15th July 2016 03:34:41 Hours
Thanks to a considerate and thoughtful initiative of the Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Crishantha de Silva, a group of 30 Army inmates under rehabilitation at Army - managed wellness resorts, were flown this morning (12) on picnic to Jaffna for the first time after they suffered disability, together with a team of 16 personnel, including a doctor, a nurse, a physiotherapist and a few caretakers.
The entire itinerary of the tour, coordinated very well jointly by the Directorate of Rehabilitation and the Security Force Headquarters - Jaffna (SFHQ-J) was whole-heartedly supported by the Sri Lanka Air Force which has made a 46 - seat aircraft available for the tour. Those dependent War Heroes who had served Jaffna during the fight against terrorism too were enthusiastic for the exciting journey, attended by a commandant for administrative purposes.
The Army rehabilitees during their 3-day stay (July 12-14) in the Jaffna peninsula are expected to visit the Nallur Kovil, Jaffna Fort, Dambakolapatuna, Nagadeepa Temple, war monument at Elephant Pass, a few other places of interest and the SFHQ-J premises as the last stop.
Major General Mahesh Senanayake, Commander, Security Forces - Jaffna (SF-J) responding swiftly and positively to the request, made all required arrangements to make the picnickers happy and most comfortable during the 3-day stay in the Jaffna peninsula where some of them sustained permanent injuries during humanitarian operations while fighting for the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Those gravely-injured wheelchair borne War Heroes who are now receiving life-time care at these state-of-the-art rehabilitation centers, Abhimansala I, II, III, Ragama Ranaviru Sevana and Attidiya Mihindu Seth Medura are making this trip for the first time after they had sustained critical injuries and turned physically-handicapped. Some 300-400 such disabled War Heroes who have become dependent for the remainder of their lives, continue to undergo therapeutic treatment and rehabilitation in those healing centers under the close supervision of the Directorate of Rehabilitation.
The picnic for those disabled War Heroes is scheduled to end on Thursday (14) after attending a special religious programme at Jaffna town-based Sri Naga Viharaya. They left the Katunayake Air Force Camp this morning (12) for Jaffna.
