LRC to grant land ownership to 4,151 estate workers living in line rooms

• 1,059 transfer deeds already handed over to estate worker families

The Land Reform Commission (LRC) will grant 3,192 transfer deeds to worker families in the plantation sector simultaneously to the ’Urumaya’ national program, which grants unconditional freehold ownership of lands to people.

LRC Chairman Panduka Keerthinanda told the Daily FT that 1,059 deeds have already been transferred to estate worker families in Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Matale and Kegalle districts.

He said the following recommendations of the New Village Development Authority for Plantation Region, which have done surveys, feasibility studies and other requirement to implement the transfer of deeds program named – Semata Himi Bimak- (land ownership for everyone) will also be launched in other districts – Badulla, Monaragala, Matale, Galle, Ratnapura, Colombo and Kalutara.

“These lands belong to the LRC properties and estates and will be implemented in three stages,” he said, adding that 1,700 estate worker families will get 1,700 transfer deeds in the first stage, 1,250 and 1,201 families will get transfer deeds in the second and third stages respectively.

According to Keerthinanda, each estate worker family, who are living in line rooms, will get seven perches under this program.

He said that there was a proposal to increase the land to 10 perches for each family and the LRC was considering this request at the moment. (SS)