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Prime State land changes hands with livelihood loss to stakeholders
View(s):Army insists on part of plantation rich in mineral deposits despite being offered alternate block
By Leon Berenger
The management and the authorities on a State-owned estate in Matale are in a heated stand-off, after some 100 acres of prime land from the plantation was handed over to a nearby Army cantonment, made possible through a gazette notification.Elkaduwa Plantations Chairman Yasantha Wadugodapitiya told the Sunday Times that the land was acquired from Nalanda Estate located at Naula in Pekkepola, which has rich mineral deposits such as granite and dolomite, apart from profitable crops of cocoa, pepper, rubber, coconut and cadju, and also a popular restaurant serving traditional food.
The prime land handed over to the Army. Pic by Hilton Berenger
He said with the acquisition of this land by the army, it will dwarf productions on the estate, with hundreds of hands laid off.“We offered the authorities an alternative piece of land that could be used by the army, but they disagreed, and insisted on this particular location. There were plans to develop this particular land using the rich mineral deposits that will eventually upgrade the living standards of the local villagers, in keeping with the ‘Mahinda Chintana’ programme, but now all this will have to be stopped,”Mr. Wadugodapitiya said.
He said the matter he would be taken up with the highest authorities. Meanwhile, Matale Government Agent (GA) Ms K. H. A. Meegasmulla said, “This is a normal procedure taken under the Land Acquisition Act, and the management will have to understand this issue. This cannot be stopped, as it has also been gazetted.”She added that the army urgently needed the land to expand its present complex, and scoffed at allegations of a move to take over the mineral deposits in that area. “This is State-owned land, and the military has every right to acquire it for whatever purposes,” she said.
“My office is helpless on this issue, and it is up to the relevant ministries looking after lands and plantations to sort out the matter,” Ms. Meegasmulla further said.
Lands Ministry Secretary Asoka Peiris said he was not aware of such a development in Matale, and said, he would look into the matter, while the Plantations Ministry Secretary Sudharma Karunaratne could not be reached for comment.
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