SLA vacated schools in HSZ still closed

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 March 2003, 23:31 GMT]
The Eluthumadduval North Maruthankulam Government Tamil Mixed School in the northern Jaffna district has not started functioning even after the Sri Lanka Army troops who occupied the school premises have vacated. Villagers complain that the school authorities are unable to repair the damaged buildings and restart the school, as the school is located in the Sri Lanka Army High Security Zone (HSZ).

A similar situation prevails in other parts of the Jaffna peninsula as education authorities are unable to repair damaged buildings to restart these schools, which are in the high security zones, sources said.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Monday vacated the office complex of the Neduntheivu Pradeshya Sabah (PS), which it had been occupying to provide security to cadres of the paramilitary group, Eelam People's Democratic party (EPDP).

The SLN provided accommodation to the EPDP members in the Neduntheivu PS office complex against the wishes of the villagers. The villagers conducted a sustained picketing campaign against the presence of EPDP members in the Neduntheivu office complex demanding that they should vacate from the area, sources said.

The SLN detachment that functioned in the Neduntheivu PS office complex comprising the local market and library withdrew to the main SLN base in Karainagar around noon Monday, the sources said.