
Sri Lankan Army prevents reconstruction activities of tsunami affected schools in Muthur East
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers vehemently refused five Sinhala officials from the Sri Lankan Division of International Education to go through the Kaddaiparichchan check point for a foundation laying ceremony of two tsunami-damaged schools. SLA forces from this check point said, “there is no permission for Sinhalese people to go in LTTE controlled areas.”
Uppooral and Ceenanveli villages in Muthur East were destroyed by the 26 December tsunami last year. Students in this area face many difficulties because of the lack of school facilities for the last eleven months. Novib-Oxfam from Netherlands recently came forward to assist the reconstruction of two schools in this area. After the argument between the Sinhala educational officials and the SLA, the SLA was requested to inform security force’s headquarters in Colombo about this incident. After two hours, SLA soldiers allowed the Sinhala educational officials to pass the checkpoint and attend the foundation laying ceremony.
04 November 2005
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