Some 500 rehabilitated ex-LTTE cadres who are on a three-day trip visited the Fort Railway Station yesterday while on their way to the south, as part of the final phase of their rehabilitation programme at the Vavuniya rehabilitation camp.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development is sponsoring the tour from September 08 - 10. The youth are to visit a number of places in the Southern Province during their tour.

The ex-combatants will visit Devinuwara Vishnu Temple, Hulandawa Hindu temple, Akuressa tea factory and the Gammadu cultural festival at Dediyagala.

Most of those in the rehabilitation camp have not been to other parts of the country or even stepped on a train. Many of them have not spoken to a Sinhalese apart from Army officials in the camp,” ex LTTE cadre Adhrani Newton said.

He said he followed a counselling course at the rehabilitation camp after which he was selected to study for a diploma, which he will complete in about months and added that he also took part in a 12-day rehabilitation programme in Colombo. “After I finish the rehabilitation programme I will start working. My ambition is to become a counselor,” he said.

“We want to thank the authorities for organising this trip. We did not think we will have the opportunity to visit the south,” Selvarasa Selvadeevan another former LTTE cadre said.