NO GUARANTEE SAYS HUMAN RIGHTS MINISTER

sandman

ARTICLE FROM THE DAILY MIRROR BY CHERANKA MENDIS AND DIANNE SILVA :

HR Minister says no guarantee food will reach the displaced

There is no guarantee that food supplies sent to the war torn areas in the north were being received by the displaced people, Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said yesterday.

He was speaking to the media after a convoy of 51 trucks sent to Kilinochchi via the Omanthai entry/exit point reached the area.

Essential Services Commissioner S.P. Diwaratne said the essential food items were to be distributed by government officials in the Wanni and by yesterday goods from 29 of these trucks were unloaded into warehouses.

The lorries were accompanied by five World Food Programme officials, one from the UNHCR and another from an INGO but these officials had been directed to leave the area within a day.

When asked if there was a guarantee the food supplies would not fall into the hands of the LTTE, Minister Samarasinghe said he was unable to give such a guarantee.

Mr. Diwaratne said that of the originally planned convoy of 60 trucks only 51 were allowed to proceed after the discovery of 2.5 kg’s of C4 explosives and a number of batteries were found hidden in the lorries belonging to the government.

He confirmed the lorries carrying explosives did not belong to the WFP, as previously reported.

Mr. Diwaratne said the food supplies were being distributed free-of-charge and that these were in addition to the regular flow of 20 trucks a week supplying food to the cooperatives in the area.

He said the 51 trucks carrying 650 metric tons of dry rations including dhal, rice, sugar, vegetable oil and flour were not taking the A9 route but the A34 route.

The contents are to be stored in WFP warehouses in Mallawai, Kandawalai, Pittikudaerippu and Vishwamadu where most of the displaced are being housed.

The trucks packed and sealed at the WFP hub in Vavuniya, were not checked at the Omanthai entry point.

The majority of the lorries used in the operation are those registered under the armed forces and borrowed from the lorry drivers association in the North, the explosives were said to be found inside these lorries.

I AM BRAINLESS, SO PLEASE EXCUSE ME !!!!!!