NGOs can contribute to resettlement drive - Defence Spokesman
Mass Media and Communication Minister and Defence
Spokesman Keheliya Rambukkwella yesterday stated that any public
representative and Non Government Organization can visit the North and
East and contribute to its ongoing resettlement drive and the
development process.
The Minister addressing the media at the Media Center
for National Security stated that the NGOs that wish to contribute in
the development process and the resettlement process could go there but
not those with ulterior motives that make statements harmful to the
interests of the country.
There are packages introduced at the Resettlement
Ministry to support the development process in the North and East and
any NGO could select any of them and visit the area to expedite the
process.
He further stated that there were restrictions imposed
by the Government earlier in visiting these areas as many of the NGOs
and persons were pessimistic and their objective was to make destructive
comments on the Government's process and create chaos.
Referring to the allegations by the JVP who said the
Government was not conducting the resettlement drive of the IDPs in
North and East properly Minister Rambukwella stated that as a government
they were happy with the progress of the resettlement process.
He also stated that no government in the world faced
such a herculean task and the JVP was condemning it because it was
running out of slogans.
Minister Rambukwella pointed out that 85 percent of
the IDPs of 267 393 in the North and East were resettled within a year
at a rate of 700 IDPs per day.
The rest 35,333 IDPs would be resettled immediately.
He said that according to the United Nations norms the
security of the people should be guaranteed and there was a legal issue
of resettling people in an area where 1.5 million land mines were
strewn. Although Indian Government and other institutions offered to
support us in de-mining the magnitude of the task was so heavy that the
government had to spend Rs 860 million on the machines and the equipment
used in the de-mining process.
Ninety five percent of the demining process is
conducted by the Sri Lanka Army.
Still there is a 12 to 15 percent of mines to be
cleared in Kilinochchi area.
Courtesy : Daily News | 
