Seized “state land” to be sold commercially

Sri Lanka has announced that all state owned land in the North-East, part of the former war zone, will now be up for grabs, as the government looks to sell them commercially.

Urban Development Authority Rohan Fernando told a forum on property development at the Central Bank,

"Now we are making arrangements to provide lands from Mankulam, Kilinochchi and Jaffna."

"So these lands will also come in to the market very soon for investment."

The Urban Development Authority is under the Ministry of Defence, overseen by the President’s brother Gothbaya Rajapakse.

Much of this acquired land has been under the control of various “state agencies” according to government officials.

To see where they acquired this land from read our earlier posts:

‘Takers, keepers’ (Sep 2011)

‘Government uses lifting of emergency to facilitate land grab’ (Sep 2011)

‘IDPs branded 'squatters on state land'’ (Sep 2011)

‘Diaspora Tamils have to reapply for land deeds’ (Sep 2011)

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