Floods displace uprooted Valikaamam North families in Jaffna
[TamilNet, Monday, 06 November 2017, 23:39 GMT]
75 of 125 displaced families (60%) so far displaced due to floods caused by intermittent monsoon rains in Jaffna are people who have been uprooted from Valikaamam North three decades ago and who have been residing in the so-called welfare camps, District Secretariat civil sources in Jaffna said. While the occupying military of genocidal Sri Lanka has refused to consider further release of lands from the ‘military zone’ surrounding the Palaali army cantonment, around 100,000 people have been uprooted from their houses, fertile soil for agriculture and the coast with access to the fish-rich seabed. The most deprived among the uprooted live in 34 so-called welfare camps. One of the camps, located at Polika'ndi in Vadamaraadchi North, has been severely affected by the floods. They are now sheltered at the Multi Purpose Cooperative Society building, the sources further said.
Almost all the ‘welfare camps’, including the one SL President Maithiripala Sirisena visited early last year promising speedy resettlement, have been affected by the floods.
Mr Sirisena didn't fulfil what he pledged. Only a few pockets, and that too as planned under the Rajapaksa regime, have been released.
Now, the SL military has stated that there would be no further release of even the pockets of lands for a two-year period.
The SL military stopped the process of releasing further lands when the SL State was given two-years postponement in Geneva, commented Suntharam Subramaniam, the chairman of Mayiliddi Uprooted Peoples’ Organisation.
In the meantime, occupying SL military and the officials employed by the unitary State have been trying to deceive the uprooted people to opt for alternative lands elsewhere.
The Provincial Council doesn't have enough powers to intervene in the process of resettlement or land issues.
It is under these circumstances the uprooted people from Vasaavi'laan and Palaali South took to the streets on Sunday demanding answers from SL President who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the occupying Sinhala armed forces.
The occupying military is doing farms and is housing its family members from South in their occupied properties, the protesting people told media amidst pouring rains.
Data from District Secretariat in Jaffna on uprooted landowners in the district
The extent of private lands occupied by the military of genocidal Sri Lanka in Vali North stands at 4,589 acres, according to the data from the District Secretariat.
There are at least 7,900 private landowners, still uprooted from Valikaamam North in Jaffna division, according to the data from Jaffna District Secretariat from April 2017.
However, in reality, the number is at least two to three times high, as the figure of landowners doesn't count the number of current family units within the concerned lands.
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