Hon. Palani Thigambaram

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I second the Adjournment Motion moved by Hon. Radhakrishnan.

¶ 02 The land issue of the hill country people is longstanding. Successive Governments have not provided a solution. During 2015, when I was a Minister, we built about 8,000 houses; with Indian assistance we constructed 4,000 houses; and we granted land ownership to about 8,000 families. For the first time, under the ‘Good Governance’ Government, land deeds were issued to hill country people. Hon. Gayantha Karunathilaka was then the Minister in charge of lands; through him we issued them.

¶ 03 Those who earn the most foreign exchange for this country are the hill country people, yet they still live in line rooms. This Government, in the Hatton Declaration, promised land and home ownership. Two years have passed; little has been said on this. They did increase wages—we supported that. But before people are forced to the streets, give them land ownership. There is plenty of land in estates; giving ten perches to each family should not be an issue. When the current President was in the Opposition, he spoke much about this; now he has full power. In this Parliament, 159 MPs are from the NPP; the Opposition will support. If he wishes, he can act tomorrow to grant land ownership.

¶ 04 We will support good measures of the Government; we will oppose betrayals. Three years remain in this term—grant land deeds before that. We will raise both hands to support you.

¶ 05 Under ‘Good Governance’, we granted land ownership, expanded Divisional Secretariats, created the Hill Country Authority, built houses, and increased local bodies. Government MPs from the hill country now say we did nothing; I urge them to speak with the President and ensure land rights are granted—we will certainly support.