SLN permit required to transport timber to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 April 2003, 19:02 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Saturday imposed restriction on transporting palmyra logs to Jaffna town from Karainagar. The SLN authorities camped at Karainagar naval base told the public that they should obtain pass from the local SLN unit to remove palmyra logs to Jaffna town, sources said.

Until now residents of the peninsula transported palmyra logs for construction with permits issued by divisional secretariat with the recommendation of the respective Grama Niladhari (village level officers).

With the new SLN permit procedures people building houses and other structures are forced to go to the SLN camp at Karainagar and wait for several days to obtain permit, residents affected by the restrictions said.

Civil group sources said that the new instruction by the SLN has caused severe hardships to people who are now engaged in building houses and renovating existing structures.