THE MILITARY has found Rs. 13 million in the possession of the manager of ‘Eelam Bank’ run by the LTTE in Kilinochchi , and is now looking for the depositors to hand over these monies to them.
Quoting military officers based in Vavuniya overlooking the welfare of the displaced civilians, Construction and Engineering Services Minister Dr.Rajitha Senaratne told the Daily Mirror yesterday this manager had arrived in Vavuniya along with other people. The Minister who recently completed an observation tour in the area said that all these monies had been obtained from people through fraudulent means.
He said that the mobile branches of the State banks had now been set up in the welfare villages, and the displaced persons had already deposited much money in them.
“There is a person who has deposited Rs. 40 million alone,” Dr.Senaratne said.
Commenting on the facilities available at four zones where these IDPs are now accommodated, he said that the situation is satisfactory at the two zones set up at the initial stage of the humanitarian operation.
The Minister emphasized the need to improve the sanitation facilities for the people at the zones where the latest batches of civilians who arrived are housed.
“There are cases of chickenpox and hepatitis. However, the situation has been controlled to a great extent. There is the need to send for more doctors to attend to emergency medical requirements of people,” he said.
Dr. Senaratne said that there had been several corruption cases involving certain Divisional Secretaries in the distribution of dry rations among the IDPs. He, therefore, stressed the need to continue with the military administration to avert such cases in the future.
“The Divisional Secretaries who arrived from Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi have been assigned duties at the welfare camps. Some officials have been involved in corruption. We have been able to minimize such cases due to the military administration. So, I feel that the Government should continue with it to reduce corruption and wastage in the future,” he said.
(Courtesy: Daily Mirror)
