Relief supply to Muslim, Tamil villages in Muttur sabotaged?

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 December 2004, 19:00 GMT]
The relief supply to Tsunami victims in the government controlled Muttur division where majority are Muslims and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam held Muttur east and Eachchilampathu division where majority are Tamils in the down south of Trincomalee district has come to a grinding halt since Friday evening as the only land route Kantalai- Allai road is flooded with spill water of Kantalai tank when the irrigation authorities suddenly opened the spill gates without any prior notice, civil sources said.

The opening of sluice gates suddenly on friday by the irrigation authorities is highly considered in Muslim and Tamil circles as an act of sabotage by parties with vested interests to disrupt the smooth distribution of relief materials, source said

Till Thursday groups of persons suspected to be supporters of a political party, which has its base in the south, gathered at Kantalai and hand been engaged in stopping all vehicles transporting relief materials to Muttur areas on the pretext that enough relief had gone to Muttur and diverting them to other areas where majority community resides, sources said.

Several lorries including two deployed by Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) taking relief materials to Tsunami victims returned to Kantalai friday evening because the Kantalai-Allai road is impassable at a certain point as it is under spill flood water, civil sources said.

The returned lorries are now stranded in Kantalai Divisional Secretariat office premises, TRO sources said.

Meanwhile, about 38 Tamil families residing at Mulliayadi in Thampalakamam divisional secretariat were shifted to Puddukudiruppu, as their lands and houses have been flooded with spill water of Kantalai tank. TRO took immediate steps to feed them with cooked meals and to provide other urgent needs, sources said.