Sri Lanka Army returns more Jaffna lands to original owners
Wednesday, 2 April 2014 00:14
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The Security Force Headquarters in Kilinochchi (SFHQ-KLN) recently handed over 24 acres of land in Pooneryn, Mulankavil and Pulliyankulam areas to their rightful owners.
“Assessing the real owners of these lands is a long process,” said Commander of SFHQ-KLN Maj. Gen. Sudantha Ranasinghe. “Sometimes, several people come and claim their ownership. So we release lands to their original or rightful owners only after following a due verification process.”
The Sri Lanka Army is taking measures to return land to civilians under the development and reconciliation process of the Government.
Maj. Gen. Ranasinghe said the Army will continue to hand back lands previously used for security purposes to the rightful civilians owners, recalling one mother as saying that this is a lifetime dream come true.
The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in its recommendation 9.126 states the following: “Assure people through a publicity effort that the Land Policy and the Associated Program, seeks to make available land to all returning IDPs as expeditiously as possible and is not a substitute for recourse to the Courts of Law where people are in possession of valid legal proof of their claim to the land in question.”
Since the end of the war in 2009, security forces have moved out from many of the civilian-owned lands once occupied by the military for security purposes. Furthermore, most of the high security zones have been removed and roads opened up for greater civilian movement.
The SFHQ-KLN also awarded monetary grants of Rs. 100,000.00 each to 23 affected families who had lost a child in terrorist violence. The Ministry of Rehabilitation, in response to a request made by the Army, has made grants available for award of such assistance.
“Granting compensation is an ongoing process,” the Major General added.
The process of confirming the ownership of lands and the awarding of financial grants was done by the SFHQ-KLN in collaboration with the Kilinochchi District Secretariat, the Ministry of Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms and several other state agencies. The Army also distributed 107 milk cows among Kilinochchi civilians as livelihood development assistance.
