The Hon. Ashoka Gunasena

¶ 01 Question to the Minister of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs:

¶ 02 (a) Will he inform this House - (i) whether he is aware that there is a land issue in Humbuluwa village in Alawwa in Dambadeniya; (ii) whether the Humbuluwa Village Plan No. 455 prepared according to the survey of the year 1911 is in force; (iii) whether he is aware that the lands belonging to the above village since the year 1910 have been mentioned by the Department of Land Title Settlement as private hereditary lands; (iv) whether the grant bearing No. 2621 has been registered; (v) if so, the date on which the said grant was registered and the relevant area of land, separately; (vi) the date on which Humbuluwa Temple came under Section 4(1) of the Buddhist Temporalities (Amendment) Act, No. 34 of 2013; (vii) the reasons for the depriving of the right to claim the freehold lands traditionally possessed by the people of Humbuluwa village after the year 2017; (viii) the reasons for not informing the villagers in that regard; (ix) whether he accepts that the ‘people’s sovereignty’, as provided in the Constitution of Sri Lanka, has been violated due to this; and (x) the measures that will be taken regarding the above-mentioned issue?

¶ 03 (b) If not, why?