Army Camps won't be removed immediately: PM in Jaffna

23 July 2018 07:40 am

Camps of Security Forces in the North would not be removed immediately but would cease to exist automatically when the situation in the area improves gradually, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Sunday.

Mr Wickremesinghe said so at a ceremony held to give permanent appointment to voluntary teachers in the North at the Jaffna Hindu College last morning.

“I read a report in a Sinhalese weekly which said Army camps in the North are to be closed down within the next few days. I asked the Army Commander about it and he said there was no such move.

“Then I inquired whether the Northern Chief Minister whether he had ordered the forces to move out of North. He had not done so. These kinds of stories arouse communal hatred. It is not right for anyone to sabotage the reconciliation programme at a time it is progressing gradually,” the Prime Minister said.

“The Army Camps in the North will not be removed. However, they will cease to exist automatically, when the situation in the North improves gradually. There will not be any immediate removal,” he added. (Yohan Perera)

Pix by Pradeep Pathirana