Govt. to expedite food transport to Jaffna

COLOMBO: The Government will implement a crash programme to expedite the essential food transport to the Jaffna Peninsula and keep the prices of essential commodities stable, said Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) in a release yesterday.

The Government arrived at this decision following a meeting with senior security officers, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority and the Commissioner General of Essential Services (CGES).

Arrangements have already been made to send two extra barges to Jaffna currently with the Mineral Sand Corporation (Pvt) Limited in Trincomalee. There are 11 shipping lines operating between Colombo and Jaffna.

The unloading in Jaffna takes place at the pier and at sea. Six barges requiring repairs will be repaired out in Jaffna under the supervision of Rear Admiral Ratnakeerthi (CGES).

The Ports Authority simplifies the procedures to expedite the movement of ships and relevant forms will be made available in all three languages. Immediate steps will also be taken to improve cooperation with the private sector so that larger quantities of essntial items can be shipped to the North.

The daily wages of workers in Jaffna who are involved in loading and unloading goods will be directly paid by the Government Agent in keeping with the Ports Authority wage structure.

Payments to workers from the islands will be expedited and the Government will bear extra costs where necessary.

The release said the Customs will withdraw all involvement since the process constitutes inland shipping and the taxes and tariffs will be removed to simplify the procedures further. Tariff Amendments for the goods coming into Colombo will also instituted.

A Memorandum in this regard was to be presented to the Cabinet yesterday.

A manager with proven expertise in handling ports issues for the Jaffna Port will be appointed soon. In anticipation of the Monsoon the CGES will take over a Multi Purpose Cooperative Society store with a capacity of 200MT located in the Mylady High Security Zone and repaired with the WFP assistance.