New Navy base on Jaffna coast

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 May 2005, 17:58 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) has started preliminary work on a new naval base at Thiruvadinilai beach in Chulipuram, on the Jaffna peninsula’s western coast, reports said this week.

Large quantities of gravel and sand have been transported over to the beach.

Local fishermen say buoys have also been deployed to mark out the particular area of the harbour.

SLN personnel who have set up camp on the beach are preventing local fishermen from fishing there, the Colombo based daily Virakesari reported.

The fishing communities in Thiruvadinilai and other areas like Puliyanthurai and Ponnalai on the western coast of Jaffna have endured severe military restrictions on their livelihoods for many years, continuing from the time of conflict.

Local community leaders told TamilNet that their entreaties to the military leaderhip in Jaffna had proved of no avail.

Under the terms of the Ceasefire Agreement between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government, all military restrictions on fishing and farming activities should have been withdrawn within months of its signing in February 2002.