Non-permanent residents in the Western Province currently locked in will be sent home, as soon as the health authorities give the green light, Governor of the Western Province and Marshal of the Sri Lankan Air Force,Roshan Goonetileke told the Sunday Observer yesterday.
As per the data gathered by all police stations in the Province, there are about 45,000- 50,000 people currently locked in the Western Province unable to return to their homes due to the ban of crossing district borders. Most of them are workers at industrial zones and daily wage labourers while 18,000-20,000 of them were struggling to get their basic provisions during the curfew.
“We successfully conducted our mega program to provide these people with food and medicine. Four telephone numbers were open for them 24/7 for any grievance” the Governor said. However, the relief team has found several people misusing the facility, giving prank calls and some contacting the operation centre while receiving other concessions provided by the Government including the Rs. 5,000 allowance.
When asked about the future program to send people locked in the Western Province, the Governor said, “In this whole program medical consideration is priority number one. Only under the recommendation of health authorities, the Government will decide to open it. Otherwise, we cannot make decisions on our own”.