RAMANATHAPURAM: The Sri Lankan Tamil refugees camp at Mandapam is likely to see a facelift soon with the district administration deciding to send a proposal to the State government seeking `20 lakh for the project.Following District Collector Arun Roy’s recent inspection of the camp, it was decided to send a proposal to the government for giving the camp a facelift. Revamping of the Special Deputy Collector’s office building, the ration shop, the PWD and quarantine buildings are on the cards.Roy told Express that the existing pumpsets would be repaired shortly to ensure uninterrupted water supply to the inmates of the camp. The Sri Lankan Tamil community found itself in the spotlight soon after Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa passed a resolution in the Assembly recently demanding that Sri Lankan Tamils be protected, and those responsible for the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka during the Eelam War be declared war criminals.The government then decided to revamp the Mandapam camp where over 2,000 refugees are reportedly staying in 750 houses. The previous DMK government had allotted a fund to renovate the houses and other buildings a few years ago. But, no action was taken beyond that. The camp was originally set up to accommodate those working in tea estates and other places in Sri Lanka, and later converted into a refugee camp after outbreak of a civil war between the LTTE and the Lankan government.The government has established over 100 camps for Lankan Tamils in many parts of the State and the Mandapam camp is the biggest of them all.
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