Army hands back 55 acres of land, 46 Jaffna houses to owners
Saturday, 24 August 2013 00:00
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Taking another significant step in reducing the presence of troops and handing over civilian properties in Jaffna, the Sri Lanka Army yesterday handed over 46 houses and over 55 acres of land in two sectors, namely Valikamam and Vadamarachchi areas.
According to Defence Ministry sources 52 acres of land in Maradankeni and Pallai in Vadamarachchi will be handed over to the civilian owners. Security forces will move into formally built military accommodation. Seven houses will also be handed back to their owners. The Army has been using these premises since 2009.
In Valikamam the army will hand over 39 houses in Udduvil area to the owners. These houses have been rented by the army since 1995.
This decision comes in the wake of the Government’s intention to hand over properties currently utilised for security purposes back to their owners. This will also underline the commitment of the state in the reconciliation process to restore normalcy and assist the people to rebuild their lives. During the terrorist conflict most houses and properties were abandoned by these people in order to escape from LTTE atrocities and forced conscription. A large proportion of these people settled down in other parts of the country especially in Colombo and its suburbs.
Troop strength has also been reduced in recent times by over 10,000 during the last two and a half years alone. High security zones have become a thing of the past. Within a period of just four years the Government has taken concrete steps to restore democracy in the region, something that is unheard of in anywhere else in the world in a similar situation. With the ushering in of peace, the Government has decided to hold provincial council elections in the former conflict region.
In addition to handing back the houses and properties to the people the security forces are involved in building hundreds of houses for the resettled Tamil community in the Northern region.
