‘Normalcy in NE only when displaced are resettled’ - Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 March 2003, 17:14 GMT]
Normalcy will return to the North East province only after thousands of displaced people now languishing in refugee camps and welfare centers are resettled in their own lands, said Mr.R. Sampanthan, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA)parliamentary group leader, at a function to open the office of the Socio Economic Development Committee (SEDC) in Thiriyai, a traditional Tamil village forty-two kilometers north of Trincomalee, sources said.

(L-R) Trincomalee SLMM head Mr.Jan Ledang, Parliamentarian Mr.Thurairetnasingham, LTTE Trincomalee district political head Tilak

The Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) in Trincomalee opened an office of the SEDC to take forward the resettlement program of the displaced families in Thiriyai, which had been abandoned for more than twenty years due to the war.

Attorney-at-Law Mr.K.Sivapalan lit the traditional lamp and the Kuchchaveli Divisional Secretary Mr. K.S.Jeyachandra unveiled the name board. Mr. Sampanthan declared open the office by cutting the ribbon.

The Trincomalee district political head of the LTTE Mr.Tilak, the SLMM head in Trincomalee Mr.Jan Ledang, Trincomalee Zonal Director of Education Mr.K.Thilakaretnam, and the Trincomalee co-ordinator of the TRO Mr.K.Mathavarajah participated in the event.


Kuchchaveli Divisional Secretary Mr.K.S.Jeyachandra unveiling the name board of the Thiriyai SEDC office.


Mr.Sampanthan said that two factors continue to frustrate the smooth resettlement of displaced in their own villages, namely the activity of the security forces and the delay in demining the North East. “The government should make security arrangements without undermining resettlement. Until the displaced are resettled, normalcy will not return to the province and no considerable progress could be made in taking forward the peace process," he said, and added, “I told this to the Swiss government leaders when I visited the country a few days ago as a member of the Sri Lankan parliamentary group.”

Mr.Sampanthan said he had requested the president of the Inter parliamentary Union (IPU) to send a delegation of the IPU to Sri Lanka to bring a consensus among the political parties in the south of the country in regard to the resettlement of displaced in their own villages.

Speaking of the Trincomalee district, Mr.Sampanthan said, "Normalcy has not yet returned to the district. The restoration work of the historic Pilliayar Temple at Kanniya has been suspended on the orders of the authorities concerned. The opening of the LTTE war memorial has not taken place.”

The farmers of Tampalakamam are unable to allow their cattle to graze in the lands allocated for them at Attavanaikulam due to the ban imposed by the security forces, said Mr. Sampanthan, “even after the Government Agent and the Senior Superintendent of Police gave permission. These obstacles should be removed immediately to restore normalcy in the district.”

LTTE’s Trincomalee district political head Mr.S.Tilak, TNA parliamentarian Mr.K.Thurairetnasingham, TRO Trincomalee co-ordinator Mr.K.Mathavarajah, and TRO project officer Mr.Kalaivarnan also spoke at the function, sources said.


Attorney-at-Law K.Sivapalan lighting the traditional oil lamp