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A
large number of civilians are reported to be awaiting sea transport to
reach Jaffna till ICRC obtains a security guarantee from the LTTE to move
the vessels between Trincomalee and Kankesanthurai. There
were over 4000 civilians including government servants and university
students awaiting sea transport to reach Jaffna, a senior government
official in Trincomalee revealed. Defence
officials firmly stated that they would have no option but to wait till
the LTTE co-operation to secure the vessels as they regularly target
vessels carrying civilians. There
had been no ship movements to and from Trincomalee since April 9. According
to authorities, the situation was aggravated by the cancellation of
civilians transport services between Jaffna and south since the March 31
crash of an Anatonov 26 at Thalawa that killed 40 security forces and
police personnel. The
Commissioner General of Essential Services, Major General Sarath
Munasinghe yesterday said that they will deploy a vessel as soon as the
ICRC obtains a security guarantee from the LTTE to resume the service. The
Air Force pointed out that they could not resume services until they
established the reason for the Thalawa tragedy. An inquiry with the
assistance of the Ukranian manufacturers was still continuing. ICRC
spokesman Harsha Gunawardane stated that as discussed with the President,
the ICRC could operate one vessel under the ICRC flag if both the
government and the LTTE give written security guarantees that they would
not interfere with the services. However,
a senior navy officer has revealed that Lanka Muditha, targeted by the
LTTE a number of times during Trincomalee-Kankesanthurai runs could be
made available probably within a few more days to transport civilians.
Lanka Muditha has the capacity to carry 1000 passengers. Two passenger vessels, Lanka Rani and Lanka Devi which acquired a cost of Rs 400 million each to improve civilian transport services between Trincomalee and Kankesanthurai had not been deployed so far, defence sources said. Lanka Devi had been handed over to the navy temporarily and the second vessel too was expected to be handed over to the security forces.
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