Bishop of Jaffna urges Co-Chairs to prevail upon GoSL to open A9, implement CFA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 November 2006, 13:47 GMT]
Bishop of Jaffna, Rt. Rev. Dr. Thomas Savundaranayagam, Sunday in an urgent letter, urged the Members of the Co-Chairs for the Sri Lanka Peace Process, to prevail upon the Sri Lankan government to implement the cease-fire agreement (CFA) in its entirety, and to open the A-9 Road so that the people "don't feel they are living and suffering in an open prison any more." The Government of Sri Lanka "seems to be blind" to the difficulties of the people of Jaffna, and refuses to open the land route for the people and make good for the short-fall in the quantity of the goods brought, the Bishop said in his letter.



Full text of the letter from the Bishop of Jaffna follows:

An Urgent Letter to the Members of Co-chairs

The Deteriorating situation of Food and Transport in Jaffna

I am bringing to your kind attention the present plight of the people of Jaffna due to the deteriorating situation in the availability of Food and Transport in Jaffna. After the closure of the A9 Road the Government is trying to bring food and fuel for the 600,000 people of Jaffna by ship which is a tedious and difficult process. At this time of the year the weather and the rough sea are not favorable to this mode of transport. Moreover the quantity brought is not adequate and there are delays in the arrival of the ships.

There are long queues in all the co-operative shops, in Bakery for bread and in Army sale out-lets set up to help the people. It is the same sight in every Petrol-station. Moreover, there are black-markets which are selling essential goods at exorbitant prices. There is still shortage of consumer items like infant food , milk-powder, biscuits and sanitary products.

The Sri Lanka Government appears to be blind to the above difficulties and refuses to open the land route for the people and make good for the short-fall in the quantity of the goods brought. The Private trade has come to a stand still and there is no effort to revive it for the sake of the people. There are daily killings and disappearances of civilians taking place .

The people are tired of this war and they want to live in peace.

We urge you to prevail upon the S.L. Government to implement the cease-fire agreement (CFA) in its entirety and open the A-9 Road so that the people of Jaffna don't feel they are living and suffering in an open prison any more. This is necessary to avoid starvation and malnutrition among the future generation.

Yours truly,


Rt.Rev.Dr.Thomas Savundaranayagam
Bishop of Jaffna
19-11-06.



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