EPC needs land powers to preserve traditional Tamil homeland: R. Thurairatnam

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 January 2012, 13:06 GMT]
Land powers should be provided to Eastern Provincial Council in order to safeguard the traditional homeland of Tamil speaking people from being plundered by the Colombo government under the pretext of setting up army cantonments and implementing tourist and various corporate projects, councilor of the EPC from Batticaloa district R.Thurairatnam, has said. Two third of the so-called state lands in the eastern province come under the centralized authority of the Colombo. The existing powers on lands are not enough no stop plundering lands in the Eastern province by the central authority, Mr. Thurairatnam, said bringing a motion introduced by him in the council meeting on the land issue.

Thurairatnam added that the central government has been setting up military camps in the lands that belong to Tamil speaking people, handing over lands to tourist projects, to the Forest Department and Mahaweli Development Authority without referring the matter to the provincial authorities and without obtaining their consent. The legal and illegal acquisition of lands belonging to minority communities are being carried out in the province during the conflict and after.

He stressed that this type of activity carried out by the Colombo government would not help to bring reconciliation between communities at any time.

Illegal acquisition of lands of Tamil speaking people is being carried out by Colombo government with a covert plan to make the Tamil speaking people into a minority in the province forever.

Colombo government is continuously authorizing the acquisition of lands in the East, leaving the District Secretariats, Divisional Secretariats and provincial land authority in dark.

He said provincial council should be conferred with full powers of lands to put a full stop to the illegal acquisition of lands in the East and that the EPC administration should demand the central government that land powers should be handed over to it.