Tamil villagers in Trincomalee confronted officials from the Sri Lankan government’s Land Surveying Department on Tuesday, who were reportedly surveying land so that they could construct a Buddhist temple in the region.
The Sri Lankan government officials had arrived at Thiriyai in the Kuchchaveli division in Trincomalee, when locals gathered at the area they were surveying as they fell within areas of private land owned by the villagers.
Village civil society organisations also pointed out to Mr P Thaneswaran, the divisional secretariat who was present, that local paddy fields and fertile lands used for farming were being marked by the Sri Lankan government officials.
The latest attempt by government officials to survey land comes as Tamils across the North-East continue to struggle to obtain privately-owned land released by the Sri Lankan military. The former head of Sri Lanka’s army has slammed attempts to release military held lands in the North-East to Tamil civilians as “stupid” and vowed to block any attempts at demilitarisation of the region, as Tamil calls for the army to leave continue.
In addition to military occupation, several government departments, including Sri Lanka’s Archaeology Department, have demarcated various areas across the North-East as under their control.
