The government will shortly invite Opposition MPs to visit northern relief camps, where about 140,000 war displaced people are accommodated.

The government has so far refused the entire Opposition, including the UNP, the TNA and the JVP, access to the facilities run with the support of some international community, particularly UN agencies.

Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services Minister Risad Bathiudeen yesterday told The Island that a 32-member Consultative Committee of his ministry would be invited to visit northern camps shortly. The Minister said that he had obtained Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s consent on Monday (Oct 9) for that purpose.

The Minister said the IDP camps had held almost 300,000 persons at the end of war last May. The number had rapidly come down to 140,000 after the government accelerated the resettlement programme, he said.

The government would shortly open Pooneryn in the Kilinochchi District for resettlement. Responding to our queries, he said that about 28,000 persons would be resettled in the Pooneryn area.

Of the delay in resettling civilians, Minister Bathiudeen said in political programme telecast over state and private television channels on Monday night that in keeping with a 180-day deadline given by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, a Presidential Task Force headed by Basil Rajapaksa, MP had time till January 31, 2010 to accomplish the task. He dismissed Opposition accusations that the government was planning to deny the displaced an opportunity to exercise their franchise at the forthcoming elections.

Northern Province Governor Major General G. A. Chandrasiri (retd) yesterday told The Island that the government concentrating on Tunukai, Mallavi and Pooneryn areas, west of the A 9 as the resettlement process entered an important stage. "We recently reopened Mallavi hospital and are in the process of launching public transport services," he said. Although full restoration of public transport would take some time, the government would explore the possibility of operating a few buses initially.

According to him, some UN agencies had been given access to the area west of the A9 to facilitate their efforts to resettle the displaced. He said that the WFP, the UNHCR and the IOM were among international agencies given access. At the height of the Vanni battle, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa directed all INGOs and NGOs based in the LTTE-held territory to vacate the area. They complied with his directive last September.

Chandrasiri said that the northern rehabilitation efforts would be strengthened by deployment of an additional 109 vehicles this week. Of them 35, were given by the Government of Japan, he said, adding that the situation at welfare centres would continue to improve as the number of people accommodated there continued to dwindle. He said that vehicles donated by Japan would be used to improve sanitary conditions at welfare centres.