Since 2003, the Sri Lankan Navy has used threats against local government officials to have their electricity bills paid by a Jaffna divisional council.
Valikamam West divisional council (prathesa sabai) has paid out over 7 lakh rupees of local funds to foot the Navy’s electricity bills, which included electricity for the navy camp and power used to extract water from the Ponnalai Water Supply Scheme.
Member of Vali West council, N. Ponrasa said in the council’s sitting on Tuesday that the Sri Lankan Navy should reimburse all the money paid out by the council in 15 years.
The council’s secretary, S. Chandramauli said he had taken the position on 1st July 2017 and still could not discover how the electricity was being supplied to the navy.
The leader of the council, T. Nadarajah said the council would no longer be funding the Navy and that the council had written to the navy camp demanding repayment of the misappropriated funds.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
