to the members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), sources said.