News
Displaced by conflict, 4,182 families still awaiting resettlement
By Rathindra Kuruwita
Eleven thousand five hundred and fifty one (11,551) persons belonging to 4,182 families, displaced during the war in the North and the East, have not been resettled, the 2020 progress report of the State Ministry of Rural Housing and Construction and Building Materials Industries Promotion reveals.
Since the end of the war the resettlement authorities have resettled 565,335 persons from 176,143 families in the Northern Province, and 338,306 persons belonging to 91,310 families in the Eastern Province in their original places or in alternative places.
“The Resettlement Division also resettles families who returned to Sri Lanka after they fled to India during the conflict and returned. It also conducts de-mining activities in the Northern and Eastern Provinces together with the Army and nongovernmental organisations (Mines Advisory Group, HALO Trust, Delvon Assistance for Social Harmony, SKAVITA Humanitarian Assistance and Relief Project) and takes necessary measures to return the lands to the public,” the report said.
By the end of 2020, 1302.24 square kilometers had been cleared and released for resettlement and development activities. Further, an area of 14.15 sq. km remains to be cleared in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu Districts.
The report says: “The Resettlement Division received Rs.5.7 billion to implement development projects recommended for the year 2020. They were spent on displaced persons and to provide welfare services for the people who live in welfare centres and with friends and relatives with the expectation of resettlement. In 2020, the Ministry has initiated development programmes to provide housing facilities, water facilities, sanitation facilities and other basic infrastructure as well as livelihood facilities for the people in areas affected due to the conflict and for the returnee refugees.”
However, 56.75% of Rs. 5.7 billion has been spent, i.e. Rs.3.2 billion.
The State Ministry says that when implementing projects priority is given to the families with disabled persons, women-headed families, low-income families, families with persons reintegrated into society after rehabilitation and families residing in welfare centres as well as families residing with friends and relatives.
South Korea’s Asiana Airlines has stopped selling some emergency exit row seats following an accident in which a passenger opened an emergency exit door midair causing panic on board.
The incident took place on an A321-200 plane, which was carrying nearly 200 passengers, as it approached the runway at Daegu International Airport, about 240km (150 miles) southeast of Seoul. The plane landed safely but several passengers were hospitalised. There were no serious injuries or damage.
The airline told the AFP news agency on Sunday the emergency exit seats – 31A and 26A – on its 14 A321-200 jets would no longer be offered for sale. “As a safety precaution, this measure will apply even if the flights are full,” it added. It is however unclear how the move might stop passengers seated elsewhere on the plane from attempting to open the emergency door.
The man, in his 30s, was arrested by authorities in Daegu for allegedly breaking aviation security laws. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. He told Daegu police that he had been under a lot of stress after losing his job recently and that he opened the door because he wanted to get off quickly after feeling suffocated, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on Saturday.
Video footage apparently taken by a person on board and posted on social media showed passengers’ hair being whipped about by air rushing into the cabin when the emergency door opened.
It is still unclear how Lee was able to open the emergency exit door mid-flight.
Jin Seong-hyun, a former Korean Air cabin safety official, said as far as he knew, this case was unprecedented, although passengers have opened emergency exits without authorisation while planes were on the ground.
A South Korean transport ministry official said it was possible to open emergency exits at or near ground level because the pressures inside and outside the cabin were similar.
(Aljazeera)
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