Sri Lanka's prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday announced the establishing of the 'Palmyrah Fund' to develop the North-East.
At a ceremony, attended by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader, R Sampanthan and the Minister of Finance, Mangala Samaraweera, Wickremesinghe said the fund would start with a capital of Rs 2.5 billion and would aim to improve economic and social development in the area.
“The government will be giving employment to 22,000 graduates, so there will be a significant portion of them who come from Jaffna. There are other schemes under which employment opportunities will be founded. Funds that are being pumped into the northern and eastern economies will also create employment opportunities there,” he added.
The TNA MPs Selvam Adaikkalanathan and S Sritharan were also present.
The fund comes as Tamils in the North-East have protested month after the month on key issues including enforced disappearances by state security forces, the ongoing military occupation of private lands belonging to Tamil families, and the military overwhelming hold on local livelihood opportunities.
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