Resettlement of IDPs goes on apace -Rambukwella

by P.Krishnaswamy

Defence spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella refuted claims of some Tamil political leaders that the resettlement of the remaining IDPs housed at the Menik Farm welfare village in Chettikulam was being delayed due to defence reasons. The phased resettlement of these IDPs who number around 72,000 has already resumed and will go hand in hand with the demining process considering the people's security, he told the Sunday Observer.

The Government has already resettled over 200,000 IDPs in their own villages and has no reason whatsoever to delay the resettlement of the remaining 30 percent of them due to any reasons apart from demining, he said. Thousands of landmines which were planted in some areas of the Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Mannar districts have to be detected and removed by the demining teams before resettling the IDPs in those areas and this process is taking more time than expected due to `technical and practical reasons', Rambukwella said. The IDPs, however, will be resettled as soon as possible, he said.

A large number of the 72,000 IDPs currently housed in the Menik Farm welfare village in Chettikulam had lived in the highly mine-infested Mullaitivu district, said Secretary to the Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services U.L.M. Haldeen.