Alleged land colonisation in east? – BBC Sinhala service

[Tuesday, 1 November 2011 00:31] Featured, News

Last updated: 31 October, 2011 – Published 13:17 GMT

Alleged land colonisation in east

Chief Minister Chandrakanthan

The chief minister has been urged to take measures stop the alleged colonisation

The government in Sri Lanka is accused of systematically colonising the east a regional politician.

R Thurairatnam, a member of the eastern provincial council (EPC) has written to the chief minister raising concerns of the move.

The central government, he says, is handing over nearly 20,000 acres in Batticaloa district exclusively among Sinhala nationals.

Lands of Ampara district to the north of Batticaloa and Polonnaruwa flanking its west have already been distributed, alleges Mr Thurairatnam.

"The lands belonging to the Mahaveli project, forestry department and tourist industry is being distributed in a manner biased to the Sinhala people," he told BBC Sinhala service.

Friday Forum

In a letter to Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, the councillor has urged the chief minister to take immediate action to stop the "colonisation."

People in the North and East may have lost documents or have no notarial deeds. Their title and claims to private lands may be based on informal arrangements or written documents that are not legal

Friday Forum

"When Tamil people trying to get a land, they are bound by the provincial land commissioner’s regulations. But the provincial council was neither informed nor sought permission for this distribution," he added.

Members of the civil defence force are among the beneficiaries of the scheme, according to the councillor.

BBC Sandeshaya could not get the response of either of the land ministers in the government or the EPC despite repeated attempts.

The Friday Forum, headed by former UN diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala, has raised serious concerns over the “ad hoc manner” the government is trying to deal with land ownership in the north and east.

Releasing a discussion paper the Forum says the recent circular issued by the land ministry underlines “the importance of ensuring that property claims and access to land and housing in communities are accommodated with equity and fairness.”

LOCAL LINKS

Indigenous people protest over lands grab

18 October, 2011 | Sandeshaya

Mega projects ‘displace’ landowners

07 September, 2011 | Sandeshaya

Navy accused of land grab in Ampara

04 July, 2011 | Sandeshaya

Sinhala organisation in land grab accusation

30 March, 2011 | Sandeshaya

Colombo accused of ‘land grab’

17 October, 2010 | Sandeshaya

Govt. ‘trying to change’ demography

02 August, 2010 | Sandeshaya

EXTERNAL LINKS

New Govt Policy on Land matters in the North and the East

Ministry of land and land development

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

About us

Global Peace Support Group UK Ltd is a registered organisation based in London. The organisation dedicated to be involved in humanitarian and other related issues. We also work along with other similar organisations to promote peace and harmony among various societies..

GLOBAL PEACE SUPPORT GROUP - UK - TIRELESSLY WORK ON THE CONCEPT OF:
"SELF DETERMINATION IS KEY TO THE WORLD PEACE"
MOURNS ON THE CONTINUED TRAGEDY OF THE PEOPLE OF North & East of Tamil EELAM WITH THE HOPE OF ALL OF OUR ENDEAVOURS WOULD BRING AN END TO THOSE SUFFERING DURING THE YEAR AHEAD.

The International community has a duty towards the long suffering Sri Lankan Tamil population to restore their rights of SELF DETERMINATION.

Global Peace Support Group - believes that this is the ONLY way for a permanent PEACE in Sri Lanka.

Latest from Tamil News Network (TNN)

Unlawful killings in Sri Lanka – US May 25, 2012
The United States has said that ‘unlawful killings by security forces and government-allied paramilitary groups are a major human rights problem in Sri Lanka, often in the predominantly Tamil areas.’ The 2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices published by the U.S. State Department stated that “The major human rights problems were unlawful killings by […]
What’s next for General Fonseka? May 25, 2012
It has been a couple of days since the former military commander of Sri Lankan Army and common opposition’s presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka was released from the prisons and I can’t think of a better timing than this for me to express some of my thoughts related to these developments, which I am sure many here would share with me, at yet anothe […]
China to help Sri Lanka launch satellite by 2015 May 25, 2012
China will help Sri Lanka launch its first satellite by 2015, officials said. Local company SupremeSAT said it has reached an agreement with the Sri Lankan board of investment for $20 million for the project. It has entered into an agreement with China’s state-owned China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) for the design, manufacturing and launching of […]
Lankan oppn asks govt to implement LLRC recommenda May 25, 2012
(PTI) Sri Lanka’s main opposition party on Thursday asked the government to implement the recommendations of the country’s reconciliation commission and revive talks with the main Tamil party TNA to find a political solution to the ethnic issue. United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe addressing the Parliament said that recommendations of the […]
SL military coerces Jaffna University students to closed-door talks May 25, 2012
The commander of the occupying Sinhala military in Jaffna, Maj. Gen. Hathurusinghe, intimidated leaders of the boycotting students of the Jaffna University to come for a closed-door meeting at the occupation headquarters on Wednesday to tell them that the SL military would not provide security to students if they engage in political or social activities. The […]
Sri Lanka’s Sarath Fonseka barred from political office May 25, 2012
Sri Lanka’s ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka is barred from political office for seven years, despite being freed from jail on Monday, his lawyer says. Mr Fonseka stood against President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a presidential election two years ago, lost and was imprisoned shortly afterwards. Mr Fonseka’s lawyer, Nalin Laduwahetti, says that the terms of his releas […]
Sri Lanka sets up new courts to try war suspects May 24, 2012
Sri Lanka is setting up new courts to accelerate cases against hundreds of Tamil rebel suspects three years after the end of the island’s bloody ethnic war, a government spokesman said Thursday. Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said the justice ministry would open three courts near the former war zone in the northeast of Sri Lanka to hear charges against more than […]
Slaying of Tamil-Canadian underscores enduring ethnic violence in Sri Lanka May 24, 2012
Andrew Mahendrarajah Antonipillai believed he was protected. Family and friends tried to warn him of the danger he faced returning to his native Sri Lanka. But Mr. Antonipillai, a man his Montreal neighbours knew as ready to help anyone in need, shrugged them off, saying his Canadian citizenship would keep him safe. “They can’t do anything to me,” he told fr […]
Reconciliation: The Symbolic and the Substantive May 24, 2012
Photo courtesy JDS Against the backdrop of grave planetary changes, Sarath Fonseka’s release, G.L. Peiris’s visit to Washington DC and the third anniversary of the defeat of the LTTE, an evaluation of the requirements of reconciliation are in order. There is a need to distinguish between the symbolic and the substantive – both in turn playing their part in […]
India’s Marxist Communist Party calls for withdrawal of Sri Lanka military May 24, 2012
The Marxist Communist Party of India (CPI-M) in a press release on Wednesday called for immediate withdrawal of the Sri Lanka military stationed in Tamil areas of the island. In one of the five resolutions passed at the state committee meeting of the party held at Ealakiri in Tamil Nadu last Sunday, it was decided to urge the Indian government to diplomatica […]

Global Peace Support Group