Great relief to people:

Life returns to normalcy in North with elimination of LTTE

As the Security Forces marked the completion of one month to their victory against the ruthless LTTE, the entire nation observed strong indications of a brighter future ahead with Government making arrangements to enshrine the people with all their deprived rights for the last three decades due to the war.

The opening of the A-9 Road for the private traders to transport essential goods to the Jaffna peninsula and the lifting of fishing restrictions in the Northern seas with the announcement made by Senior Presidential Advisor and MP Basil Rajapaksa were direct benefits the people of this country enjoy with the elimination of the LTTE terrorism.

There is no need to explain the sort of relief for the people in Jaffna with these two decisions by the Government as the nation marks the completion of one month to that great victory.

According to Sri Lanka twenty-five private lorries with consumer commodities, bound for Jaffna crossed Omanthai Wednesday (17) afternoon along the Kandy-Jaffna (A-9) highway. The Army provided security to the convoy.

In addition, ten more lorries, acquired under the government’s ongoing “Uthuru Wasanthaya” project by the Army also joined the convoy at Omanthai on Wednesday to proceed to Jaffna.

Those private traders, belonging to Jaffna Traders Association, Star Freight Company Ltd, Point Pedro Traders, P. Parameshwaran Traders Ltd, Shivaram Traders Ltd, Millers Distributors, Arpico Ltd, City Wine Stores, Madushan Stores, Abans Ltd, Singer Ltd, W. Mendis Company Ltd, S. Eshwaran Bavan Ltd, Vinnie Stores Ltd, P. Traders, DSI Company Ltd and Prabhath & Brothers Ltd were carrying potatoes, sugar, dhal, flour, oil, spices, medicine, cement, onions, etc.

According to SLA which is facilitating the process of transporting goods to Jaffna through the A-9 Road said a few lorries contained hardware, roofing sheets, plastic and wooden furniture. Essential Services Commissioner General S.B. Divarathne has organized a part of the fleet in the food convoy.

After re-opening of the Highway, about 300 private lorries have registered with government authorities for transport of essential items to the north. Soon after this facilitation, the government expects to allow public transport along the road during day time once complete safety from LTTE landmines and other security concerns are ensured by the Army and Security Forces.

The transportation of essential items to Jaffna along the A-9 road was stopped with the closure of the A-9 Road with the escalation of violence by the LTTE targeting the Security Forces defences in Muhamalai and Kilali on August 11, 2006.

It was on August 11, 2006 the LTTE launched barrages of artillery onto the Security Forces defences in Muhamalai, Nagar Kovil and Kilali and launched an operation to capture Jaffna peninsula in a 72-hour operation. But LTTE miserably failed in their mission as troops countered this attempt killing hundreds of Tiger cadres.

That was the last date the A-9 Road was used by the private traders for the transportation of essential items to the Jaffna peninsula till it was opened for them on last Wednesday.

The Government came under immense pressure from locally and internationally as LTTE carried out a massive campaign locally and internationally to get that road section opened, in the guise of highlighting the inconvenience caused to the people in Jaffna.

The LTTE threatened Jaffna traders not to release their food stocks and to sell the food stocks reaching Jaffna by sea on board the ships hired by the Essential Services Commissioner to create a false food shortage in the peninsula. The LTTE also made the opening of the A-9 Road from Muhamalai as a pre-condition for them to enter peace negotiations with the Government.

But the Government and senior Defence officials were aware of the hidden motives behind the LTTE demand for the opening of the A-9 Road and maintained its firm position not to open the road until the LTTE gave an assurance to end their violence campaign.

It was because the LTTE lost its lifeline with the closure of the A-9 Road as they lost millions of extortions collected from the traders transporting essential items to Jaffna as taxes whilst losing their easy path to send in their Tiger cadres to peninsula and to continue their recruitment campaign in Jaffna.

However, it was due to the firm decision by the Defence authorities especially Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa not to heed to the LTTE demand, the Security Forces could save the Jaffna people from LTTE influence amidst facing difficult situation by transporting essential items by sea and with Security Forces personnel handling the food distribution in the peninsula through their welfare shops.

So the decision to allow the private traders to transport essential goods to Jaffna by road was a welcome move by the entire Jaffna peninsula as it would relieve a burden on them as the flow of essential items will bring down the cost of essential items further.

The major benefit the private traders enjoy this time is that they need not want to pay so-called taxes to the LTTE in the process of transporting goods to Jaffna. Therefore, the people in Jaffna will get the real feelings of living in a society sans of terrorism and above all in one Sri Lanka without borders created by terrorists.

Meanwhile, the Government decision to relax the fishing restrictions in the Northern seas with immediate effect (19th June) also came just within one month period after that great victory would also provide direct benefits of that great victory to the public.

