Massacre of 12 civilians condemned

COLOMBO: The National Construction Association of Sri Lanka (NCASL) has vehemently condemned the massacre of 12 civilians at Omidiyamadu in Welikanda by alleged LTTE cadres on Monday and said the innocent victims were unarmed labourers contracted for a canal project connected with the Mahaweli Development Scheme.

The NCASL in a statement yesterday signed by its General Secretary Ananda Weerasekara, said the contractor Gamage Ariyaratne Abeysuriya who engaged these workers is a member of the NCASL North Central Province branch who has been making an immense contribution towards the development of this under developed area around Welikanda.

The contractor and his team of workers had no communal bias and they were unconcerned about the construction site being in close proximity to the uncleared areas because they thought no one would obstruct an irrigation project which would benefit farmers of all communities in the Polonnaruwa and Batticaloa districts.

Now that these innocent workers who worked for the benefit of farmers of all communities have been brutally murdered, a question arises as to whether this is a signal to halt all development work that will benefit people in terrorist threatened villages, the statement said.