SLA approval mandatory for Vadamaraadchi development projects

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 July 2008, 01:39 GMT]
The commanding officer of 52nd Division of Sri Lanka Army (SLA), in a letter sent to the Jaffna Government Agent (GA) Friday, has instructed the GA to obtain permission from SLA before implementing any projects in SLA- controlled Vadamaaradchi East.

The letter states that Jaffna GA must obtain prior permission before commencing any developmental projects in SLA- controlled areas such as Potpathi, Ampan, Kudaththanai and Manal’kaadu, sources close to the GA said.

Currently, an organization named Tsunami Affected Area Rebuilding Project (TAARP) is planning to build infrastructure in 32 villages at a cost of Rs.5m. per village funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB).

However, frequent interference by SLA has hindered progress in all developmental activities. A plan to construct a main road in Ampan was recently abandoned due restrictions imposed by SLA in transporting construction workers and building materials into this area, civil society sources in Jaffna said.

A Public Market and a play school for children planned to be constructed in Kudaththanai area also suffered the same fate due SLA–imposed restrictions, area civil leaders said.

10 out of these 32 villages are in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled Marutha’ngkea’ni area, and the projects are being carried out only in the remaining 22 areas. So far Rs. 88m have been disbursed for project implementation in the 22 villages in SLA-controlled areas.

However, even these development projects in SLA-controlled areas too are unable to be completed within the targeted time due to deliberate obstacles and interference by SLA, officials involved in the projects said.