Women protestors in Jaffna urge re-opening of A9

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 September 2006, 17:41 GMT]
More than 600 women gathered in front of the main entrance to the Government Secretariat in Jaffna Wednesday morning at 10:30 demanding immediate action to arrange safe passage out of Jaffna for over 11,000 persons from other districts and foreign countries trapped in the peninsula.

The protest lasted two hours, from 10:30 a.m. till 12:30, affecting the functioning of the secretariat.

The protesters called for the opening of the A-9 highway. They pointed out that visitors from foreign countries, those employed in other districts and the civilians who were in need of urgent medical treatment needed immediate transportation arrangement and appealed to the authorities to take immediate steps to resolve the situation.

Government Agent of Jaffna, K. Ganesh, responded that he had contacted government officials in Colombo and the military authorities. Constructive action is yet to been taken. The GA said he has been constantly reminding the authorities about the situation.

The protesters also condemned the International NGO's that it was unfair of them for securing air and sea transport to the members of the INGOs ignoring the civilians who were in need of travel arrangements for urgent medical treatment in Colombo.