Lifting restrictions at Omanthai to fuel more trade with Vanni

The opening of the Omanthai check-point five days a week will generate more private trade and help ease the inconveniences suffered by people in the Vanni, according to the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP).

Director of Economic Affairs at SCOPP Rohantha Athukorala, who recently visited Vavuniya and met with citizens' groups and representatives of local chambers of commerce and industry along with the Federation of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Sri Lanka (FCCISL), said 'Earlier the check-point was kept open on five days of the week but an incident in June where the LTTE opened fire on a speeding vehicle attempting to escape from the Vanni raised concerns regarding the security of ICRC personnel manning the check-point.' The incident forced a limitation of access.

Earlier this year on a recommendation made by the District Chambers of Killinochchi a Wholesale Distribution Centre was established in Killinoc- hchi to accommodate a warehouse facility to keep sufficient buffer stocks in the Vanni areas.

The officials of the Federation of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCISL) who are from the private sector are committed to be a part of these strenuous efforts of the Government to meet the demands of the people in Vanni and Jaffna, even though it is well known that the LTTE deliberately creates shortages of supplies of essential goods.

'The time has come for us to work for all the people of this country be they from the North or the South' said one of the CEOs of the District Chambers, expressing appreciation of and support for the current policy decision.

Previously, the Government had approved a request from the Killinochchi district for the supply of 2600 MT of items, including items such as general hardware, electrical items, bicycles, bicycle spare parts, tyres and tubes, roofing sheets and sewing machines.

This was also co-ordinated by the FCCISL. Already, over the last week, 95 metric tons of goods have been transported via Omanthai, which is very encouraging, according to Athukorala.. The transporters are now working out the modalities of clearing accumulated stocks, that piled up when the restrictions were more severe.