A HSZ was earmarked in SAMPUR to make way for NTPC coal power plant by removing TAMIL families who are still languishing at DEATH CAMPS!!

Agreement to be signed before year end: Minister

Sampur coal power plant

By Kelum Bandara

The commercial agreement for the Sampur coal power plant will be signed between the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) of India before the end of this year, Power and Energy Minister John Seneviratne said. The project is expected to generate 500 mega watts of electricity after completion of its first phase. The CEB and the NTPC will establish a joint venture to run the project. The Minister said that the plant would add 1000 mega watts of electricity to the national grid system upon completion of its work.

Mr. Seneviratne told Daily Mirror that this would be an investment of US $ 500 million. He said that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed for the project last year. The NTPC is the largest state-owned company engaged in the thermal power industry in India. It is one of the top 10 companies operating in India. An official of the Indian High Commission said that the commercial agreement was now in the final stages of conclusion. However, the official said that he could not outline a specific time period to sign it.

The Sampur area was liberated from the LTTE on September 6, 2006. After that, a high security zone was earmarked in the area to make way for this coal power plant by removing some families who are still languishing at welfare camps. Political agitation is now there to resettle these families in their traditional villages in Sampur instead of providing them with lands in alternative areas. JVP parliamentary group leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that his party demanded the government that these people be resettled in Sampur itself.

DAILYMIRROR.LK