IDP figures duplicated

RASIKA Somarathna

One third of the IDP figures(uncleared areas) provided by the Government Agents have, in many instances, been found to be duplicates, with as many as 20,000 families being double-counted in the Kilinochchi district alone, Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe said.

"The convoys which carried food into uncleared areas from October 2008, catered to inflated figures of 230,00 Internally Displaced Persons," he added.

Addressing foreign media on Tuesday the Minister also said that the Government was of the opinion that the IDP population in the no fire zone was less than 1,00,000 at present, as another 35,686 had arrived in the cleared areas during last three weeks.

During the media briefing Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona had explained to the foreign media that all efforts to pressurize LTTE into permitting civilians to move to safety by both local and international community had fell on deaf ears, a Ministry release said.

Commissioner General of Essential Services, S.B. Divarathne said that two Ports Authority tugs had been allocated to carry essential food and medical items to Mullaitivu by sea. The first tug carrying 46 MT of Government food supplies left Trincomalee on Tuesday.

A further 100 MT of supplies will be shipped on the Government passenger ferry, chartered by the ICRC to Puttumattalan on Thursday (19th).

This process would continue in order to provide people with necessary supplies Divarathne said.

Meanwhile, responding to a question as to whether the advancement by the military has slowed down, Minister Samarasinghe said that in order to safeguard the lives of civilians, the military was taking utmost precautions when carrying out their operations.