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Government will enhance security in East - PM

by Ravi Ladduwahetty

SLMC Leader and Minister of Port Development, Shipping, Eastern Development and Muslim Religious Affairs Rauf Hakeem met Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday to discuss the situation in the East and additional security arrangements.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has assured the SLMC Leader that the Government would bolster the security of the Eastern Province and had directed Defence Minister Tilak Marapana and Interior Minister John Ameratunga to take steps to restore security in the Muslim villages in the Eastern Province. The issue of relocation of military camps has also been discussed.

This followed two rounds of meetings that the Prime Minister and Minister Hakeem had in Parliament in relation to the recent hostilities in the East.

The Prime Minister will also appoint a three member committee to rehabilitate Valachchainai which had been subject to destruction. The reconstruction work will be carried out by the Urban Development Authority.

The Minister has also assured the Prime Minister that no SLMC Member would be sitting in the Opposition benches in Parliament and refuted media reports in this regard.

He had also requested the Prime Minister to review certain clauses in the Ceasefire Agreement in order to prevent a recurrence of recent events in the East.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and SLMC Leader Hakeem will hold another meeting on July 16 at which the Security Forces Commanders will also participate to review the situation in the East and the steps taken so far to restore normality. 

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