Kandapola affected to get compensation

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 May 2004, 10:50 GMT]
Sixty five persons from Kandapola who were injured or whose properties suffered damages during the ethnic violence in Kandapola, Nuwara Eliya district on the 28 August 2004, when Sri Lanka police opened fire, are to be compensated by the Sri Lanka Government, local media reported.

Minister of Media and Communications, Reginald Cooray, in a press briefing Friday said, "Minister of Estate Infrastructure C.B.Ratnayake submitted to the UPFA Government a details of the damages suffered by sixty five persons during the Kandapola vilence.

"The Sri Lanka parliament has reviewed the list and has allocated Rs.7.6m as compensation to these victims."

Sri Lanka's President has already provided Rs.100,000 each to the two families of Tamils who were killed in the incident.

Clashes between Tamils and Sinhalese which flared up over a vehicle accident in Kandapola resulted in two Tamils killed by police fire and a third admitted to hospital in a critical condition. In addition, 9 Tamils were wounded, 4 of them severely.

A senior Tamil MP of the Ceylon Workers' Congress slammed the Police for precipitating the communal violence. "The Police acted in a very partial manner", he said. Fourteen Tamil shops in Kandapola were smashed up and ransacked.

Kandapola is located 16 kilometres from Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka's main hill country town and holiday resort.