27000 படையினரே வடக்கில் தற்போது நிலை கொண்டுள்ளனர்
By Kelum Bandara and Yohan Perera
The government yesterday stressed in Parliament the necessity of continuing to maintain a substantial presence of the armed forces in the North until every inch of land in the area became safer for human habitation. Responding to Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, Leader of the House and Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said only 27,000 Army, Navy and Air Force personnel were now stationed in the North.
The Leader of the House said the Northern Province was heavily mined, and it was cleared of all lethal devices only through the contributions of the security forces.
“The leader of the Opposition is to be reminded that it is due to the contribution of our security forces that not a single life has been lost on account of landmines since May 2009,” Mr. de Silva said.
Responding to the demand by Mr. Wickremesinghe to do away with High Security Zones, he said the government was taking action to release these lands to their legitimate owners as much as possible.
“Only 3.5 to 4 percent of the lands are under HSZs,” he said.
Mr. de Silva said those who were interested in the welfare of people had unequivocally welcomed the withdrawal of the state of emergency. However, he said some laws would be kept intact to ensure national security and to make sure that terrorism would not raise its ugly head again. Also, he said the government would not hesitate to bring in new laws if necessary for this purpose.
“The well-being of the people, sanctity of the country and national security would be extremely important in time to come,” he said adding that as a unitary state, security forces and the police could be present anywhere in the country if the situation warranted.
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