Adequate food stocks for IDPs in Wanni

Basil summons urgent meeting:

By P. Krishnaswamy

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Essential Services Commissioner S. P. Divaratne said that there was no urgency in despatching food stocks for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) since there were adequate stocks in hand in the Wanni areas.

This was revealed at a meeting convened by Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa MP, attended by Indian High Commissioner in Colombo Alok Prasad on Friday.

Secretary, Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief A. C. M. Razeek said that the dry rations despatched earlier to displaced people would last till the end of December this year. The Indian High Commissioner expressed India’s readiness to supply food stocks, tents and other items to displaced people.

Kilinochchi GA N. Vedanayagam said that food convoys of the World Food Program (WFP) based in Vavuniya transported food stocks on three occasions last month and the next stock will be despatched tomorrow. The GAs would submit a list of non-food items that are urgently required by the displaced people, including tarpaulin sheets and sanitation material, next Monday or Tuesday as they had agreed upon at the meeting.

Government Agents told the meeting that transporting food stocks and other non-food items had become a difficult exercise due to the poor state of the roads, Rs. 15 million was released through the Ministry of Nation Building to carry out road repairs, a government official said.

Social Services and Social Welfare Minister Douglas Devananda, Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona, Northern Governor Dickson Dala, GAs of Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya as well as senior service personnel were also present.

About 150,000 war-displaced people are now living in makeshift shelters and with friends and relatives in areas such as Kandawala, Puliyanpokuna, Dharmapuram, Visvamadu, Vattakatchi, Ramanathapuram, Kalmadu, Murasumottai, Kallaru, Mayuilvagananpuram and other areas east of the A9 highway.