The Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, supporting Hon. Ajith P. Perera’s adjournment motion, I wish to highlight several points. As stated, there are stark differences between the Committee’s position and the Gazette/Circular issued by the Commissioner General of Lands. Under paragraph 2 of that Circular, titled “Instances where permits/grants should not be accepted for preparation of freehold grant,” numerous bars are listed—e.g., applications where the permit/grant was for life enjoyment only; where land given for cultivation/settlement is used for other purposes; lands excluded under middle-class programmes; non-occupation; unsurveyed lands; lands mortgaged to institutions; insufficient elapsed time since issue of permits (three years for paddy, one year for highland); legal issues in excluded lands; permits issued after declaration as urban area; and any evictions via permit after 21.07.2025. Practically, these will drastically reduce the number of deeds that can be issued. This contradicts the Committee Report, which says: issue freehold grants (or Sinhala ‘sinnakkara’) for permits and grants under the Land Development Ordinance, following procedures including AG’s advice, consent of spouse, children, occupiers and registered successors, etc., and handling of boundary disputes with proper supervision.

¶ 02 As of now, about 142,691 permits/grants have been handed over to the State for conversion—72,917 with the Lands Commissioner General and 69,774 with the Mahaweli Authority—along with statistics on processed numbers. Earlier, when in Opposition, some of us had concerns that people would sell. Data show very few sales—for example, in North Central Province, out of thousands of deeds issued, only around eight were sold over two to three years. People want secure title, not to sell.

¶ 03 Therefore, please review the Circular, align it with the Committee recommendations, and proceed practically. People have waited nearly two years after handing in their permits. I thank Hon. Ajith P. Perera for moving this motion and ask the Minister to clarify the practical path forward.