Jaffna educationists urge Lanka's Prime Minister to act on IA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 June 2003, 11:13 GMT]
The Jaffna District Council for Advancement of Education of Tamils (JDCAET) Wednesday appealed to the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe to take immediate steps to set up an interim administration for the northeast province with adequate powers to uplift the standard of living of the people of the soil and rebuild the war ravaged province, sources said.

The President of JDCAET Professor A.Shanmugathas in a letter to the Prime Minister requested that the northeast should brought under an interim administration led by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) . Only such decision would help to take forward the peace process, the letter added.

The letter further stated that the setting up of an interim administration in the northeast province would make the Tamil people to have confidence in the government.

Professor Shanmugathas brought to the notice of the Prime Minister that the situation in the northeast province has not improved to the expectation of Tamils even after signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the government and the LTTE.

State armed forces still occupy civilian areas in the Jaffna district blocking the resettlement of the internally displaced due to the two-decade-old war, the letter pointed out.

Fertile agricultural lands and residential areas are still under the Sri Lanka Army in the name of high security zones. Reconstruction works have been held up due to the non-availability of funds promised during six rounds of peace talks. All these problems could be solved if an interim administration is established and handed its control to the LTTE, the letter further said.