State Officials And Politicians Robbing The Lands Of Paanama People- MONLAR

Crisis Local News Media Info

Kalana Krishantha

February 24, 2023

The Movement of Land and Agricultural Reforms (MONLAR) alleges that state officials and politicians rob the lands in Paanama, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka.

While releasing a media statement, the convener of the Movement, environmentalist Sajeewa Chamikara says the traditional owners of the lands(villagers) have been denied access to their lands, and a group of influential people is illegally grabbing the lands.

With the end of the 30-year-long civil war in 2009 under the President Rajapaksa government, the lands were taken under Sri Lankan military forces claiming security reasons and have been under their supervision. As a result, the actual owners of the lands had to settle in another area. However, the villagers have been protesting on behalf of their lands, and at certain times policymakers promised to give back the lands. The environmentalist pointed out that even the Cabinet of Ministers of the successive Yahapalanaya government decided to distribute these lands among the traditional owners in February 2015. However, still, the premises have yet to be activated.

Here, the environmentalists are pointing out that politicians, state officials, and their henchmen grab these lands due to the excessive commercial value of these lands, as Paanama is considered one of the major tourist hotspots of eastern Sri Lanka.