Govt replaces Tamil Trinco Youth Affairs Deputy

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 August 1999, 17:05 GMT]
The government has replaced the Tamil Assistant Director of the Trincomalee district office's Department of Youth Affairs with a Sinhala officer, Tamil sources here said.

They added that the move, which takes place with immediate effect, is part of a wider scheme to introduce more Sinhala officers to the Trincomalee district office.

There are about 123 National Youth Services Clubs in the Trincomalee district, the majority of which, 87, have Tamil-speaking members. The remaining 36 have a Sinhala-speaking membership.

As the majority of clubs are Tamil speaking in the Trincomalee area, the Department of Youth Affairs, part of the the Ministry of Sports, Youth Affairs, posted more Tamil officers, including the Assistant Director, from the Tamil community to the region.

However, Tamil youth club memebers have alleged that outsiders are now working to make Trincomalee's district office of the NYSC Sinhala-dominated and that the ousting of the Tamil Assistant Director is the beginning of a purge.

The NYSC Trincomalee district office is now attached to the Anuradhapura regional office in the North Central Province, although Batticola is the regional office for the north eastern region.

With the appointments of more Sinhala officers, the Trincomalee district of the NYSC has now switched its administration to Sinhala causing immense hardship to Tamil-speaking members of the NYSC clubs in the district, sources said.