A committee headed by Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda has decided to deploy army troops to control road traffic in Kilinochchi in a latest attempt to militarise the Tamil homeland.
A special committee on road traffic was created following the recent death of a school girl who met with an accident on the A9 Highway in Kilinochchi.
Following much public demand for the establishment of strict control of traffic to prevent accidents, the committee was set up by the Provincial Secretary of the Education Ministry Elangovan.
Sivagnanam Shritharan, a TNA parliamentarian, had earlier supported the creation of a roundabout in the accident-prone areas in a speech in parliament.
The committee headed by Devananda opined that the construction of a roundabout might involve legal and spatial problems and instead decided to ramp up the deployment of army troops between Paranthan to Murikandy.
The Minister also issued orders to the District Army Officer and Assistant Superintendent of Police, who were also present at the meeting, to implement the deployment of troops from Monday.
The committee, under Devananda’s orders, directed a Road Development Authority officer to also look into the issue of setting up new traffic signals in the traffic-prone areas.
It is expected that militarisation of Kilinochchi, where the Sri Lankan army only recently set up a new special unit, would be further intensified.
