Eastern province facing isolation

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government has decided to stop the movement of vehicles out of the eastern province from March. 27. No vehicles from the Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara districts will be allowed to proceed beyond specified points on the access roads to the province which are currently in use from this date.

Passengers will have to walk across these 'border' points and board vehicles from other parts of the country to continue their journey.

Lorries from the east will have to unload their goods at these points to be reloaded onto vehicles from outside the province.

The points specified for the three districts of the east are:

Mannampiddi - Batticaloa district

Kittulkattuwa - Trincomalee district

Siyambalanduwa, Padiyatalawa, Karandagola, Namal Oya and

Hasalaka - Ampara district.

The Batticaloa district has four roads linking it with the rest of the island.

The first one runs north along the coast through Valaichenai, Vakarai and Muthur to Trincomalee. This road is closed now as it is under the control of the Liberation Tigers between Muthur south and Valaichenai north.

The second one turns west at Valaichenai and runs through Welikanda, Mannampiddi, Polannaruwa etc., to Colombo. This remain the main access route to the district now.

The third turns west at the Chenkalady junction, 16 kilometers north of Batticaloa, and runs through Pullumalai, Maha-Oya, Padiyatalawa, Mahiyangana etc., to Badulla and Kandy. This road is closed as the Liberation Tigers control it between Pullumalai and Chenkaladi.

The fourth runs south along the coast to Kalmunai in the Ampara district which has four main routes leading out of it.

The vehicle ban at the Ampara entry points, therefore, covers this road from Batticaloa.

The Ampara district has several large and small road networks through which it is possible to leave the district. This is the reason why transfer barriers are going to be established even in remote places such as Namal Oya and Hasalaka.

The main access road to Trincomalee in use currently is the Habarana, Kanthalai, Tambalakamam road. The transfer point on this road is at Kittulkattuwa.

The other access road to the district runs north west through Kanniya, Pankulam and branches towards Anuradhapura and Vavuniya at Horowapotana junction. This road is now largely used for military purposes only.

The road that runs north of Trincomalee along the coast to Pulmoddai and then to Anuradhapura has also been closed to civilian transport for many years.

Related Articles:
13.03.98   Transport restrictions hit Batticaloa
12.03.98   Protests against vehicle ban
12.03.98   Batticaloa vehicles barred