The decision was announced by Senior Presidential Advisor and MP Basil Rajapaksa on the directions of the President to lift fishing restrictions which had been in force to prevent LTTE activities in the Eastern and Northern coastal areas

With this decision the fishing community of the North can now engage in fishing in the seas extending from North of Kokilai up to Nachchikuda. They also can now involve in both day and night time fishing.

Sri Lanka Navy has taken the measures to ensure the safety of the civilians involved in fishing activity. Special entry/exit points are set up to monitor the movement of fishing vessels.

According to the Sri Lanka Navy all fishing vessels have to be illuminated at night and those involved in night time fishing should be fitted with Radar Reflectors. Fishermen can use Out Board Motors of up to 15 horse power engine capacity.

Apart from this decision the Government has also lifted restrictions on ferry movement in Delft without time restrictions under Naval supervision.

The Government announced the lifting of fishing restrictions in the Eastern seas on June 13.

These quick decisions by the Government has come at a time the Government is gearing up the development process in the Northern province to facilitate the speedy resettlement of the displaced civilians and drive the country towards prosperity as all forms of obstacles have now been removed from the path of development.

The Government is taking all these measures whilst strengthening the security aspects in the Jaffna, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu whilst taking measures to nab all the LTTE elements in other parts of the country.

The main concern of the Army is to nab the remaining Tiger cadres now moving in the Eastern province in Batticaloa and Trincomalee led by Nagulan and Ram. Security Forces believe that these Tiger teams have now infiltrated into civilian settlements in the Eastern province.

The Sri Lanka Army is now taking measures to increase the strength of the Army in the Eastern province as number of battalions deployed in the East were evacuated to Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu in the last few months of the battle. Now those battalions have been shifted to the East to nab the Tiger cadres hiding in the jungles.

As new troops deployment plan is being implemented in the Vanni with the establishment of two Security Forces headquarters in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu, Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka on Friday visited Vellamullivaikkal and Mullaitivu to pay his gratitude to the troops who made their sacrifices to make this victory a realistic one.

His visit to Mullaivaikkal came just one month after that final battle fought by the Security Forces in Mullaitivu North killing all the Tiger leaders including Prabhakaran.

His visit to Mullaitivu and Mullaivaikkal also marked the end of the celebrations arranged by the Army to mark that victory as Army Commander said emphasised the fact that the all celebrations will come to an end with the Pirith Chanting ceremony organized at the Army Headquarters on Friday evening.

General Fonseka during his visit to Mullaivaikkal area addressed a section of the troops of the 53 Division commanded by Major General Kamal Gunaratne, 55 Division Commanded by Brigadier Prasanna de Silva and the Task Force 8 commanded by Colonel G.V. Ravipriya.

Addressing the troops the Army Commander emphasized the fact that it was the Sri Lanka Army which contributed 95 per cent to that great victory emphasizing the fact that it was due to the sacrifices made by the valiant troops of the Sri Lanka Army in the battle front the country could achieve this historic victory against the LTTE, but not due to any other factor.

He also appreciated the strong backing given by the Sri Lanka Air Force, the Police Special Task Force and the Civil Security Department for their assistance to the ground troops by various means.

He once again paid his gratitude to the valiant troops for making their contribution to make the Sri Lanka Army, the best Army in the world under his leadership.

He also posed for a group photograph to mark the historic victory closer to the wreckage of the Fara III ship in the Mullaitivu coast and inspected the mini submarine recovered by the Task Force 8 troops in the sea closer to the Fara III ship. According to troops this mini submarine or the submerge vehicle has been used by the LTTE for their use at several occasions.

Intelligence sources confirmed that Sea Tiger leader Soosai had a voyage to Batticaloa using this submarine.

The Security Forces observed this submarine through the UAV visuals during the last few weeks of the battle although the Navy rejected intelligence reports that the LTTE was in possession of the submarines.

The Security forces believe that the LTTE would have used this submarine to transport their family members out of the Sri Lankan territorial waters to reach any foreign country.

The Army Commander during his visit to Mullaitivu took a photograph with the elite divers from the Commando and Special Forces who played a key role in capturing lagoon stretches and to enter the last terrain of the LTTE crossing the Nanthikadal Lagoon.

One of the unique features of Commanders visit to Mullaitivu was his visit to his mother Unit 1 Sinha Regiment located in the centre of Mullaitivu town closer to the Army camp in Mullaitivu which was overran by the Tigers in 1996.

He also visited 59 Division in Mullaitivu and addressed the troops there who contributed for the victory.

He was received by the newly appointed Mullaitivu Security Forces Commander Major General Nandana Udawatta and 59 Division GOC Brigadier Chagi Gallage.

Having completed one month to that great victory the Sri Lanka Army is now heading to take another challenging situation with the resettlement process begins in the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts as the Government is awaiting to speed up the process of resettling the civilians there.

Therefore, the Security Forces will gear up their role in the next few months also to give the real benefits of that victory to the common masses of this country without taking a long period as they have already laid a strong foundation for that process.