Land grab at Pallekele

BY L.B. Wijayasiri in Kandy

LAND grabbers entered into a National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) land at Pallekele yesterday morning, in their third attempt to grab the land allocated for common amenities and environmental purposes of those legal NHDA land recipients.

Those well to do individuals with means of living and own their houses to live elsewhere grab these lands and make allotments and sell underhand to various people.

This has become a "real daylight robbery" of State property which has become a lucrative business for those who are involved in this. Most of them are private bus operators, business establishment owners, and lorry owners.

They grabbed this particular land on the last Vesak holidays too but NHDA officials demolished the structures put up by them. It was their second attempt. Just two days before Poson Poya day being a public holiday, they entered the land and started putting up dwellings.

They claim that they were given permission to grab the land by the Chief Minister of the Central Province, but a senior official of the Chief Ministry denied that and contended that the particular land belonged to the NHDA and managed under a special Act and did not come under the purview of the Provincial Council.

Pallekele Jayasevana Udyanaya Welfare Society told the Daily News that this State of affairs lead to breach of peace in the area and also to a threat to the security of the lives and properties of hundreds of legal recipients of lands at Pallekele.

More than 50 people took part in their last attempt on Vesak day, a few days later a house on the border of the land was burgled and cash and jewellery stolen.