Salawa victims demand Govt. honour promises

A group of area residents near Salawa army camp staged a protest in Colombo yesterday. The protestors claimed that they were yet to receive the Government allowance of Rs. 50,000 that had been allocated for those who could not yet resettle in their homes - Pic by Shehan Gunasekara

By Chamodi Gunawardana

Staging a protest in front of the Fort Railway Station yesterday, Salawa Armory explosion victims demanded the Government pay the monthly compensation of Rs. 50, 000 that was promised. 

The victims, who have organised themselves as the Collective of the Victims of Salawa Armory Explosion, claimed that they are yet to receive some of the compensation promised to them. 

Collective Secretary Chandana Sooriyarachchi told Daily FT that the Government has failed to pay the monthly Rs. 50,000 compensation for the last three months. The Government promised to pay the grant for six months, they claimed. 

“We only got Rs. 50, 000 for each family in June, July and August. We did not receive the compensation in September, October and November. We urged the Government to pay the shortage of the compensation as promised,” he said. 

Sooriyarachchi added that the Government is yet to take steps to give temporary stalls for the 51 businessmen who lost their shop spaces due to the explosion.

“Around 50 stalls were totally destroyed by the fire and the Government promised to give temporary shelters to them, but till now they haven’t even carried out loss assessments,” he claimed.

He also alleged that the Government has not yet paid the property damages for vehicles and furniture.

“Ten days after the explosion, Government assessors conducted surveys to calculate the value of destroyed properties, but we still did not receive any compensation,” he said.

According to Sooriyarachchi, around 168 families have been affected by the fire and some of them are still in temporary shelters.

 The Collective spoke to the Additional Presidential Secretary yesterday who has gave a written promise to that the Government will fulfill their demands within next two weeks.

Sooriyarachchi said that if the Government is unable to address their demands they will take to streets again.