SLA officers enrich on scrap metal bribes, complain Jaffna traders

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 December 2009, 06:48 GMT]
Muslim traders in Jaffna alleged that they have to pay Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officers nearly 50,000 rupees as bribe to get the Ministry of Defence (MoD) permission to transport scrap iron to the South. Meanwhile, the SLA officers in Vanni are alleged to be making millions of rupees by sending thousands of metric ton scrap iron stored by Liberation Tigers in Vanni, sources in Vanni said.

Muslim traders in Jaffna purchase scrap iron at the rate of ten rupees a kg and sell it to a private Indian Steel recycling plant in South at eighty rupees per kg.

The steel plant recycles the scrap iron into rods and sells it in areas including the north.

The traders have to obtain MoD permission to transport scrap iron to the South and the SLA officers in Jaffna are alleged of taking bribe to allow the transportation of scrap iron from North.

Liberation Tigers are said to have gathered a huge amount of scrap iron with the view to open steel recycling plant and stored it Pazhai area.