The Hon. Mohamed Sali Naleem

¶ 01 Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim. I thank God for the opportunity to speak in the Committee Stage Debate on the Budget allocations for the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government, and the Ministry of Labour.

¶ 02 Hon. Presiding Member, you know that in our Eastern and Northern Provinces, the Muslim, Tamil and Sinhala communities lived together like areca nut and betel leaf—closely and harmoniously. There were no issues among them. But various rulers over time divided and ruled along ethnic, regional, and religious lines, leaving scars—war scars, regional scars, and religious scars—that have yet to heal. We are speaking to remedy this.

¶ 03 In the past, those in power governed along ethnic lines. Now, the Hon. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake—brought in through the NPP—has been looked to as a saviour by all three communities who expected good governance. Therefore, this Government must finally resolve regional boundary issues and similar matters.

¶ 04 In 1999, the then President appointed the Panambalana Commission. Based on its recommendations, divisional secretariats were created, including Koralaipattu Central (Valaichchenai) and Koralaipattu South (Kiran). However, for over 20 years, these two have functioned without being formally gazetted. Since the boundaries of adjacent DS divisions—Oddamavadi (KPW), Valaichchenai (KP), and Vakarai (KPN)—have not been re-demarcated in line with these changes, many administrative problems arise. Because they were not gazetted, the public are forced to wander to resolve land issues. As a result, 176 sq. km of the Oddamavadi DS area is unofficially administered by Kiran DS.

¶ 05 As per Panambalana recommendations, 686 sq. km were allocated to Kiran to administer. Meanwhile, 240 sq. km were recommended for Koralaipattu Central, but administrative action to allow that has not been approved. This is a grave injustice by the State against the Muslims.

¶ 06 Further, three GN divisions—Meerakerni, Miskinagar, and Aiyankerni—temporarily linked for administrative purposes to the Eravur Urban Council area, have not been gazetted for over 30 years. Because of this delay, residents must go to the Eravur Urban Council for birth registrations and to the Chengaladi DS for land titles. This deliberate delay, even under good governance, feeds those who built politics on ethnic issues. A serious consequence is that in the recent GN exam, three high-performing candidates had their interview marks reduced—or were denied appointments—because their administrative boundary fell under one DS while land authority fell under another.

¶ 07 Batticaloa District has 14 DS divisions. Because many DS boundaries have not been clearly defined and gazetted, administrative complications persist—especially in the Muslim-majority Kattankudy, Eravur, Koralaipattu West (Oddamavadi), and Koralaipattu Central DS divisions. When they share administrative boundaries with Tamil-majority divisions, numerous conflicts arise. This has been discussed at District Development Committee meetings, but to no avail.

¶ 08 For example, Gazette 8839 of 1993.01.01 set Oddamavadi DS (Koralaipattu West) at 176 sq. km. Yet to date, only about 15 sq. km across 8 GN divisions are actually administered under it, while roughly 156 sq. km are administered irregularly by another DS. Likewise, the Kiran (KPS) DS created in 2000 under Panambalana has been functioning with 686 sq. km. Although 240 sq. km were recommended for Koralaipattu Central (KPC), only around 15 sq. km are administered. Of a total Muslim population of about 143,000 under four DS divisions, only about 1.3% of the district land area has been allocated under their authority, leaving just 33 sq. km within their purview, while 98.7% remains under the other ten DS divisions.

¶ 09 Under the recent “Urumaya” title program, 27,595 families in Batticaloa received land deeds. However, many Muslims residing in Muslim GN divisions under Tamil-majority DS have been neglected. Where people already had grants or permits, those were regularized and fully deeded in their names. But in Miskinagar, Meerakerni, and Aiyankerni—where land authority lies with Eravurpattu DS—Muslims who have held land for over 30 years were not included even under Urumaya. DS divisions must have land authority within their jurisdiction to issue grants or permits on the President’s directive. The authority to provide land to those in need lies with the DS.

¶ 10 Similarly, within the Eravur Urban Council area, the temporarily linked GN divisions of Meerakerni, Aiyankerni (Muslim Division), and Miskinagar have not been formally gazetted for 25 years. Their land matters are administered by Chengaladi DS. The responsible officials who failed to gazette these must be addressed by the Ministry. These three GN sub-divisions together have over 11,000 voters. Under the temporary linkage, residents must go to the Chengaladi Pradeshiya Sabha for local council services and to the Eravur MOH for health services. Meanwhile, the Chengaladi DS administers an area of 656 sq. km.

¶ 11 Kattankudy DS, which shares boundaries with Manmunai North and Arayampathy DS divisions, faces similar boundary-related issues.

¶ 12 [The Hon. Presiding Member] Hon. Member, your allotted time is over.

¶ 13 Please grant me two minutes, Hon. Presiding Member. Because of this, Muslim GN divisions under DS administrations where Muslims are not concentrated are being neglected in development. Muslim and Tamil MPs and leaders should come together to find a solution. For too long, politicians have exploited this issue, speaking one way during elections to harvest votes and another way afterwards. Let both communities’ leaderships sit at one table, compromise, and resolve this through dialogue, so people can live free of these problems.

¶ 14 [The Hon. Presiding Member] Hon. Member, please conclude now.

¶ 15 Thus, at least the next generation of both communities in the North and East should live in peace with proper guidance, free of ethnic problems. Thank you for the opportunity. Wassalam.