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Military seeks Jaffna Fort, offers to release more land to the people
View(s):The Army has requested the Government to release the Jaffna Fort to the military and in turn has agreed to release the lands occupied by three of the main camps within the city limits.
The letters requesting for the Jaffna Fort have been sent by Jaffna Security Forces Commander Dharshana Hettiarachchi to President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Department of Archaeology.
“If the request is granted we can close down the camps at Pannai, Gurunagar and at the Sinhala Maha Vidyalaya premises,” Major General Hettiarachchi told the Sunday Times. He said the request was under consideration and if the matter was expedited, the Army could release the lands to the people.
At present, the Jaffna Fort is under renovation by the Archaeology Department with the assistance of the Netherlands.
However, the move has been opposed by the Jaffna Municipal Council which has passed a resolution on the grounds that the Fort could be developed as a tourist attraction and as a source of revenue for the council.
Jaffna Mayor Emmanuel Arnold said that during the Prime Minister’s recent visit to Jaffna, a request was made to hand over the Fort to the military, but the mayor had explained how the site could be developed to generate income and create more job opportunities for the youth.
He said that instead of the 34-acre Jaffna Fort, the military could use a 70-acre state land in Kopay if it wished to relocate the troops. The Jaffna Fort was originally constructed by the Portuguese in 1618 and a few years later it was captured by the Dutch who rebuilt and expanded it.
More than 12,000 foreign and local tourists visit the Jaffna Fort monthly.