Finance and Mass Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera, who is on a three-day visit to the Northern Province, spent Saturday visiting and interacting with communities in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu. Stopping for breakfast at the Ammachi traditional food outlet in Kilinochchi manned exclusively by war-affected women, he interacted with the staff at the restaurant. The Minister met some 40 women’s groups at the Puthukudiyirippu Divisional Secretariat, spoke with the fishing community and other small and medium scale entrepreneurs. He announced a series of measures by the Government to improve livelihoods and alleviate indebtedness in vulnerable war affected communities in the region. Minister Samaraweera, a long time disappearances activist, also made an impromptu stop at a protest by families of the disappeared in Kilinochchi, appealing to them to end their demonstration and seek assistance at the newly established Office of Missing Persons. The Minister on Friday met with officials of the Provincial Council and other government officials in Jaffna to discuss the implementation of projects in the Northern Province as proposed by the 2018 Budget. Here the Minister with the families of the disappeared and the staff of the Ammachi traditional food outlet in Kilinochchi. Pictures by by Rukmal Gamage
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