The United Nations is concerned about the progress of the Sri Lankan government’s demining programme. UN Assistant Secretary-General Ajay Chhibber who visited the country from New York this week, said, certain issues pertaining to mine action were yet to be addressed by Colombo.. “Coordination issues such as purchase of equipment and the designation of areas for demining remain,” Chhibber told the Sunday Times on Thursday.
He said, while the government’s task-force on rehabilitation and resettlement has been making efforts to clear mined areas especially in the north and resettle the war- displaced in their places of origin, the process of demining could be stepped up. “How this (demining) could be accelerated should be very high on the government’s agenda,” Chhibber, also director for Asia and the Pacific of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said. He added although much progress is being made in terms of resettling the war displaced people in their places of origin in the north and the east, it is important that the government deals with pending matters relating to mine action.
Chhibber visited demining sites in the Mannar district during his brief stay in Sri Lanka. He said that the Sri Lankan army has recently started building capacity in humanitarian demining but the need for more equipment still exists. The UNDP which works alongside demining companies in Sri Lanka is likely to seek greater aid from its international donors so as to help the government expedite the process of demining.
In its latest situation report from the north and east, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has mentioned that according to rehabilitation and resettlement minister Rishad Bathiudeen, “demining has been completed in the east and 118 grama niladari divisions in the north.” According to the OCHA report released last week, 1,64,383 war-displaced persons are still inside camps and hospitals in the north (as of November 5). The report further said that 1,02,728 war-displaced persons have resettled in Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Kandy, Ampara and Polonnaruwa districts between August 5 and November 7.
“It is good that the resettlement process has started. The conditions in camps have improved. Lesser people are falling ill due to the decongestion now but a lot more needs to be done,” Chhibber, who visited camps for the war displaced in Vavuniya’s Menik Farm told the Sunday Times. The rains would make life difficult for thousands of families still living inside the camps, he said adding that “people who had been relocated appeared happy.”
The UN representative also hoped that the Sri Lankan government would be able to achieve its deadline of relocating most of the remaining war displaced people by end of January next year. President Mahinda Rajapaksa he said has been “making efforts to resettle the displaced people” since he made the commitment to UN chief Ban ki-Moon and the international community in May this year. |
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