Uprooted Champoor families undergo hardships in welfare centres

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 March 2010, 12:07 GMT]
Two thousand and five hundred members of seven hundred and ninety four uprooted families from Champoor in Moothoor East have been undergoing untold hardships without drinking water and water facilities for bathing purposes in temporary shelters which are located in Ki'liveddi, Paddiththidal and Ma'nalcheanai in Moothoor Divisional Secretariat (DS) division.

Proper drinking water is not provided to them as the water bowzer has gone out of order.

The displaced civilians earlier used Ki'liveddi River for bathing purposes. They stopped bathing in the river as they noted man eating crocodiles. Authorities have not provided them with alternate facilities either for drinking or bathing.

The civilians are sheltered in temporary huts made up of tin sheets. Hence due to the current warm weather they are inflicted with skin diseases and no medical facilities are provided to them even after representation made to the authorities concerned.

They were uprooted from their traditional villages Koo'niththeevu, Navaraththinapuram, Choodaik-kudaa and a portion of Kadatkaraich-cheanai and two GS divisions of Champoor when the Sri Lanka Army launched military operation in April 2006.

The civilians fled towards Batticaloa through multiple displacements and they were returned to Moothoor but were not allowed to resettle in their own villages as the SLA claimed that these villages come under the high security zone. Since then they are given temporary shelters in Ki'liveddi, Paddiththidal and Ma'na'l-cheanai.

Mr.K.Thurairatnasingham, former parliamentarian was told of the suffering by the uprooted persons when he visited the three welfare centres.