2N LEAD
Genocidal Sri Lanka schemes corporate Sinhalicisation choking Jaffna and Vanni
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 April 2014, 23:30 GMT]
While the occupying Sri Lankan military has been constructing hotels and resorts along the coastal strips of the occupied country of Eezham Tamils from Ampaa’rai to Puththa’lam for military run affairs, a systematic corporate programme of coastal land grab is being schemed by Colombo’s ministries under the direct supervision by SL presidential sibling Basil Rajapaksa, the minister of ‘Economic Development’ and Namal Rajapaksa, the son of SL president Mahinda Rajapaksa. The latest design is to choke Jaffna by turning the narrow strip of Chu’ndikku’lam sandbar, which links the peninsula with Vanni mainland, into a Sinhala colony with new resorts, prawn farming industry and state of the art houses to tolerate any disaster with the guarantee from the SL disaster management ministry with the backing of occupying SL military.
Denying access to Tamil fishermen who have been using the strip for seasonal fishing and refusing resettlement to the few Tamils who have been uprooted from Chu’ndikku’lam, the SL military is already housing Sinhala fishermen from South to engage in fishing along the coast.
Since the area has been already declared as bird sanctuary and extended into one of the largest ‘natural parks’ by the occupying Colombo through involving the SL ministry of wildlife resources conservation, the transformation is taking place with a low profile under a strict militarised environment, Tamil civil officials in Jaffna said.
Colombo's blueprint for expansion of Chu'ndikku'lam Sanctuary into Natual Park [Map courtesy: Integrated Strategic Environmental Assessments (ISEA) - North]
Sandwiched between the resourceful Jaffna lagoon and the deep sea at a strategic location, the Chu’ndikku’lam sandbar is becoming a major hub Colombo’s Sinhalicisation, committing demographic genocide and corporate exploitation in the country of Eezham Tamils, the civil officials further said.
The Sri Lankan Government Agent of Jaffna Mr Sunthararam Arumainayakam and Maruthangkea’ni Divisional Secretary were invited to a workshop held at a military camp on 06 and 07 April. The workshop, exploring the possibilities of constructing disaster-managed houses on the strip, was organised by the SL ministries of disaster management and economic development. SL Minister Basil Rajapaksa was flown to the site in a Sri Lanka Air Force helicopter to attend the workshop and a series of meetings.
A military-built resort is already in operation between Keavil and Chu’ndik-ku’lam.
The new programme of corporate Sinhalicisation is targeting a 10 km long narrow strip.
The postmaster of Chu’ndikku’lam, who was uprooted from the area, is living in Point Pedro. He has been denied access to his residence at Chu’ndik-ku’lam. Likewise, Tamil fishermen from the nearby fishing villages are denied access to engage in seasonal fishing from their huts at the strip.
A recently schemed expansion of the ‘Natural Park’ will also be targeting Ki’linochchi and Mullaiththeevu districts, the Tamil civil officials in Ki’lnochchi said.
Constructing resorts and settling Sinhalese as workers at these ‘tourist’ facilities with the offer of housing and thriving business opportunities has been a tactic adopted by Colombo after the genocidal war in 2009.
Similar programmes are being carried out at Kaangkeasanthu’rai (KKS), Kaarai-nakar, Ooraaththu’rai, Neduntheevu in Jaffna district. Similar schemes have also been reported in Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampaa’rai districts in the East.
The so-called devolved powers of the 13th Amendment and the provincial council system backed by India and the Geneva process spearheaded by the USA which removed even the term de-militarisation from the resolution, have completely failed to address the structural genocide being committed on the nation of Eezham Tamils after the genocidal war in 2009, commented Tamil civil sources in Jaffna.
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