24th August 2022 21:02:56 Hours
Lieutenant General Vikum Liyanage, Commander of the Army, refreshing his old memories when he was serving the 542 Brigade as its Commander under the Security Force HQ-Wanni, in a rare gesture of interaction Saturday (20) afternoon went to meet the villagers in the Vikumpura model village near Murunkan, a brainchild of the Army Chief which was named in recognition of the Army Chief's efforts in making the project a success.
The Vikumpura model village with about 70 houses settled terrorism-affected families who were displaced due to LTTE terrorism that plagued both Northern and Eastern provinces before May 2009. Lieutenant General Vikum Liyanage who was the 542 Brigade Commander of the 54 Division under the Security Force HQ-Wanni at that time took steps to house those victimized persons in this new settlement in close collaboration with state agencies, the Northern Province Governor, and the Commander, Security Forces-Wanni after allocation of about 20-40 perches of land for each household.
“It turned out to be a real challenge to me as those terrorism-affected innocent civilians, most families with their aged parents were confined to cadjan-thatched huts, and remained scattered in different locations including Mihintale after terrorists evicted them from their own houses, and some of their family members had been brutally massacred by LTTE terrorists. So, after I was informed of their plight by a senior Police Officer, I went to see them personally and promised to work out a solution. Upon selection of state land near Narikuda, the project to build houses with the support of state agencies and resettlement authorities started in 2009, and it was completed by early 2011 due to our collective efforts despite setbacks. Those re-settled civilians wanted the new village to be dedicated to my name, although I was not in favour of the idea,” the architect of the project commented.
Meeting with members of 43 families, resident in the Vikumpura village, Lieutenant General Vikum Liyanage exchanged views with them, inquired into their well-being, looked around the village, recalled past memories related to its birth, and gave away 43 gift parcels, comprised of rice, dhal, dry fish, grains, cereals, spices, milk powder, etc as incentives to those Vikumpura villagers. Those Vikumpura villagers were full of praise of the Army Commander's visit and gratefully acknowledged the leadership and efforts for the project.
Mrs Janaki Liyanage, President, Army Seva Vanitha Unit, Major General Champaka Ranasinghe, Commander, Security Forces - Wanni, Major General Darshana Wijesekara, General Officer Commanding, 54 Division, 542 Brigade Commander, Senior Officers, Officers and Other Ranks were associated with the Army Chief's visit to Vikumpura.
