Navy establishes cantonment camp at Mollikulam

Sandasen MARASINGHE

The Sri Lanka Navy initiated establishing a cantonment camp at the Mollikulam coastal area to ensure national security of the country while strengthening security in the Wilpattu National Park, said Navy Spokesman Captain Athula Senarath.

Stating that the construction was initiated in consultation with the Wild Life Department, Captain Senarath told the Daily News that this was the first step of establishing number of satellite camps along the coastal belt from Karuwalakuda to Pukkulam a 29 km extension in the Wilpattu National Park area.

He said since there was no mechanism to ensure security in the Wilpattu coastal area, earlier the LTTEers used these areas for their activities, drug kingpins used these areas to import their goods and poachers used to come in Wilpattu from these areas to cut down trees and for hunting. Still it was a threat to national security to keep these areas open for legal activities without a proper mechanism to monitor them. “The establishment of these camps will prevent these illegal activities as well as prevent re-emergence of terrorism,” Captain Senarath said.

He said there would satellite camps be constructed from northwards and southwards in the coastal belt from Karuwalakuda to Pukkulam. He said a road is constructed along the coastal line from Karuwalakuda to Pukkulam as a supply route to these satellite camps.

Captain Senarath stated the Wilpattu National Park was liberated from the grip of the LTTE in 2006 by the SL Army and it was taken over by the SL Navy in 2007 September. Later on the SL Navy cleared the Old Mannar Road, B 379 which ran through the Wilpattu National Park as a supply route. The public are also allowed to use the road.