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Illegal land filling in Kesbewa | Allegations and counter allegations

24 Jan 2021

By Sarah Hannan  With recent reports of a paddy land under the administrative region of the Kesbewa Urban Council being filled by the Moratuwa Municipal Council, JVP councillors had raised concerns over the illegal filling of a paddy land, violating the ban that the Government had imposed on filling paddy lands that could otherwise be repurposed for cultivation in the present climate.  It was alleged that the Moratuwa Municipal Council was dumping debris in an unutilised paddy land with the consent of the Kesbewa Urban Council Chairman.  The Sunday Morning reached out to the Kesbewa Urban Council Chairman Lakshman Perera regarding the matter.  Responding to the inquiry, Perera noted: “The land in question has been barren for over 40 years, and I permitted the Moratuwa Municipal Council to fill it with demolished building debris. Once the unutilised paddy land is filled, we will be converting it into a playground. The paddy land was donated by the people of Kesbewa to the Council, as they wanted to fulfil the common requirement of building a playground in the area.”  In September 2020, there was another incident where a protest was staged by farmers in the Raththanapitiya area against the unlawful acquisition of working paddy lands by the local council.  It was reported that the low-lying paddy lands had been forcefully acquired by the councillors to build a drainage system and a water tank, in exchange for other lands to engage in farming.  However, the farmers claimed that they had not been notified of any such exchange of land or that the area was earmarked for development work.  JVP Urban Councillor Pradeep Nishantha Vedamulla, speaking on behalf of the farmers, had stated that the farmers should have been compensated for the destruction of their cultivations.  When asked about these incidents, Perera noted that there were several councillors that always turned development related work into political protests, as they always want to portray the governing political parties to be breaking the law.  “I can assure you that we have taken all necessary approvals from the Department of Agrarian Development, Land Development Commission, and have obtained the necessary permits from the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) prior to embarking on this project,” Perera elaborated.  In addition to that, Perera also noted that the land extent in question was being filled with debris free of charge, since the two councils are in agreement. As Perera explained, had the land filling been given to a different company, then the Kesbewa Urban Council would have had to spend about Rs. 2.5 million to complete the task.  Moratuwa waste properly disposed  Moratuwa Municipal Council meanwhile informed The Sunday Morning that they were disposing of their garbage at the Karadiyana Waste Disposal site. “We were issued a court order which bans us from now sending non-recyclable waste to Karadiyana since 12 January. Prior to that, for about a two-decade period, we were dumping our waste at the Karadiyana Waste Disposal site. They have now introduced a new disposal site in Kelaniya. We have planned to set up our own waste management project.”  According to the Moratuwa Municipal Council Mayor Samanlal Fernando, from 12 January onwards, they have started to categorise the waste and all waste that cannot be recycled is sent to the Insee Cement Company in Puttalam to be incinerated.  “Rigifoam, paper, polythene, plastic, and any waste that has mixed material is sent to Puttalam. We sent our first batch of about seven tonnes of waste to Puttalam for incineration in their kilns.”  Regarding the matter of the paddy land filling, the Moratuwa Municipal Council Engineering Department noted that the debris was transported to the site in question after all approvals had been obtained and upon the request of the Kesbewa Urban Council Chairman. Therefore, they refuted the allegations which indicated that it was illegal land filling.  Multiple permits required  According to the Sri Lanka Land Development Corporation, one could submit a request if they are looking to develop paddy lands or low-lying lands. The application should be supported with a letter from the Commissioner General of Department of Agrarian Development, one copy of deed, extracts of the land (obtained within one month) of the land and three copies of the survey plan. A non-refundable advance of the processing fee (Rs. 5,000 plus VAT+NBT) should be paid.  Based on the type of development work that is to take place, permits/approvals should also be obtained from the Urban Development Authority (UDA), CEA, local authority, Irrigation Department, and the Road Development Authority.  The land is then inspected by an engineer from SLLRDC and officers from the UDA and CEA to see whether the development would affect geological, drainage, and environmental conditions, etc.  All attempts to contact the officials at the Sri Lanka Land Development Corporation for comment proved futile.  When inquired from the Minister of Land S.M. Chandrasena as to what action the ministry is planning to take over any unlawful filling of paddy lands or encroachments that are reported over lands that belong to the state, he explained that properties that belong to the Department of Land as well as the Land Development Corporation have been encroached by various entities in the past. “Last week, we appointed a special Police Investigation Unit to look into these matters and have also set up a hotline under the short code 1931, so the public could report such incidents to this unit directly,” further explained Chandrasena.  Chandrasena also noted that the past governments had misused their political powers and acquired these lands to be repurposed for their personal needs or to the benefit of their kin. Any such activities are to be inquired and investigated and the special Police Unit that is headed by Senior DIG of Police Sumith Edirisinghe and SSP J.H.M.N. Jayapathma will look into these matters.  The Ministry is to take strict legal action against such entities that have encroached or squatted on state-owned lands regardless of their political affiliations or social status.


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