Indian aid to resettled Vanni civilians left undistributed along A9 road

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 April 2010, 16:06 GMT]
Materials to construct shelters given as aid by India meant for the resettled families in Vanni have not been fully distributed to them and are left unattended along A9 road due to noncooperation of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities in Vanni and their refusal to grant permission for distribution, sources close to Ki’linochchi Secretariat said. SLA authorities purposely delay and obstruct distribution of these materials with the aim to give them to Sinhalese families to be colonized in places including Kokkaavil and Maangku’lam in Vanni, according to some Tamil National Alliance (TNA) newly elected representatives. The distribution of the materials had not been carried out by the government officials due to noncooperation by SLA authorities in Vanni.



Chinese donated blue shelters, however, are allowed to be distributed to the resettled families in Vanni who have to manage in these temporary dwellings.

Each family of the resettled persons in Vanni had been given 13 roofing sheets and other needed materials to build houses. However, only a few families have been distributed with these materials, the sources said.

Most of the houses of uprooted Vanni civilians had been completely damaged during the offensive on Vanni while the roofing, door and window frames of the houses that escaped destruction had been pilfered by SLA soldiers and taken away to the south.



The government and the SLA are engaging in schemes with the aim to colonize Vanni with Sinhalese families around the SLA bases and High Security Zones, TNA members said.

The government purposely keeps the uprooted Vanni civilians in Vavuniyaa detention centres without resettling them so that colonization of Vanni with Sinhalese families could be carried out with ease, they added.