The Hon. Major General (Rtd.) Aruna Jayasekera - Deputy Minister of Defence

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Defence, I provide the answer.

¶ 02 (a) (i) For the expansion of the Vavuniya Airport, the Ministry of Defence has initiated acquisition, through the Vavuniya District Secretary under three stages, of approximately 446.68 acres belonging to 167 private owners in the villages of Tachchankulam, Vavuniya, Rambekulam and Kovilkulam, which have been vested with the Sri Lanka Air Force. It has been observed that this has caused impediments to the public use of certain roads. (ii) The Tachchankulam–Moonrumurippu road segment from the Moonrumurippu junction up to the entrance gate of the Army Security Forces Headquarters – Wanni, a stretch of 550 metres, had been commonly used for several years from the initial period of land vesting. Since 04 May 2012, with the opening of the main SLAF access from the A-9 side, the said road segment was completely removed from Air Force use. (iii) Accordingly, for the past 13 years this road segment has been used full-time only by the Army Security Forces Headquarters – Wanni.

¶ 03 (b) (i) As explained in (a), earlier the distance from Tachchankulam to the Moonrumurippu Grama Niladhari office (near the A-9) via the subject road was about 1.42 km. With that access restricted, residents now use three alternative routes:

¶ 04 Civil Route 01: From Tachchankulam via Samalankulam to the Moonrumurippu GN Office. From the 84th milepost at Tachchankulam, proceed about 900 m east, then 2.1 km south along Uma Maheswaran Road, join the Samalankulam Road, go 3 km west, then enter the A-9 near Northway Hotel and proceed to the Moonrumurippu GN Office. Total distance: approx. 6 km. Repairs are being carried out to make it suitable for all vehicle types.

¶ 05 Civil Route 02: From Tachchankulam via Vavuniya town to the Moonrumurippu GN Office. From the 84th milepost, proceed 900 m east, enter Uma Maheswaran Road, go 2 km north to the A-9 (Vavuniya–Horowpothana) road, then 2 km west and 3.1 km south along the A-9 through Vavuniya town to reach the GN Office. Total distance: approx. 8 km. Therefore, the stated 12 km is not correct; it is about 8 km.

¶ 06 Civil Route 03: An interim path from Tachchankulam to the Moonrumurippu GN Office. From the Army roadblock, proceed about 50 m east, then turn south along a lesser-used narrow path over the Tachchankulam tank bund for about 1.5 km, then via Samalankulam Road, enter the A-9 near Northway Hotel and proceed to the GN Office. Total distance: approx. 2 km. Presently suitable for bicycles and foot traffic.

¶ 07 (ii) Opening the Tachchankulam–Moonrumurippu road for public use depends on the prevailing security situation. Our assessment is that, under current conditions, in order to ensure the security of the SLAF camp and the Security Forces Headquarters, it is not feasible to open it to the public.

¶ 08 (c) Since opening the road at this time could pose challenges, we propose, while ensuring residents’ essential needs with minimal inconvenience and maintaining existing security measures, to develop alternative routes as follows:

¶ 09 Alternative Route 01: Construct a new road skirting the perimeter fence on the south-eastern side of the Security Forces Headquarters from near the Tachchankulam Army “Bravo Gate” roadblock and connect it to the Samalankulam A-1 road. Total distance approx. 1.8 km, which is about 400 m longer than the original route—more practical compared with an 8 km detour.

¶ 10 Alternative Route 02: Improve the current narrow path described as Civil Route 03 to a motorable standard for general vehicles. Total distance approx. 2.3 km, about 900 m longer than the original route—also a practical alternative compared to an 8 km detour.

¶ 11 Going forward, we will place this matter before the Defence Council for reconsideration.