Jaffna's civil, banking activities resume today

BY ANANTH Palakidnar

CIVIL and the banking activities crippled for the past one week in the Jaffna Peninsula will resume from today, sources said.

The Tamil National Organisation of Trade Unions which had called for the complete shutdown of civil and banking activities in the Peninsula following the spate of violence in the region for the past several weeks, had withdrawn its appeal to shutdown civil and banking activities in the North yesterday.

Work at all Government institutions, including even at the level of Grama Sevakas had come to a standstill during the past one week.

The Tamil National Organisation in its appeal to shut down civil and banking activities had earlier stated that in order to show the protest of the civil society in the North over the recent violence as well as to protect the innocent civilians, it had called upon to stop all civil and banking activities in the North.

"It is following the inconveniences faced by the civilians in dealing with their day-to-day activities in the Government offices and in the banks the Tamil National Organisation of Trade Unions has withdrawn its call of closing down all civil and banking activities in the North. However if violence erupt again the organisation will resume its protest," an organisation statement said yesterday.

Meanwhile the situation in the North has been improving in the past few days where no major incidents being reported.

There had been a dropping the attendance of Church masses for Christmas and New Year in the North and East in this year too, sources said. Church services were held on a low key last year due to the tsunami.