SLA ban on building materials to Vaharai stays- Basil Rajapakse
[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 September 2006, 17:00 GMT]
Basil Rajapakse, brother and Senior Advisor to Sri Lanka's President Mr Mahinda Rajapakse, informed a delegation of Batticaloa District Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians that no building materials can be transported into LTTE-held Vaharai area north of Batticaloa until further notice, during a meeting held at the office the Srilankan President Friday at 11.00 a.m., sources in Colombo said.
The delegation led by M.S.S. Amir Ali, Minister for Diaster Services included parliamentarians P.Ariyanarenthiran, K.Kanagasabai and T.Thangeswary, and C.Punniyamoorthy, Batticaloa District Government Agent. Restrictions imposed by SLA troops for the transport of building materials and fuel for agricultural needs into LTTE–held areas was discussed during the meeting. The delegation pointed out that farmers have complained that more than 55,000 acres of paddy land would remain uncultivated if ban on fuel and agricultural material are not allowed. Mr Rajapakse agreed to lift the ban on transport of materials related to agriculture and to permit the transport of fuel required for cultivation into these areas with Government Agent’s permit. It was also agreed that cement and iron rods can be taken into all areas of the district except Vaharai. Mr.Rajapakse however, emphasized that the ban on transport of huge quantitative of building materials still remains in effect. Mr Rajapakse also told the parliamentarians that in the pretext of transporting materials for constructions the LTTE was using the material to reinforce existing bunkers and to build new bunkers in Trincomalee District.
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