Army urged to quit Jaffna hotels

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 May 2002, 19:38 GMT]
Sri Lankan military personnel occupying the well known Subash Hotel in Jaffna have been asked to vacate the premises, press reports said this week. In letters to the military authorities, Mr. Ranasinghe, Principal of the Sri Lanka Schools of Hotel management, requested that soldiers be withdraw from the Hotel so that it could resume functioning.

The Jaffna Branch of the Hotel management school was opened in March, and over 50 students are said to have enrolled for training. The Subash Hotel has the facilities to train these new students, and it is important for proper training of these students that the SLA should withdraw from the Subash Hotel, the letters stated.

Along with many other building, the Sri Lanka army camped in the landmark hotel ñ and two other major tourist hotels in Jaffna. The military justified the action, citing a lack of buildings for its troops.

The 51-2 Brigade of the Army has its Head Quarters at Subash Hotel while the 52-1 Brigade Head Quarters is located at the Gnanam Hotel.

Under the terms of the permanent ceasefire agreement between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government, military personnel are obliged to vacate public buildings such as schools and places of worship and private properties that have been occupied during the conflict.