Sinhala encroachment unabated in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 December 2010, 10:36 GMT]
Encroachment of lands belonging to Tamil people goes unabated in several villages in Batticaloa district despite assurances given by M.L.A.M.Hisbullah, a deputy minister for women affairs who also holds the post of chairman of the Batticaloa District Development and Coordinating Committee, and Deputy Minister for Resettlement Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan that they would take immediate action, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP P. Selvarasa charged at the District Development and Coordination (DDC) meeting, sources in Batticaloa Thursday said.

Around 350 Sinhalese have encroached lands belonging to Tamils and have started paddy cultivation in Kevu'liyaaamadu, Kachchatkodicheanai, Suvaamimalai villages in Paddippazhai DS division in Batticaloa district.

They also chase out Tamils remaining in the area and doing cultivation.

Mr. Hisbullah and Mr. Muralitharan were supposed to take action according to the minutes of the previous DDC meeting, the TNA MP said, adding that the number of Sinhalese encroaching the areas had increased to 400.

Mr. Selvarasa also accused Muralitharan for failing to keep his promise given at the last DDC meeting that he would solve several shortcomings prevailing in the development of roads, irrigation and schools.

Meanwhile, those displaced from Vanni and resettled in Batticaloa district have not been provided with free dry ration, the TNA MP pointed out at the DDC meeting, noting that the uprooted and resettled in Vanni are getting free dry ration for the first six months and then for three months. The issue was also taken up in the last DDC meeting, he said.