Sea transfers for stranded travellers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 July 1999, 08:26 GMT]
Arrangements are underway today, to send by sea from Mannar island, those travellers from the Vanni who are stranded in Vavuniya and Mannar due to the closure of the access route to the areas not held by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), officials in Mannar said.

K.Ganesh the Government Agent in Vavuniya said that about 3000 people who had come from the areas held by the Liberation Tigers, to Vavuniya and Mannar for various purposes became stranded when the access route was closed amidst heavy fighting a few weeks ago.

"They are undergoing severe hardship as they have no place to stay. They have exhausted the money they had. Besides they have no spare clothes. They are also worried about their family members back at home in the Vanni" he said.

According to the officials in Mannar, the Government Agent S.M.Cruze had made a request to the SLA authorities for permission to send the stranded people in batches by a fleet of fibre glass fishing boats to Moondraampiddy ferry in the western coast of the mainland.

Meanwhile, S.Sunderarajan, 28, one of the four seriously ill patients who were taken Tuesday to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) sub delegate's office at Puthukidiyiruppu in Mullaithivu, died yesterday at the hospital, the Voice of Tigers

(VoT) radio said this morning.

The radio quoted Dr. S.Sivamohan the District Medical Officer of Puthukudiyiruppu as saying that the 4 seriously sick patients who were in need of immediate transfer to Anuradhapura or Colombo hospital were shown to the ICRC officials on Tuesday but there were no arrangements or reply from the sub delegate of ICRC there.

He blamed the closure of the road to the Vanni and the present inability of the international non governmental organisations in carrying out their humanitarian services in the Vanni for the death of this patient.