Army support resettled

Chaminda Perera in Mullaitivu

Commanding Officer of the 591 Brigade in Mullaitivu Colonel A E Ariyasinghe yesterday said that the Sri Lanka Army has extended every possible support to the resettled people in the area. He said that almost all the families in the area are involved in a livelihood activity and no labour can be found from the area for construction works.

The SLA has already established fishing societies and no outsiders are allowed to fish in the sea off Mullaitivu.

This initiative was taken by the Army to prevent fishing resources in the area from being exploited by outsiders, he added.He stressed that fishing is the main source of income for them. “Their industry would receive a severe blow and it will become a burden to the Government too, if outsiders are allowed to do fishing in the area off Mullaitivu.

They just started rebuilding their lives after the conflict”.

The Commanding officer was briefing the members of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission over the prevailing situation in the area.

The troops with the assistance of Defence Ministry and the Aquatic Resources Ministry has provided fishing boats and fishing implements to the people in the area.

He said the Army ensures the safety of the area and the houses in particular before the people are resettled in the area.

“We clean all wells and assist them repairing their houses”, he added. The Commander added that houses for resettled are constructed by the soldiers.

When inquired by Commission Chairman C R De Silva PC, whether the Army was able to converse with the people in their own language, the Commander said that lack of Tamil language has created an impediments to forge more closer ties with the Tamil people.

The Sri Lanka Army is conducting special Tamil language courses for the soldiers and this would help overcome this impediment to some extent, the Commander stressed.

When a member of the Commission inquired whether the Soldiers are using the roofing sheets of the houses left by the people in the area, the Commander said there are a few instances where the Army had to use their roofing sheets.

He added that a large number of military personnel were deployed in the area when the operation came to the final stage and the monsoonal rains was about to come. He added that the military had been left no other option than using a fairly small amount of roofing sheets for sentry points.

When he was asked by a member of commission whether a maternal clinic run by TRO was targeted by the Sri Lanka Air Force, the Commander stressed that there was no possibility for such an attack as a UAV unit was installed in all Security Forces headquarters and SLAF officers were deployed to coordinate the attacks.

He added that the people in the district do not like to wait a minute in the welfare camps and they wanted to come to their houses soon after the approval is given by the Government.