Essentials reach Wanni civilians

Fifty one lorries with 650 tons of dry rations had reached the Wanni safely and had already started distribution among IDPs under the watchful eyes of the Government Agents, Essential Services Commissioner S.B. Divarathna said yesterday.
Divarathna said the consignment had been unloaded at warehouses in four locations namely Mulleivalu, Pudikudiruppu, Dhramapuram and Kandaveli.
With regard to the route taken by the Convoy Divarathna said they had used the A-34 (Mankulam-Odusuddan) road instead of the A-9 on the instruction of security authorities. The convoy was accompanied by seven expat aid agency workers with five representing the World Food Programme (WFP) and the other two from the UN and NGOs.
They were expected to return yesterday evening. However nine lorries out of 60 sealed after being loaded at warehouses in Vavuniya had been prevented from proceeding to the Wanni as they had contained some illegal items. According to Divarathna two lorries had contained 250 grams of C-4 explosives and a load of batteries hidden inside them.
He said that 250 lorries which belong to traders in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu had been registered with authorities for transport purposes and the two apprehended lorries had belonged to them.
Another convoy of around 75 lorries consisting of 750-1000 tons of food would be sent to the Wanni during next week Divarathna added. This would be the norm during coming weeks with around 1,000 tons of essential items being delivered to the Wanni during the coming weeks Divarathna said. As a contingency plan another 5,000 tons had been stored in Vavuniya for emergency use.
Non food items categorised as being essentials too would be delivered to help the IDPs after the second convoy, Divarathna said. Food is being delivered first on a priority basis.
The normal supplies to traders in the areas which go in 20 lorries on a daily basis to the Wanni was continuing as usual Divarathna added.
Meanwhile Secretary to the Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services A.C.M.Razik said that his Ministry was continuing with the support extended to IDPs in the region.
He said that 49,413 families from three districts namely Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya had been provided with essentials worth of Rs.112 million.
“Our Ministry has planned to provide these families with enough stocks to last till December within the next two weeks as a contingency plan,” he added.
Also according to Razik his Ministry has planned to provide newly displaced people with cooked food for one week till they find alternative shelter. This will cost Rs.48 million.