Jaffna braces for battle

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 January 2008, 13:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities in Jaffna have forwarded requests to the Director of Public Health Service (DPHS) in Jaffna to hand over the ambulances in their use in case of an emergency situation, sources in Health Ministry in Colombo said. Speculation is rife in Jaffna that SLA is preparing an offensive in the northern front, civil society sources in Jaffna said.

SLA is also collecting details of the number of vehicles that could be appropriated from government departments in the peninsula, local residents said.

Ambulances are the top priority in the SLA list of appropriation.

With the SLA closure of A9 land route in 2005 August, the SLA in Jaffna, running short of vehicles, appropriated those of private owners, and are yet to hand them back, sources added.

Jaffna DPHS is the sole authority of all the hospitals except Jaffna Teaching Hospital and the ambulances allocated to the hospitals in Jaffna peninsula.

SLA appropriation of ambulances during critical periods in Jaffna will affect the public to a great extent in times of emergencies, civil society sources said.