SLMM in stepped up bid to restore Seruwila water supply

Chamikara Weerasinghe

COLOMBO: The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) is making all possible attempts to persuade the LTTE to open the sluice gates of Mavilaru anicut, which they had shut off last Friday thereby threatening the livelihoods of paddy farmers and the existence of the population in Seruwila and Muttur.

SLMM acting spokesperson Paul Bjerke said they had been trying to contact the LTTE leaders to discuss the situation but they were not available. "We have been able to meet only the LTTE deputies so far as the leaders were unavailable. The discussions we had with LTTE deputies have been unsuccessful so far.

Yet we will do our utmost to resolve this issue," he said.

The LTTE act has deprived paddy farmers of water to cultivate their fields and also caused hardship to the people who depend on the supply for drinking purposes. Around 30,000 acres of paddy land are affected.

Tigers have also barred irrigation engineers from entering the area to open the sluice gates. He said the SLMM was concerned about the situation and was working hard to get the LTTE to restore the water supply considering the hardship suffered by farmers.

Meanwhile, a local-level meeting was held yesterday in Trincomalee between the Government and Provincial authorities in Trincomalee to discuss the situation arising from the LTTE act.

A majority of farmers affected belong to the Tamil and Muslim community.