REFUGEE

COLOMBO: Tamils displaced from Sampur in eastern Sri Lanka by the war are unlikely to get jobs in the Indian-built 500 MW power plant which is to come up there soon.
Sampur, overlooking the strategic Trincomalee harbour and naval base, had been declared a High Security Zone (HSZ) in May 2007, and the place was barred to the 7,000-odd local Tamils who now live in temporary refugee camps in Kiliveddi, Pattithidal and Manarchenai in the Muthur division.
Asked if the plant would employ local Tamil people, Sri Lankan Minister for Power W D J Seneviratne said that there was provision for the employment of ‘Sri Lankan’ labour, but not ‘local’ labour as such.
HIGH SECURITY ZONE KEEPS TAMILS AWAY: The Tamil National Alliance said employment in the power plant and other plants would go to Sinhalese from the south and the place would lose its Tamil character.