No compensation for Palaly expansion

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 December 2000, 14:52 GMT]
Hundreds of families in Valikamam-north sector who had to vacate their houses when the Sri Lanka Army expanded its Palaly base in the Jaffna peninsula have not received compensations from the government, according to the Consortium of Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the northern town.

The Army has declared the Palaly and its surrounding areas as high-security zone and more than 10,000 hectors of cultivation land are banned for civilians, NGO sources said. All houses in the area have also been bulldozed by the army, the sources added.

The NGO sources said only 20 percent of nearly 20,000 families who had to move from these areas due to war during the past decade have been allowed by the military authorities to re-settle in their own properties.

The affected families are planning to submit a memorandum, through the NGO consortium in Jaffna to the Sri Lankan President, relevant ministries and foreign diplomatic missions in Colombo, the sources said.