• PARL member Sandun Thudugala claims that Budget proposals on land-related issues will not address land grabbing in the N-E, land ‘commercialisation’ in the South, agricultural & farming concerns

Despite certain measures aimed at alleviating the impacts of land-related issues in Sri Lanka, successive Governments have failed to come up with effective solutions and there are serious concerns about the underlying motives of certain steps taken with regard to land rights. The land-grabbing issue in the North and the East Provinces persists unjustifiably, while many lands in the South are facing a threat of being given to various firms for large-scale projects, and the authorities have not paid adequate attention to a plethora of issues relating to farming lands throughout the island.

Emphasising this, the People’s Alliance for the Right to Land (PARL) member Sandun Thudugala opined that even the land-related proposals put forward by the Government recently are unlikely to address pressing land-related issues in the country. These proposals include granting the ownership of the property to those who live in State housing and those who rent state-owned buildings, granting ownership of farming lands to farmers who have obtained State land for cultivation under the Land Development Act, and granting land ownership to the estate community.

Thudugala made these remarks during an interview with The Daily Morning, where he further opined that lands being an essential part of the people’s lives and many trades including agriculture, the failure to address land-related issues would create bigger consequences in the country.

Below are excerpts from the interview:

The Government recently presented several proposals with regard to lands and its related issues, especially land rights. What do you think about these proposals?

There are certain positive aspects in these proposals–an example being removing the rent charged from those living in state-owned residences in urban areas. However, overall, what this Budget (2024) contains as far as lands are concerned is something that was always in President and Minister of National Policies Ranil Wickremesinghe’s economic plans, i.e. opening Sri Lanka’s land market to domestic and foreign investors, which is basically establishing a liberalised land market, which even the World Bank has been advocating for since the early 1990s. What we see here is just another attempt to create the environment needed to achieve it, and there have been such attempts since the 1990s. The majority of the population in farming areas is small-scale farmers, and the main aspect of their livelihood is land. If some of these land-related plans materialise, a massive land robbery will occur in Sri Lanka, which will result in Sri Lanka having to face a massive socio-economic issue.

At present, Sri Lanka is facing a number of land-related issues in all parts of the island. Do you think that the proposed initiatives would be helpful in dealing with existing, pressing land-related issues?

No. I don’t think that these proposals would in any way be helpful. For example, one of the main issues concerning lands is the military acquisition of lands in the North and the East. Funds have been allocated to build houses to the displaced, which is good. However, the truth is that many are displaced because their traditional lands have been acquired by the military. There is no mention of releasing those lands. This is at a time when areas such as Batticaloa are seeing land-related disputes. These proposals have not provided solutions to these issues, which is a major concern. When it comes to rural agriculture, land rights or deeds-related issues remain as concerns. However, a more pressing issue is that it is impossible for farmers to live off their farming lands, regarding which no solution has been provided in the Budget. For example, the Budget proposes to build an international airport in Hingurakgoda. However, if you look at that area, people are facing more pressing land and agriculture-related issues such as inadequate water supply, human-elephant conflict and a massive issue concerning selling produce. Instead of proposing solutions to those issues, the Government is proposing to build an international airport with a fund allocation of Rs. 2 billion, which is ludicrous. The underlying motive behind this proposal is to free the lands in the area to be given to companies. It is also said that funds have been allocated to address the estate community’s land rights-related issues, but, there is no plan as to how it would be implemented. 

If these are not the ideal solutions, what steps do you think that the Government should take with regard to land-related issues?

There are several important steps that need to be taken. Of them, the evacuating military from people’s lands is crucial, and the Government should intervene to grant people the ownership of their traditional lands. With regard to rural lands, successive Governments over about four decades have neglected small-scale farming, despite the fact that the majority engaged in the country’s agriculture are small-scale farmers. In a context where the agriculture sector needs to be revived, the Government should make the necessary investments to provide the necessary support. The Government’s argument is that small-scale farming is not profitable, and that therefore, farmers should be removed from small-scale farming activities in order to transfer their lands to large-scale companies. However, it has been a long time since this argument was rejected globally. During the 2008 global food crisis, the world accepted that giving small-scale farms to large-scale companies is an ineffective approach. The Government should not launch plans to remove farmers from their lands and instead should make the necessary investments. Thirdly, the Government should provide at least 20 perches per family to ensure estate community’s land rights. There are also issues concerning urban housing. Even though the Government claims that it will grant the ownership of state-owned houses in urban areas to the people, many such houses are not suitable to live in as they have not been designed according to a proper plan. The Government’s plan is to give valuable urban lands to companies. Instead of merely giving houses to the people, we need a research-based project to provide proper housing facilities. This granting of house ownership could also lead to more homelessness in urban areas, because many people who are struggling with the economy may tend to sell or pawn these houses.

One of the perennial concerns with regard to land is that around 80% of the country’s lands belong to the Government, and that this has made land-related investments and the utilisation of land difficult. What is your opinion about this concern?

Above all, there is a question about the purposes for which the country’s lands are used. We are of the opinion that the country’s lands are a public resource, and that therefore, lands should be utilised in accordance with a public policy. Not having a policy with regard to lands is the main issue that Sri Lanka is facing. Even the decisions concerning the utilisation of lands owned by the State are made as per the wishes of successive Governments and Government officials. This is a concern even when it comes to lands that have been allocated for personal use, environmental conservation, or food production. More than who owns lands, what matters is how lands are managed. In addition to a policy, the people should have a right to say how lands are used and that right does not necessarily mean the right to sell lands. Merely releasing lands to the market without adhering to a policy will not resolve the land issues.