Quarterly meetings keep Jaffna council alive

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 March 1999, 20:35 GMT]
The Jaffna Municipal council was convened today by the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF). The meeting was held at the office of the EPRLF on Hospital street in the high security zone of Jaffna town following PLOTE's refusal to attend the event at the TULF's office for security reasons.

Thirteen municipal councillors of the TULF, EPDP and PLOTE took part in the meeting.

It was resolved to ask the government to cancel the gazette notification made by the UNP regime in 1987 purportedly for the take over of lands belonging to civilians around the Palaly SLA base complex.

It was also decided to ask the government to expedite the exhumation of the newly discovered grave site near the Duraiappa stadium in Jaffna.

The last meeting of the Jaffna Municipal council was held on Jan.1 by a TULF team led by the current Mayor, R. Raviraj, who was flown from Colombo to Jaffna in a military flight.

Meanwhile, a senior MP of the TULF in Colombo told TamilNet that he was not aware of the meeting convened by his party in Jaffna today.

The TULF MP pointed out that the council would stand dissolved if it did not meet at least once in three months and that tomorrow is the last day of the period.

He said that the Mayor can collect at least Rs. 40,000 as his salary and entertainment allowance by meeting thus every three months to keep the council alive on paper. (A Mayor is paid a salary of 12,000 rupees per month and 1000 rupees entertainment allowance. He is entitled to other emoluments as well).

The MP said that the TULF's Jaffna MC group will take wing to Jaffna from Colombo again in three months time for the same fundamental reason.