Land ownership in North to be sorted out

* Two-month period for applications

* Those who fled abroad eligible too

Chaminda PERERA

People of the North and East who cannot confirm ownership of their land through supporting documents are to be given a two-month period to furnish details of such land through a special application to the respective Divisional Secretaries with the recommendation of Grama Niladharis.

People who left the country due to LTTE terror could also claim ownership of land by sending these applications online to the respective Divisional Secretaries.

The Lands Ministry is to advertise notices calling for applications for people of the North and East through the print and electronic media next week.

According to Lands Ministry Secretary Asoka Peris a special circular has been issued by the ministry on the procedure that should be followed by the Divisional Secretaries to deal with these cases.

He said these applications would be separated under different categories. A special procedure is to be followed in cases where state land has been claimed by the people.

These cases would be inquired into by a special committee of inquiry at Divisional Secretariat level with the participation of representatives of all government institutions.

He said that this committee of inquiry will make a preliminary list after conducting thorough investigations and this list is to be further reviewed by the second committee of inquiry again. These lists would be published in the media so the public could make objections and a considerable period is to be declared to receive objections too, he said.

The Lands Ministry Secretary said that the issues with regard of ownership of private land would be dealt with by the Bimsaviya programme which is to be implemented in five DS divisions initially. According to senior assistant secretary of the Bimsaviya programme P M B Udayakantha, lands disputes in the Nallur, Karachchi, Maritimepattu, Nedunkerni and Musalai Divisional Secretariats are to be settled initially under this programme.