LTTE, SLA discuss issues affecting Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 May 2004, 14:36 GMT]
Jaffna district political head of LTTE, Mr.C.Ilamparithi, and Jaffna district General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Sri Lanka Army, Major General Susil Chandrapala, held a two-hour long discussion at the office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Jaffna Friday morning, on problems affecting the normal life of the people of the Jaffna district, sources said.

The chief monitor of the SLMM in the district, Ms.Anita Sternberg, chaired the meeting.

The discussion commenced around 10.30 a.m. and centred on the increase of criminal activities, road accidents and the attempts by Sri Lanka's security forces to prevent internally displaced families from resettling in the their houses and lands 600 meters from the forward defense lines of the high security zones, sources said.

The SLA delegation included Major General Kulatunga. On behalf of the LTTE, the head of the sports division, Mr.K.Paapa, and media co-ordinator, Mr.K. Imayavan, also participated, sources said.

The participants explored the possibility of formulating a scheme to bring the criminal activities and road accidents to control in the peninsula, sources said.

The LTTE delegation pointed out at the discussion that no action had been taken by the Sri Lanka Navy regarding the killing of a fisherman in the Northen seas when a SLN patrol boat rammed his fishing vessel.

The LTTE further brought to the attention of the SLA officials of several incidents where SLA soldiers prevented the resettled IDP families in areas 600 meters outside the FDL of the HSZ from cultivating their lands.

The SLA delegation was told that government troops have been cutting down coconut and palmyra trees in large numbers, depleting the natural resources of the peninsula.

The possibility of resettling the IDP families in their lands, which had been declared mine-free after successful de-mining, was also discussed at the meeting, sources said

At the end of the discussions SLMM monitors stressed that SLA and LTTE should join hands and work for the restoration of normalcy in the Jaffna district.