State lands:

Divisional Secretaries’ powers to be restricted

Ridma Dissanayake

Some land officers have misled Divisional Secretaries to overcome their targets and objectives, Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister W D J Seneviratne said.

He said the government has decided to restrict the powers of Divisional Secretaries over state lands due to corruption at Divisional Secretariats.

“The government has received a large number of complaints related to corruption in the transfer of land and distribution of government land to people,” he said.

Corruption among land officers working at Divisional Secretariats is the cause for Divisional Secretaries to face such allegations, the minister said.

He said power related to state lands have been vested to Divisional Secretaries and the government is faced with problems when they do not carry out their responsibilities well.

“District Secretaries have no power to check Divisional Secretaries’ duties. This had led to land officers misleading them.

The government should take immediate action to amend Divisional Secretaries' powers, Minister Seneviratne said.

He proposed to establish a Land Development Unit in each Divisional Secretariat to inspect duties related to lands.

“Appointing a special committee is important. It should comprise the Land and Land Development Ministry Secretary, Land Commissioner General, two District Secretaries and a Divisional Secretary,” he said.

Seneviratne said legal action should be taken against officers who have misled others.

Meanwhile, Land and Land Development Ministry sources said the government has decided to restrict the powers of the Divisional Secretaries over state land.

The sources said this decision was taken due to corruption allegedly taking place at Divisional Secretariats. They said plans are underway to create a new position of Additional Land Officer in each Divisional Secretariat. The position is to be held by an officer who has knowledge on land issues.

The sources said the President has approved a proposal by Land and Land Development Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon regarding this.