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‘Homecoming’ for 579 displaced families in Sampur by end April
More than 500 families displaced from the Sampur area in Trincomalee are to be resettled in their original locations before the end of next month, Eastern Province Governor Austin Fernando told the Sunday Times.
Waiting to go home: Families from Sampur. File pic
He said that an existing Naval training camp will be moved to an adjacent area, enabling the displaced families to return to their original lands.
The move comes with the Government’s decision to go ahead with two proposed coal power projects- one funded by India and the other by Japan, which are in the pipeline.
“I have had discussions with the displaced persons, who have no objections to the coal power projects. However, there are issues in the vicinity of coal power projects, as there will be environmental disturbances,” he said.
Mr. Fernando said that due to environmental concerns the resettlement will not take place in close proximity to the projects.He said there are a total of 822 displaced families living in four camps, of which 579 are from the Sampur area.
“The resettlement will take place where the Navy training camp is presently located. It is a basic Naval training camp,” he said.
“These people have been suffering in the camps. People who criticise the move will not stay away from their homes for nine hours, leave alone nine years,” he said.
“We will ascertain the identity of the people who were living in the area before displacement.We have ways of verifying through the electoral lists that are available. We can check on the 579 families. We will not bring persons from outside,” he said. “However, if the displaced people have taken compensation, they will not be entitled to return, but the Government can work out a scheme,” he added.
Mr. Fernando said originally 1500 acres were taken over by a company to develop the infrastructure of the area and set up the coal power plant. The government has now decided to return 800 acres of this land to the people.
He said that the move to resettle the displaced people was being carried out on humanitarian grounds, adding that, “humans should be treated as humans”.