NECORD replaces school building destroyed by SLN

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 July 2003, 03:33 GMT]
The district commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Trincomalee, Colonel Pathuman, Monday declared open a new building at the Ilakanthai Tamil mixed school in the LTTE held Muttur east which was constructed under the Asian Development Bank funded North East Community Restoration Development (NECORD) project.

The only building of the Government Tamil Mixed School at Ilakanthai, a coastal village, was destroyed in 1990 when the Sri Lanka Navy’s gunboats shelled the area. Until last Friday, the school functioned in a cadjan hut put up by villagers in a private land far away from the seacoast to avoid SLN gunboat attack, residents said.

On Monday, students and their parents came in a procession from the dilapidated cadjan hut school to the new building with Colonel Pathuman, the LTTE’s Trincomalee district political head, Mr.Thilak, the NECORD’s Project Director, Mr.T.Lankaneson, Deputy Project Director, Mr.R. Umakanthan, and several officials, sources said.

The LTTE’s area commander, Mr.Uthayan, hoisted the Thamileelam national flag and the Tamil Eelam Police Service’ Trincomalee district supervisor, Mr. Thamilarasan, lit the traditional oil lamp. Earlier, the father of a LTTE cadre who died in combat, lit the flame of sacrifice.

Colonel Pathuman declared open the new building by unveiling the plaque. NECORD’s Mr.Lankaneson unveiled the name board. The new building was named after LTTE’s Parimalan, who died in combat. The LTTE’s district political head, Mr.Thilak, unveiled the name board of the new school building, sources said.




Students in front of the new school building

Addressing a meeting that followed the opening event, Colonel Pathuman said Tamil students, especially in villages, face difficulties in pursuing their higher studies even after the ceasefire came into operation and that due to the war, the education of Tamil students had been affected.

Mr.Lankaneson said he would be taking steps to provide a teachers’quarters for the school. Furthermore, under the NECORD, “action will be taken to launch a housing project for the villagers, and roads in the village will also be renovated,” he said.

The LTTE’s Trincomalee district education head, Ms. Kaaronja, said village schools were suffering due to shortage of teachers and other resources. “Parents and teachers should make it a point to utilize the available resources and other benefits to maximum,” she said.


students wait at the cadjan hut school






Col.Pathuman, Mr.Thilak, Mr. Lankaneson, Mr. Umakanthan being taken in a procession






Mr.Lankaneson unveils the name board






Colonel Pathuman declares the school open