'SIGIRIYA ROCKED'

BY UNLAWFUL LAND SALES TO BUSINESSMEN

- By Prageeth Sampath Karunathilaka

The sale of state-owned lands in Sigiriya tourist zone to millionaire through forged businessmen documents has turned into an organised racket. It has been revealed that some officials engaged in landadministration are leading this operation. Among them are certain Grama Niladhari and Land Officers who are involved in land brokering. They facilitate the sale of state lands and operate within a network of interconnected corrupt officials. It is regrettable that, in some cases, even Divisional Secretaries have become unwitting participants. Lands issued under grants to members of the 'farmer' class' under the Land Development Ordinance are being sold in this manner through the preparation of forged documents.

State owned lands are public property, and their ultimate ownership lies with the President. The President holds full authority to allocate state land to poor farmers for cultivation or to low-income families for residence. This power of land allocation has been delegated to officials under the Land Development Ordinance, subject to conditions and regulations. The authority for supervision and administration lies with the Commissioner General of Lands. There have been instances where certain officials have misused this authority to prepare forged documents and sell lands to businessmen in Sigiriya, in violation of the Commissioner General's orders and instructions.

State lands distributed

By 2005, cases of state lands being distributed in violation of legal provisions were reported to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Secretary to the Ministry informed the Commissioner General of Lands of this matter by letter No. General/2006 dated 20.11.2006. Following that notification, the Commissioner General of Lands, through Circular No. 2007/1 dated 09.01.2007, instructed Divisional Secretaries to carry out allocation duties related to lands under grants in accordance with the Land Regulations of the Land Development Ordinance.