If the government proposal is implemented, 34,000 of the 84,000 families currently assisted will not receive food aid. The GA says a further 29,000 displaced families are expected to return to Jaffna in the next nine months.
Bureaucratic restrictions and prevailing security arrangements are slowing development work in Jaffna. The peninsula’s new Mayor P Sivapalan says that only small-scale projects may be implemented, but major development work is impossible due to the adverse effect of the military’s presence on the freedom of movement.
Reports say that the construction of 1,000 houses in Chandilipai and Chankanai, with the assistance of German development agency GTZ has been delayed by government bureaucracy by six months. People doubt that any assistance will be forthcoming for the reconstruction of the 81,000 houses damaged in the peninsula.
The restrictions on fishing continue and most fishing families are suffering without any income. Jaffna’s People’s Organisation says in a letter to President Chandrika that 75% of agricultural activity has not been undertaken because of lack of investment and facilities to market the produce. No proper programmes are implemented to assist women widowed in the war. There are over 19,100 widows in the peninsula, most of whom are distressed by difficulties they face in providing for their families.
Press reports say that UNDP’s programme to clear landmines has been delayed following Defence Ministry’s reluctance to issue permits for equipment to the peninsula. The government fears that equipment may fall into the hands of the Tigers. In the last six years, over 1,800 civilians have lost limbs by landmines in Jaffna, 1,440 of whom are below 30 years of age.
Two soldiers were killed and four others injured when over 70 Tigers attacked Army positions at Gurunagar near Jaffna town on 25 July. The LTTE says four cadre died in the fighting. According to the Army, two women Tigers were killed on 30 July at Point Pedro.
The military arrested G Karunakaran at Manipai on 14 July. Four days later, R Sagathevan was taken into custody from his home in Pandatharippu. Two other civilians were also arrested in a Gurunagar refugee camp. On 17 July, the Army arrested two women in Nallur. The military surrounded Kandarmadam on the next day and detained over 100 youths for several hours.