Cabinet Meeting at Kilinochchi

An open letter to the President Mahinda Rajapaksa

by V. Anandasangaree

(July 09, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) While welcoming your decision to hold the next Cabinet meeting in Kilinochchi, I wish to point out that you are doing it in haste. If I had been consulted I would have advised you to wait for some more time.

You are aware that Kilinochchi and the Mullaithevu districts are the worst affected. Loss of life and property were in abundance. The people of Kilinochchi and Mullaithevu have not yet got over the shock they received. Some are still looking for their dear ones. In this situation Ministers going there over and over again and having opening ceremonies and Thamasas are irritating them. Furthermore they feel that some, who danced to the tune of the previous administration and passed on most of the Government allocations to them without any work done, is now advising the Government. Even after more than one year people have not yet properly settled in their respective homes, and are roughing out under huge trees and in primitive type of temporary cottages. Most of their houses are without roofs, doors and windows. What can they do with a few tin sheets, some cement and a couple of tarpaulin sheets.

if you will take the trouble to go round the Kilinochchi district which is also the electorate of Kilinochchi and instruct the Ministers to go into the interior and on their return give an unbiased report of the situation prevailing there, problems the people have and what their immediate wants are, I will very much appreciate it.

The man who had the Kilinochchi District created and represented it for 13 years has not been consulted by anybody, including you, on any matter relating to the welfare of Kilinochchi, its developments and resettlement of the IDPs. By obtaining my advice on various matters the Government could have saved several crores of rupees of poor people’s money.

I served the people of Kilinochchi for more than half a century. I want to serve them till I die. The house that I occupied on rent since my election as MP in 1970 belonged to one Mr. Thambipillai. He was Sir. Ponnablam Ramanathan’s secretary and got this property as a gift from him. Mr. Thambipillai dowried it to his daughter and that daughter in turn dowried it to her daughter. Small portions of this land had been sold by Mr. Thambipillai’s daughter when Mr.Thambipillai was alive.

The NRTB is occupying the land by force inspite of their minister’s directive to hand over the main house to me. I want you to intervene in this matter, since this attitude of the NRTB will not be appreciate by anybody. Kindly attend to this matter when you are in Kilinochchi for the cabinet meeting.