Batticaloa Traders stop bringing goods from Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Batticaloa Traders' Association said this afternoon that all businessmen in Batticaloa will stop bringing goods from Colombo to Batticaloa for a week. The Association also said that traders will stop sending vehicles to Mannampiddi, near the Polannaruwa district border, from tomorrow for a week in protest against the new security regulation by the Sri Lankan government.

The new regulations came into effect from noon yesterday which barred all vehicles from the Batticaloa and Ampara from leaving these districts.

The Association said that if the government does not lift the ban on Batticaloa vehicles during this week, traders would close shops and begin a general Hartal across the district.

Local leaders of the TULF, UNP and the PLOTE have condemned the government's action.

Mr. Alisahir Moulana, UNP Member of Parliament for Batticaloa said that this ban is a precursor to an economic embargo by the government on the east.