A9 highway open or not?
A key check point in the Jaffna-Kandy highroad should not be removed in spite of re-opening the highway, a Sri Lankan government minister said.
Minister in charge of Indigenous Medicine, Tissa Karalliyadda told BBC Sinhala service, Sandeshaya that the check point should remain on A9 highway in order to provide security. A police official manning the check point, meanwhile, accused the media of falsely announcing that the highway is open for public. The government announced on Wednesday the re-opening of the key highway after 19 years to the public. Opening ceremony Social Services minister Douglas Devananda and Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa, MP, were the chief guests to mark the event in Jaffna, according to the government. But the police officers at the check point denied the reports. "You are publishing false reports that A9 is opened. A9 is not opened yet. People come here and get stranded. Is it right to publish what ever the government says in your media?" a policeman questioned. Sarath Kularatne, the time keeper at Medawachchiya private bus station agreed. "So many buses going to Jaffna came after it was announced that A9 is opened. But the police said it was only a temporary measure," he told BBC journalist Dinasena Rathugamage. A passenger who did not wish to be identified questioned the reason to keep the check point intact even after the end of the war against LTTE. "Please don't ask my name. I will not be allowed move from here if I tell you my name," another passenger told journalist Dinasena Rathugamage. However, Minister Karalliyadda is of the view that it is too early to remove the security measures. "Security in the south was strengthened because of Medawachchiya check point. There have been few instances that explosives bound for Colombo were ceased here," he said.