IDP resettlement in Jaffna on top gear
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.
Courtesy : Sunday Observer |
