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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Military presence in north should not be judged – Japan

The Japanese government said yesterday that the military presence in the North should not be judged at the moment since it was a moving process and noted that the presence of the security forces was decreasing.
“The military presence was decreasing in the north; however it is too early to judge it because it’s a moving process,” Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Nabuhito Hobo told Daily Mirror yesterday. He made this remark after the signing of a grant contract, in Colombo yesterday, to provide Rs. 11.7 million in agricultural assistance to the Vavuniya District.
He also noted that grant assistance and donor funding to Sri Lanka had been reduced due to Sri Lanka achieving middle income status. However, he noted that there was interest regarding investment in the country in small projects at the grassroots level.

Commenting on the resettlement process in the north, he said that it had proceeded speedily in comparison with other countries, and added that resettlement was a long term process and there needed to be a focus on long-term livelihood development. (Dianne Silva)