Northern rehabilitation moves fast

by P. Krishnaswamy

Thirty-five to forty percent of the 180 day 'Wadakkin Wasantham' (Northern Spring) resettlement and rehabilitation program spearheaded under the leadership of senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa MP has been completed, with 35 villages in Vavuniya now ready to receive IDPs for resettlement, Vavuniya GA Ms.P.S.M.Charles told the Sunday Observer. Statements relating to 100,000 prospective resettlers among the IDPs have already been forwarded to the security forces and the respective GAs for their confirmation and the resettlement process will begin immediately on receipt of the confirmations, she said.

Under the 'Wadakkin Wasantham' program IDPs will be resettled in Vavuniya, Jaffna, Mannar, Batticaloa and Trincomalee areas, she said.

IDPs belonging to the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts would not be resettled immediately for reasons of their own security, she said.

The resettlement of 3,525 IDPs in Vavuniya scheduled for resettlement today (Sunday) in the Trincomalee district has been postponed due to unavoidable circumstances and the resettlement will take place shortly, the GA stated. This is the single largest batch of Vavuniya IDPs to be resettled in Trincomalee, she said.

Every effort was being made to resettle a maximum number of IDPs in their former villages before the monsoonal rains expected in the first week of October, well-informed sources of the Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services said.