Another 500 acres of military-occupied North-East lands to be released

Some 500 more acres of military-occupied North-East private lands, including those located in the High Security Zones, are to be released a senior official said. The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Ministry Secretary P. Suresh told the Sunday Times the Government would allocate Rs 780 million to relocate the existing military camps and release the military occupied private lands to their rightful owners before December.

He said that at a meeting on Friday, Treasury officials agreed to release the funds to complete the relocation of the camps. The military has demarcated the lands to be released to the civilians and readjusted their defence lines, the Sunday Timeslearns. The lands identified to be released are in Achchuveli, Myliddy North, Thenmararchchi, Kilali, Pallai and Muhamalai in the North and at Murakottanchenai in Batticaloa in the East. Divisional Secretaries of these areas would contact the land owners to verify ownership, officials said.

Some 27,000 acres of privately owned lands have been occupied by the military since 1990. With the end of the separatist war in May 2009, the Government, in consultation with the military, have released, from time to time, military-occupied privately owned lands to their owners, without compromising national security. In April this year, 650 acres of privately owned lands in a high security zone in the north were released.. More than 80 percent of the military-occupied private lands in the north has been given back to their owners, leaving only 3,500 more acres to be released.