Ilegal land grab in Uchchimunai island, Kalpitiya

By Padma Kumari Kankanamge

An illegal landgrab is underway in the Uchchimunai island, off Kalpitiya with persons taking control of acres of land which have gained a high commercial value.

The island has been a tourist attraction of the recent months,  after hundreds of local tourists started arriving to visit a newly constructed church.

Mr Manoj Ratnayake, a regional officer attached to the Tourism Development Authority in Puttalam said that some persons had grabbed land from one acre upwards going up to 25 acres.

The Uchchimunai island is some 13 Km away from Kalpitiya and has a land extent of 1,100 acres.

The island is inhabited by 300 families and has a government school and a Montessori as well in addition to new church. In 2012 the island was handed over to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority for development purposes.

“The main reason for the land grab is the area became popular due to the new Velankanni church declared open in July 2023,” he said.

He said that persons were coming into the island and planting concrete posts and flattening up sandbanks. In addition, they are planting coconut trees,” he said.

He said that five persons had been summoned to the police and ordered to withdraw from the lands, but they remain in the areas.

However,  some of those who grabbed land claim that some of the ancestors lived in the area and therefore had the right to demarcate the land for them. They said besides that their lands have got washed to the sea and need alternative land.

The Vice President of the Puttalam district Fishereis Association Suranjan Fernando the persons grabbing the lands were involved in the destruction of the environment as the large sandbanks are being levelled down.

He said as a result, when the sea is rough the houses too could get washed off.  He said that they resort to legal action if the people do not vacate.