Colombo plans to settle Sinhala people in Thiryaay in Trincomalee district

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 September 2010, 18:02 GMT]
Due to pressure from the Buddhist priests of Kirihandu Seya Buddhist temple situated in the traditional Tamil village of Thiriyaay in Trincomalee district, the Government Agent of Trincomalee, Major Gen. (Retd) Ranjit de Silva has stopped the restoration of Neelappa’nikkan tank in Thiriyaay which feeds about 3,000 acres of paddy fields of the residents evicted by Sri Lanka Army (SLA), sources in Trincomalee said. Sri Lanka Minister of Irrigation and Road Development M. S. Uthumalebbe had recently inaugurated the restoration of the tank on the requests of the people of Thiriyaay. Meanwhile, the residents of Thiriyaay said that this is part of a subtle move by the chauvinist elements in Sri Lanka government to attach more lands to the Buddhist temple in order to settle Sinhalese from South.

The people of Thiriyaay who are allowed to resettle in their village had high hopes of the restoration of Neelappa’nikkan tank so that they could begin cultivation in their paddy lands.

A portion of the tank bund had breached several years ago when the people had fled from Thiriyaay due to SLA offensives.

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