IDP resettlement in Jaffna on top gear
by Ananth PALAKIDNAR
Resettling the internally displaced civilians in the High Security
Zone (HSZ) in the Jaffna Peninsula has been expedited with around
thousand civilians awaiting to return to their original places of
dwelling with the mine clearing in the HSZ which is to be completed
shortly, the Chairman of the High Security Zone Committee and Jaffna
High Court Judge, R.T. Vicknaraja said.
He told the Sunday Observer that the Supreme Court ordered the HSZ
committee to work on the modalities of clearing the bunds and
reactivating the premier educational institutions, Mahajana and the
Union Colleges in Tellipalai and restructuring the Base hospital in
Tellipalai which are situated within the High Security Zone of Jaffna.
Following the Supreme Court order the HSZ Committee headed by the
Jaffna High Court Judge will meet this week to look into the modalities
of expediting the resettlement process and reactivating the schools and
the Tellipalai hospital which are situated within the HSZ.
The Jaffna HSZ committee also comprises the Jaffna Security Forces
Commander Major General Mendaka Samarasinghe and the Government Agent K.
Ganesh.
Chairman Vicknaraja elaborating further on the resettlement process
said that the Security Forces in Jaffna were very cooperative in
carrying out the resettlement process. "The de-mining is currently in
progress in the HSZ areas and around 600 civilians have been permitted
to settle back in their original places of dwelling. Screening of
civilians to be permitted to settle back in the HSZ is being carried out
by the Government Agent.
Thousand more are awaiting to be resettled in the HSZ once the mine
clearing is completed," he said. Judicial Service Commission has
initiated measures to reactivate devastated court houses in
Mallakam,Chavakachcheri, Point Pedro and Kayts which are currently
functioning in private buildings with limited facilities, he further
said.
The Jaffna Courts buildings which were in bad shape are now
functioning in new buildings with their renovations completed two years
ago.
A new thirty member committee comprising serving judges, retired
judges and senior attorneys from Jaffna will soon begin the work of
reactivating the devastated court houses in the Peninsula due to war in
the past, Vicknaraja said.
|