Fr. Sritharan Sylvester, director of Caritas in Batticaloa, said people in the East face natural disasters every 25 years but the civil war has created enormous hardships for these people. Taking part as chief guest last Thursday in the ceremony of handing over catamarans among the fishermen, he said over 200,000 displaced people sought refuge in Batticaloa are now trying for relocations as the continuing economic burdens are not helping them rehabilitate themselves from the wrath of war.

He called upon the people to use the resources provided by the NGOs wisely in order to effectively face their present economic hardships. Citing a recent survey he said that seven people out of ten are suffering from mental illnesses due to the war.

Sylvester said even the people who are mentally fit visit the North and East become mentally ill by seeing the destruction and the environment where many people talk with no hope. Expressing his dissatisfaction over dropout of school, he said many students have no access to schools and many of them are not either permitted by their parents to schools or family situations put them out of schools.

He wanted t know as to how a society could be built without sending children to schools who are the future of the nation. He said that the people in the region should involve themselves in religious, social and spiritual activities in order to save themselves from mental illnesses and frustrations.

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