SLA bars paddy cultivation in Trinco village

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2004, 12:40 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has prohibited resettled Tamil farming families in Paththinipuram village from cultivating their paddy fields for the forthcoming season, said the villagers in complaints lodged with the Tampalakamam Divisional Secretary (DS) and Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO).

Paththinipuram is an agricultural village, now being rehabilitated by the TRO since the ceasefire came into operation three years ago in 2002. The entire village fled during 1990 disturbances.

About ten houses has been constructed and handed over to resettled internally displaced families numbering about 20 by the TRO, sources said.

Paththinipuram village was formed in 1968, thirty-six years ago with lands allocated to landless Tamils in Tampalakamam division. Each family was allotted one-acre of high land and two acres of paddy land under the Land Development Ordinance (LDO). Resettled families possess permits issued under the LDO, sources said.

Farming families commenced ploughing their fields for the forthcoming season with the first rain. When farmers were ploughing for the second time soldiers located in the Palampoddaru SLA detachment close to Paththinipuram village ordered the farmers to stop sowing seeds, farmers said in written complaints lodged with the Tampalakamam DS through their village level office (Grama Sevaka). Farmers have sent their protest with copies of their land permits to Tampalakamam DS and the District Co-ordinator of the TRO for further action, sources said.

Resettled farm families are currently in a quandary to find alternative means to generate income for their survival, civil sources said.

Meanwhile, Palampoddaru SLA detachment is in the process of strengthening its checkpoints, located close to Paththinipuram village, sources said.