ANANDASANGAREE VISIT TO BATTICALOA AND VAHARAI

23-08-2007
His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa,
President of Sri Lanka.

Your Excellency,

VISIT TO BATTICALOA AND VAHARAI

We wish to thank you for the arrangement you made to enable us to visit Batticaloa and Vaharai and to know of the ground situation in those areas. Arrangements had been made for us to meet the representatives of various organisations. Among others we met representatives of farmers organisations, fisheries organisations, Heads of Schools, N.G.Os, INGOs, Heads of various Government Departments, Grama Niladaries, Social Workers, Religious Leaders etc. at the Batticaloa Kachcheri, Vaharai Divisional Secretary’s Office and Vaharai Mahavidyalaya. We should make a special mention of the co-operation given to us by the Police, Army and the S.T.F. All of them maintain very good relationship with the civilian population and are very helpful to the civilians. We were free to talk to the civilians and the civilians could very freely talk to us about the problems they face.

We have identified the following matters that need your prompt action:-
1. DISPLACED PERSONS OF MUTHUR-EAST, SAMPUR AND ECHALAMPATTAI.
a. They want to be resettled in their respective homes. They will not object to army declaring a specified area as HSZ and occupying that area outside their residential area.
b. These people now living in various camps in Batticaloa want to be shifted to a place close to their home until their area is cleared for re-settlement.

2. HOUSES.
Action should be taken to re-build and repair houses damaged during the confrontation with the LTTE. Even houses damaged due to Tsunami are either damaged again or not constructed.

3. AGRICULTURE.
a. Agricultural activities cannot be restarted until the infrastructure is attended to.
b. The farmers need agricultural implement, seed paddy manure etc. to recommence from scrap.
c. Renovation of Tanks in these areas that had not been maintained properly for a period of time should be renovated. Estimates seem to have been prepared but funds have not been released yet. The agricultural department may be instructed accordingly. An officer may be assigned to co-ordinate all works
d. Basic subsistence may be given for a specified period for the farmers who depend entirely on farming.

4. FISHERIES.
Some even complained that they didn’t get any implements to commence fishing. Housing also is a problem that they are facing. We suggest that a special officer is assigned to look-after their interest for a specified period. Basic subsistence may be given for a specified period

5. SCHOOLS.
General complain is about the shortage of Teachers. Construction of school buildings undertaken by some NGO are not being attended to. The Ministry of Education may be advised to instruct the said NGO to commence work without delay.

6. TEMPLES.
Temples damaged during recent operations should be repaired or rebuilt.

7. HOSPITAL.
There is only one Doctor attending on hundreds of patients every day. More Doctors will have to be appointed. The Hospital building be will have to repaired.

8. RAILWAY.
a. Only three compartments are attached to the Colombo-Batticaloa Train to meet the requirements of several hundreds of passengers.
b. There is a strong demand for a Train Service from Batticaloa to Trincomalee.

9. COMPENSATION.
The Government Servants including Teachers have not been paid any compensation. This will have to be attended to.

10. SHORTAGE OF BUILDING MATERIALS.
Difficulty in obtaining cement and sand for construction works is the main problem. Some NGOs engaged in construction works had complained so. The relevant authorities may be instructed to attend to these need of the INGOs and NGOS.

In general a apart from releasing funds for various works kindly assign special officers to co-ordinate work related to education agriculture fisheries and housing.

Thanking you,
Yours Sincerely,

V.Anandasangaree,
President – TULF.

PRESS RELEASE

While strongly condemning the gruesome murder of the 22year old undergraduate of the University of Jaffna Mr. Sahadevan Nilakson, I express my deepest sympathies to the grieving parents and relatives. Let his soul rest in peace.

This is not the first time a University student is killed in this manner in the North and may not be the last one too. The failure to condemn by all, this type of killings, be it in North or in the South, and whether the victim is a Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim or one of the any other ethnic group, has given encouragement to the assailants to repeat their cruel acts at regular intervals without being tracked. There is no meaning in going round the world complaining about Human Rights Violations in the country, in the North and the East in particular, pointing an accusing finger in one direction, when in fact it should be pointed at different directions as well, because the killings are not by one particular group alone. Planting a claymore mine targeting the Army, Navy, Air Force and Police personnel and causing the death of a few innocent civilians including children is the worst form of violation of human rights, denying the right of free movement of the civilian population. Unless and until the entire media and all concerned parties condemn these incidents with one voice, without glorifying any one group or the other for their atrocious activities, this menance cannot be got rid of from the Sri Lankan society.

I take this opportunity to advise the students of both the Universities and the secondary schools, not to get involved in any student organisation on the advice of some self seekers and to fulfil the ambitions of their parents by concentrating on their studies. The students will have to keep away from student organisations till normalcy returns and democracy restored. I give this advise being fully aware of how a handful of students deriving their authority from an armed group notorious for it’s un democratic and atrocious activities , trying to lead thousands of University students and hundreds of thousands of secondary school children, endangering their lives. Although my advice may taste bitter to some, everyone should understand the reality and act accordingly. The parents owe a duty to their children to give them the proper advice and the students have a duty to fulfil the ambitions of their parents without being a prey in the hands of the self seekers who will misuse them for their personal gains.

I plead with the students to give-up all student union activities and concentrate on their studies and the parents to advice their children accordingly. Any problems the students want to solve could be taken up through the administrative channel until normalcy is restored.


V. Anandasangaree
President – TULF