The Hon. Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition
While supporting corporate accountability measures, Sajith Premadasa raised concerns about alleged abuse involving land used by about 1,000 farming families in Trincomalee and Kaddaiparichchan since 1972. He said court action and eviction orders since 2024-2025 are being used to remove cultivators from about 800 acres, despite their long-term use of the land and receipt of fertilizer subsidies and cultivation loans. He objected to evictions reportedly linked to a proposed 200-acre solar power project, stating that renewable energy should not come at the expense of long-standing farmers.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 While supporting accountability and responsibility measures for companies, I wish to raise two abuses occurring via companies.
¶ 02 In Trincomalee city and Kaddaiparichchan DS Division — in the villages of Thaharavettuvan, Maththiyavelly and Muthunagar — about 1,000 families have cultivated paddy, vegetables, red onions and maize on about 800 acres since 1972 — for 53 years. This came to light via our “Puravesi Hada” citizen outreach program. Since 2024, obstacles arose; cases were filed in August 2024 and from February 2025 court orders have been used to evict these farmers from lands they have used for 53 years.
¶ 03 For five decades they sought documentation — permits and approvals — but received none. Now they are being evicted to establish a 200-acre solar power plant. We support renewable energy and solar, but evicting long-standing cultivators is unjust and affects 1,000 families. They have even received fertilizer subsidies and cultivation loans for these lands.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Wednesday, 23 July 2025 ·No. 1754386160089643 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 23 July 2025. No. 1754386160089643. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/4175