International refugee agency UNHCR granted Rs 77.7 million ($1.1 million) in February to the NPRRA for resettlement work. UNHCR’s representative Janet Lim says that 150 micro-projects were implemented in Jaffna last year. According to Jaffna Government Agent K Shanmuganathan, only 86,000 of the 115,000 displaced people who returned to Jaffna have been paid the resettlement cash of Rs 5,000.
The difficulty in transport is causing delay in reconstruction. Reports say that this may affect long-term foreign assistance to Jaffna. The shortage of food and rise in prices as a result of transport problems continued in February. Part of the 1,657 tonnes of rice supplied to Jaffna in mid-February was unfit for consumption. Mr Obadage has ordered an enquiry.
There is increasing concern over security in Jaffna. The issue was discussed at two meetings between political parties and Army officers in mid-February. Military training and supply of weapons to members of Tamil groups fighting the LTTE on the side of the Army, were also considered. The groups were given application forms to join the new military unit that the Army intends to create, allegedly to protect local councillors.
On 11 February, the Army scrutinised account books of well-known trading centres in Jaffna, following suspicions that the LTTE plans to collect Rs 10 million ($150,000) from Jaffna traders. Suspected Tiger gunmen shot dead Tamil group EPDP’s Valikamam councillor Pandari Kandasamy on 14 February at Kopai. The military say eight Pistol Groups of the LTTE have entered Jaffna for selective assassinations. The Jaffna courts received letters from the LTTE on 24 February ordering closure.
Restrictions on the time of arrival of refugees from the Vanni to Gurunagar in Jaffna town, were imposed on 15 February to prevent Tiger infiltration. Refugees can now arrive in Gurunagar only between 9am and 4pm. But fishing in the Jaffna lagoon has been again allowed between 5am and 5pm, within two kilometres from the shore.
The Navy intercepted a Sea Tiger convoy, at dawn on 8 February near Kachchativu Island, 12 miles south-west of Jaffna’s Delft Island. A boat was sunk and 18 Tigers were killed. According to the Navy, the boats were carrying medical supplies from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Sea Tiger attack on the Naval base at Kilali on 18 February was repulsed, the Navy say. But the LTTE seized a patrol boat.