The Hon. Asitha Niroshana Egoda Vithana

¶ 01 My first supplementary arises from earlier clarifications in this House. Under the Land Reform Commission Act No. 01 of 1972, the LRC was established and took over lands above 50 acres. Under Section 18, 50 acres of highland and 5 acres of paddy could be released back to owners; the rest vested in the LRC. Many such vested lands were assigned for management to the Janatha Estates Development Board (JEDB) and the State Plantation Corporation (SPC). The problem is that JEDB/SPC have re-allocated portions of these LRC-vested lands to others without the LRC’s concurrence.

¶ 02 A current issue concerns a large land in Kataragama under the name G. Rajapaksa; the CID is investigating whether it is an LRC land. After the current Government took office, the President directed the Land Minister to establish a special Auditor General’s office within the LRC; this policy decision has been taken. Given that since 1972 successive Ministers said there was no clear land policy or records, those responsible must be the past Land Ministers under successive Governments. The President’s decisions to immediately halt further LRC re-allocations and to open the Auditor General’s office are good. What urgent steps are you taking to commence full investigations and act swiftly?