Colombo's ‘resettlement’ assistance traps Champoor Tamils into private mortgage

Many families among the resettled Tamils in Champoor are now trapped into taking huge loans in order to complete housing to qualify ‘resettlement’ assistant from the genocidal State of Sri Lanka, right activists in Trincomalee say. The Divisional Secretary of Moothoor Division, who is tasked with the delivery of so-called resettlement assistance from the SL Ministry of Resettlement, has been repeatedly telling the ‘beneficiaries’ from Champoor to take up loans and complete the construction of houses on their own in order to receive monetary assistance through the SL government programme. Trusting the promises, several families have taken up private loans with high interest rates. Some of them have even handed over their land deeds to external agents as security for their loans. They are facing the risk of losing their lands.

Among the 158 houses that have been completed, 58 house-owners are now facing serious financial problems due to the politics of Colombo being executed through Moothoor Divisional Secretariat.

Once a self-sustained people, the people of Champoor are now being victimised by the Colombo-centric system, commented rights activists in Trincomalee.

New Delhi should also be held accountable for the losses as it was promoting the coal power plant project coupled with Colombo’s de-population of Champoor during the regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Time has come for Eezham Tamils to mobilize their resources and demand compensation from the SL State and the powers that abetted Colombo’s physical genocide and the structural genocide.

In the meantime, the officials of SL Ministry of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Affairs in Colombo are claiming that their ministry has provided all necessary funds to the Divisional Secretariat in Moothoor to complete the housing project.

Tamil activists in Trincomalee have urged journalists and political activists to investigate the matter and bring the facts and figures to the public.