Northern resettlement:

Infrastructure, first priority

Anuradha KODAGODA

It is not possible to re-locate IDPs in their villages without providing proper infrastructure facilities in their villages, Media and Information Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa told the Cabinet press briefing yesterday. “To date we have re-settled 40,000 people. We have facilitated another 60,000 people to find their relatives to settle down with them,” he said.

“Opposition Leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe had said the Government is using the IDPs as a tool for election victory which is not true.

“Since we have already got 80 percent of votes at all elections we are confident of building our nation as a strong nation in the near future,” the Minister said.

“There is a process to go through when re-settling people. Still there are vast areas where de-mining is going on. Once we ensure the security of these areas and provide infrastructure facilities and other necessities we could re-settle these people,” he said. “We have to ensure that medical facilities are available in all rehabilitation camps.

“We must provide medical clinics and doctors and nurses in every camp and also in the hospitals in Padaviya, Mannar, Chettikulam, Medawachchiya and Kurunegala and also specialized doctors and nurses to treat the patients.

In all the rehabilitation camps we have provided health officials to attend on children and pregnant mothers. We have also introduced a special program to train the youth of the IDP camps on health facilitation and also teachers to teach in the schools that we have started in these rehabilitation camps. The Education Ministry is supplying all the books and stationery for the children who are studying in these schools,” he said.

“In addition to the health and education facilities we have established kitchens in every rehabilitation camp capable of cooking for 2000 people. We have started the Lak Sathosa, Coop city shops, telephone and bank facilities in every rehabilitation camp,” the Minister said. “During his visits here the representative of United Nations, John Holmes said that he was happy about the conditions and the facilities that the Government has provided in the rehabilitation camps. Our main intention is to resettle these people properly and in a better environment. During a very short period of time we are trying to give back to them the facilities and the livelihood they lost in the past 30 years,” he said.