Army burns roofing material

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 August 1998, 18:21 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army set fire to roofing material of Tamil homes in Linganagar, 1 km from Trincomalee, on Sunday, said sources in Trincomalee. The material had been forcibly removed from the homes in order to evict the residents from the Tamil area.

Major General Nihal Jayakody, Commanding Officer Task Force III in Trincomalee, has promised to maintain the status quo.

The SLA promised not to evict the residents after R. Sampanthan, MP (Tamil United Liberation Front, Trincomalee District) spoke to Major General Jayakody over the telephone and agreement was reached that the residents would not be evicted from Linganagar till a high level conference under Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga was summoned to resolve outstanding issues.

The Sri Lankan Army soldiers forcibly removed asbestos roofing sheets from two houses as well as cadjans and polythene sheets from others on Sunday and made a bonfire in the middle of the settlement.

The public complained to the Eelam People's democratic Party (EPDP) whose leader Douglas Devananda who faxed the President promptly appraising her of the situation, said sources.