Another 9,000 IDPs to be resettled today
Lakshmi DE SILVA
Another batch of nearly 9,000 Internally Displaced Persons now living
in the welfare villages of Vavunia will be resettled in their own
villages in the North and East today, senior official sources told the
Daily News yesterday.
Buses to take the IDPs back to their villages have been arranged by
the Rehabilitation and Disaster Relief Ministry with lunch and dinner
provided by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
These IDPs will be resettled in Jaffna District in the North and
Batticaloa, Ampara and Trincomalee Districts in the East.
The District Secretaries have been directed to assist in their smooth
return to normalcy and their livelihoods.
For instance, farmer families would be provided with free seed
material and fertilizer while fisher families will be given fishing
tackle free of charge, they said.
Each family of IDPs will be given dry rations provided by the World
Food Program sufficient for six months while they will also be provided
with kitchen utensils and other material like textiles to re-start their
normal lives. They will also be given Rs.25,000 to repair their houses.
The infrastructure facilities have been provided in the villages while
de-mining goes on and security measures are put in place in the areas
where they will be resettled, sources also said.
Official sources in Vavunia said the Presidential Task Force was
taking steps to ensure that more IDPs were resettled in their own
villages or towns as soon as possible and the de-mining process was
continuing to ensure the safety of the IDPs when they come back to their
villages.
|
