Occupying Colombo set to grab 227 acres of private lands in Vali North in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 March 2019, 20:24 GMT]
At least 163 acres of private lands of Eezham Tamils in a triangle area along the coast in Kaangkeasan-thu'rai (KKS) between the Cement Factory, the old hospital and Keerimalai are to be officially seized by the SL State for the use of the occupying Sinhala Navy in KKS Centre (J/234) GS Division. In the meantime, another area of 64 acres is being appropriated in the vicinity of the historically famous Keerimalai Nakuleasvaram temple in Keerimalai GS Division (J/226). The ‘Tourist Development Authority’ of genocidal Sri Lanka (SLTDA) is set to receive this land. Two acres of these lands are also going to be transferred to the SL Navy, Tamil officials at Jaffna District Secretariat said.

The Divisional Secretary of Valikaamam North was recently instructed to come in person to Colombo and briefed to implement the landgrab without alerting the public or the media in Jaffna.

Now, the DS Secretary has started to send notices to individual landowners as part of the procedure to seize the lands.

While claiming that KKS Harbour is central to the so-called ‘development’ of Jaffna, the occupying Colombo is continuously locked to Sinhala militarisation of the KKS Harbour, the officials said.

Nakuleasvaram, according to the chronicles of Jaffna, is one of the earliest temples of Eezham Tamils. The Siva temple existed before the arrival of Vijaya of the Pali chronicles, is said to be built by a sage called Nakula-muni.

Succumbed to the UNP's so-called ‘development’ agenda, the TNA parliamentarians were only sulking when the land-owners started to question them.

SL military operated resorts and a mansion built on the instruction by Mahinda Rajapaksa are part of the lands being appropriated.

The occupying Colombo has been waging propaganda that it was releasing lands back to the people while allowing people only to resettle in pockets of areas in the heavily militarised Valikaamam North.

The Sinhala military has been waging propaganda that it only retains 3,918 acres of lands in 2019 compared to 14,237 acres. Of these 14K acres of lands, almost 8K was released during the rule of Mahinda Rajapaksa. The incumbent Maithiripala Sirisena on his part claims that he had released around 4,000 acres back to the people in the district.

However, the militarisation is kept at the same level, and the process is now reversing as more lands are seized under the so-called development, tourism and national-security, the Tamil civil officials at the District Secretariat in Jaffna complained.

Even according to the propaganda figures of the SL military, 3,642 acres of 3,918 acres belong to private land-owners.

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