Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna

¶ 01 Mr. Speaker, Governments must sometimes provide State lands for public needs. During disasters, many were displaced and lands had to be provided. The lands often available were from plantation companies and LRC. Under the District Coordinating Committees chaired by H.E. the President, lands of RPCs and those of Chilaw Plantations have been allocated for State needs.

¶ 02 The Member is also raising historical misuse: lands of these companies were released for various political needs, to politicians and associates. I have previously highlighted such instances. We are acting legally to recover such lands. For Kurunegala Plantations, legal processes are underway to reclaim lands taken unlawfully. From the original grants, 1,604.39 hectares have been given to outside parties; similar instances exist at Chilaw.

¶ 03 Despite these issues, when we took over Kurunegala Plantations, pre-tax profit in 2024 was Rs. 414 million; last year we increased it to Rs. 634.98 million. At Chilaw, profit in 2024 was Rs. 219 million; in 2025 we increased it to Rs. 650 million. We are managing these properly. Where lands have been taken unlawfully by former politicians or associates, we will enforce the law and recover them for the companies.