Parliment

‘Massive development under way’

Continued from Saturday

Vidura Wickramanayaka (UPFA): According to economics, there are four factors needed for development. They are lands, labour, capital and technical knowledge. All four could increase, but lands. The President had paid special attention to lands in the budget. Some people use lands for a short period and abandon them. Twenty percent of the population is deprived of lands. There are housing projects for war heroes. These programmes should be monitored. Minister Tennakoon is a talented person. The people who are deprived of houses, should be given land. There should be a data bank on lands.

If there is such a bank, the people could approach them. They also could find land to initiate their businesses. The government should have a national policy for lands.

In the near future, people will face a shortage of two important commodities. One is land and while the other is water.

Sujeewa Senasinghe (UNP): The inmates in IDP camps have been resettled which is commendable. But statistics given by different institutions have varied. The resettled people do not have adequate facilities. This government sold 10 acres of land to China. That had been the best plot of land in Colombo. The government should not lease out the lands for 99 years.

The Moragahakanda had incidentally been constructed.

V. Radhakrishnan (UPFA): The policy of this government had been to provide a plot of land to each family. Most people have no deeds to their lands in which they live. Resettlement Minister Muralitharan is present in the House. He had been given a suitable ministry. He should take action to resettle the IDPs.

Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody takes the Chair.

Land equally important to each of us

P Ariyanethiran (TNA): The lands are equally important to each of us. There had been requirement for about 16,300 houses in the Batticaloa district. The Resettlement Ministry should take measures to provide housing facilities for them. Fifty families living in Vakarai, have been vacated from their lands to facilitate an army camp. These lands are not state property, but private lands of the people.

Chandrakumara Murugesu (UPFA): Most of the people in the North and East, have lost their land deed documents and other personal documents. These people have been struggling to save their lives over the past years and therefore they had no concern over these documents in the past.

The government has to intervene to offer them land deeds once again, to prove their ownership.

Resettlement of displaced persons should be carried out in an organized manner. Land issues of these people should be looked into.

Vijayakala Maheshwaran (UNP): About 17,000 people still remain in the Manik Farm Camp. Eventhough the minister said that he would complete resettlement by January, it seems impractical. The war had been concluded a long time ago, but still the displaced are not resettled and their grievances not addressed. The government should give priority to the disabled people in camps when resettlement is carried out.

Co-operatives and Internal Trade Deputy Minister Basheer Cegudawood: Land issues have been persisting since ancient times and it had been one of the factors that contributed to the war in the North and East. There had been clashes among three ethnic groups in the North and East over land issues. There had been different types of lands. Some lands have been offered with deeds where some lands had not been offered permits. Some lands utilized for chena cultivation did not require deeds. There are state lands too.

Due to the tsunami catastrophe in 2004, many documents in Pradeshiya Sabhas had been lost.

There should be a proper mechanism to handle these issues.

S Vino (TNA): In the North, there are villages in which resettlement had not taken place yet. About 70 families in Manik Farm had been provided temporary shelter at another place in the name of resettlement.

This had been like moving from one camp to another. This is not the proper way to facilitate the resettlement of displaced people.

Dr Jayalath Jayawardena (UNP): I worked as the Resettlement Minister during the UNP regime. We were able to hold a national census on displaced persons with the support and co-operation of the UN organization, during that period.

This was the first census of displaced persons after the war erupted. Today, the war had been concluded and people are no more displaced due to the war.

As reported, there are about 27,000 young widows in Jaffna alone.

We have not encouraged or influenced anybody to acquire lands of Tamil people

A H M Azwer takes the Chair.

Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen: One member said that the Puthukudirippu hospital should be repaired. We will take measures to do it. To a statement made by MP Mawei Senadirajah, I say that we have never influenced or encouraged any person or persons to acquire even a single plot of land owned by the Tamil people.

We are aware that in our areas, very young children had been hacked to death. We have never chased away the Tamil people who settled in our areas.

The Muslims have been resettled in their areas in the North. The Tamils too are also living in that area. So we request that the Tamils be allowed to resettle the Muslims in their own areas.

We also request them to allow our people to use fisheries harbours.

The TNA members said that they sacrificed youths for liberation. I request them not to harass others who attempt to find liberation.

P Rajadurai (UPFA): Under various programmes, plots of lands have been given to Tamil persons in our area. Around 2,000 people are living on some plots of lands without a deed in our areas. They face many problems. They are unable to build their houses as they are unable to take bank loans.

Their main problem is that they don’t have deeds for their plots of lands. Less than five percent, only have deeds for their plots of lands.

These people have contributed immensely for cultivation in the country. The President in his budget speech said around 37,000 hectares of underutilized lands would be taken over by the government to divide among families for cultivation.

UNP has no right to talk about land rights

Land and Land Development Deputy Minister Siripala Gamlath: Fifteen state institutions have been sold to the private sector during the UNP regime. The UNP has no right to talk about land rights. Today the country had been liberated from the clutches of terrorism.

Now measures have been taken to protect the rights of lands and provide ownership to their original owners. In the North and East, several lands have been given to the people by LTTE terrorists. These lands had been declared as illegal lands.

A massive development programme is under way in the country. Therefore, lands are very important. That is why we are engaged in formulating a national land policy.

We have planned to distribute lands among the landless people. Landless people should be registered in divisional secretariats and their requests will be considered on a priority basis.

Sridharan (TNA): As a result of the war, a number of people in the North and East had been displaced. Now the government has prevented them in settling on their original land. This has made Tamil people helpless.

Tamils are unable to live in their homeland. They are unable to engage in their livelihood activities.

Sri Ranga (UPFA): Sufficient allocations should be given to start recultivation in abandoned upcountry tea land. Funds allocated to the resettlement Ministry has not been sufficient.

We have resettled 700,000 people

Resettlement Minister Gunaratne Weerakoon: Out main target has been to improve infrastructure facilities in conflict areas. Nearly 21,000 persons have been resettled in their original lands which have been located in High Security Zones.

We have reached the final phase of the resettlement process.

Nearly 275,000 people living in welfare camps in Manik Farm, Kadirgamar and Ananda Kumaraswamy areas on have been resettled.

I am happy to say that we have resettled 700,000 people in their original lands in the North and East.

We have planned to set up 108,000 new houses equipped with all facilities. Each resettled family will be provided with one acre of land for cultivation. Rs 404 million has been allocated to construct the new houses.

Financial Heads of the Ministries were passed without amendments.