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Second Cabinet Minister stopped from going to NE
By Sinniah Gurunathan, from Trincomalee
Less than three days after Rehabilitation Minister Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena was almost manhandled by pro-LTTE students in Jaffna and forced to abandon a public ceremony, a second Cabinet Minister, Lands Minister, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne was yesterday forced to cancel attending a four-day mobile service in Trincomalee due to a hartal called by the Tamil Organizations Federation.

Dr. Senaratne who was scheduled to inaugurate the mobile service at the district secretariat yesterday cancelled his visit without fixing a new date. Trinco's Government Agent N.P.K. Nelumdeniya told a disappointed crowd that had gathered in front of the district land branch that the Minister's visit had been cancelled and those who wished could hand over their complaints to the respective officers.

The Minister's media officer Mahilal Seneviratne who had come for the function along with some Colombo based journalist had also made a hasty retreat. TULF General Secretary R.Sampanthan had later arrived at the scene and had discussions with the GA and other parliamentarians. When asked for the reason by journalists for the Minister's cancelled visit he said, "You should ask the Minister." He also said that the distribution of land was a complex question that needed to be solved once an interim administrative structure was established in the North-East.

The cancellation of the mobile programme comes fast on the heels of an incident in Jaffna where Rehabilitation Minister Jayalath Jayawardene was debarred by undergraduates from attending a ceremony at the Jaffna university.

Dr. Jayawardena on Wednesday was prevented by a group of university students in Jaffna from attending a ceremony to hand over some of the schools which had been renovated with GTZ (German Technical Co-operation) funds.

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