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Lorry owners in Jaffna protested against a finance firm owned by the paramilitary leader, Douglas Devananda, accusing it of failing to return owed money.
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The protest, which took place last Wednesday, was organised by a forum of the Jaffna lorry owners cooperative. It began at 11am in front of the Jaffna John Bosco School. Protesters marched past the office of the northern province's chief minister, and ended the protest at the northern province's governor's office, where they handed a memo addressed to the president.
"The finance company [Maheswary Finance] provided members of our forum with sand mining jobs for a while following a promise to provide job opportunities," the forum's chair, Jeyakumar explained.
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"A deposit of Rs 5000 was collected from our members for this, there was an administration fee of Rs 300 per person too. They promised to return the deposit money should we leave the service."
"In this way, Rs 977,500 was collected from 575 members during 2010-13. After 2013, members of the forum were not given any job opportunities as Maheswary Finance company procured their own vehicles. Following demands by the members to return their deposit, the company handed back Rs 50,000 per head for 50 people as the first phase. However, the remainder has not been returned even after two months have passed."
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