Gotabhaya bans transport of livestock from abandoned Tamil homes in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 October 2007, 08:55 GMT]
Acting on a complaint made by Ameer Ali, Sri Lankan minister of disaster relief services, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan defense secretary, has instructed teh Batticaloa district commanding officer of Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Superintendents of Police and officers of Special Task Force (STF) to ban the transport of livestock belonging to Tamils from the areas in Batticaloa district, recently brought under the control of the SLA. Tamils in these areas have repeatedly lodged complaint with Mr. Ameer Ali that cattle from their homes were being systematically stolen out of the district by paramilitaries and Sri Lankan soldiers and sold in Sinhala areas of the Polonnaruwa district.

The people displaced due to the recent military offensives have not yet been resettled in areas such as Chengkaladi-Badulla Road and Pulipaaynthakal, Kiraan.

The SLA soldiers, paramilitary personnel, and various thieves were cashing on the situation are stealing the livestock from the abandoned houses, the affected civilians have complained.

More than 60,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) affected by the recent offensives by the Sri Lankan military are still languishing in welfare centers under sub standard conditions, devoid of many basic amenities.

Already, the civilians have made a number of complaints regarding the theft of their livestock in areas such as Vaakarai and Kokkaddichchoalai to their members of Parliament as well as to a number of top officials, including the SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

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