Colombo's ‘Mahaweli Authority’ chases away resettled Eezham Tamils in Kokkuth-thoduvaay
[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 June 2016, 21:18 GMT]
Genocidal Sri Lanka's Ministry of ‘Mahaweli Development & Environment’, which is led by SL President Maithiripala Sirisena, has started to deploy violence to chase away the resettled Eezham Tamils at 15th Mile Post in Kokkuth-thoduvaay, a strategically situated coastal village in Karai-thu'raip-pattu division of Mullaiththeevu district, the affected families complained. On 02 June, SL Forest Department personnel, accompanied by ‘Mahaweli Development’ officials forcibly removed the temporary huts of some of the resettled Tamil families at 15th Mile Post. After the end of genocidal onslaught on Vanni in May 2009, the project of Sinhalicisation has been intensified through the Sinhala colony of Padaviya in Anuradhapura and Vavuniyaa districts and the entire Ma'nalaa'ru (Weli-oya) area has been fully Sinhalicised and emerged as the ‘Sinhala Only’ administrative division in Mullaiththeevu.
The family of S. Ramachandran, who had returned from Tamil Nadu, India, to resettle in their village of Kaayaadik-ku'lam was chased away on 01 June by Forest Department personnel. The temporary hut of the family was destroyed by the Forest Department personnel. The SL Forest Department comes under the SL Ministry of Mahaweli. The land-owner was also detained by the Forest Department personnel, civil sources in Mullaiththeevu told TamilNet.
The resettled Tamil villagers are in possession of documents to prove their ownership to the lands. The divisional secretariat has already confirmed this. The land authority has also confirmed this in 2014 during the regime of Rajapaksa.
However, ‘Mahaweli Development’ ministry claims that these lands come under its colonisation scheme.
Sirisena's ministry is engaged in a project named as ‘Welioya Integrated Development Project’ with a budget of 4,000 million rupees, informed civil sources in Mullaiththeevu said.
The project was already schemed when Maithiripala was in control of the same ministry under Rajapaksa's regime. The entire Ma'nalaa'ru area of Eezham Tamils has been carved out as a separate division in Mullaiththeevu district.
The project is now targeting to chase away the Eezham Tamil families, particularly from the coastal villages of Kokkuththoduvaay, Kokku'laay an Karunaadduk-kea'ni.
The location of Kokku'laay village and lagoon. [Satellite map courtesy: Google Earth]
Shown within the box is the target area of Colombo discussed in the feature
‘Mahaweli Master plan’ currently targeting Mullaiththeevu, Batticaloa and Ampaa'rai through System L and System B [Image courtesy:mahaweli.gov.lk]
‘Eastern Naval Area’ as defined by the occupying SL Navy [Image courtesy: navy.lk]
Most of their agricultural lands located in Munthiriyan-ku'lam, Aamaiyan-ku'lam, Adaiyak-ka'ruththaan, Erichcha-kaadu, Ka'n'naaddi-ve'li and belonged to the Tamil families of the three villages have already been seized by the occupying Sinhala settlers from the ‘Sinhala Only’ Welioya division in Mullaiththeevu.
The occupation scheme targets 11 villages including some from Vavuniyaa and Anuradhapura districts.
A total of 6,788 families are receiving lands and infrastructural support under the scheme, conceived to permanently wedge the demographic contiguity of the northern and eastern provinces at Kokkuth-thoduvaay.
Each Sinhala family will be receiving 0.5 acres of residential lands and 2 acres of agricultural lands, bringing the Tamil areas under the Mahaweli System L with irrigation, industrial and ‘socio-cultural’ facilities. Each of the Sinhala settlers is also being promised of proper irrigation from Mahaweli scheme to at least 1 acres of provided agricultural land.
Various Colombo-based ministries of Genocidal Sri Lanka, the detachments of occupying SL Navy, occupying Sinhala Army camps and extremist monks engaged in constructing Buddhist vihara at Kokku'laay are working together in the occupation scheme.
In the meantime, sea-based coastal occupation is being spearheaded by the SL Navy with the collaboration from the SL Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources ‘Development’, which provides permits to occupying Sinhalese fishermen.
Sinhala fishermen, who have been brought from South, attacked the Tamil Village (GS) Officer Jeevaratnam Jesuthas when he went to inspect illegal occupation on 10th April.
The Village officers from Karai-thu'raip-pattu and other divisions in Mullaiththevu district demonstrated against the attack.
Buddhist monks and extremist groups are brought by the SL Navy and Army to the area to encourage the Sinhalese from bordering districts and from other areas in South to seize both the residential and agricultural lands of Eezham Tamils.
The Northern Provincial Council has registered its protests to the structural changes and the construction of Buddhist Vihara at lands that belong to Tamil families.
However, the project of occupation is being accelerated by the occupying unitary ‘Sri Lanka’, which is being promoted by the external powers, particularly the Western countries led by Washington. The Chinese, who gained upper hand during the Rajapaksa regime, also continue to back the so-called ‘development’ paradigm.
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