Deputy Land Minister Aravinda Senarath said the Government expects to conclude the removal of restrictive Gazette notifications affecting agricultural lands in the Eastern Province as soon as possible, following discussions with the Departments of Wildlife Conservation and Forest Conservation.

Responding to a question raised in Parliament yesterday (23), he said a number of Gazette notifications issued between 2006 and 2010 had imposed restrictions on lands cultivated by farmers in several parts of the Province. He said that discussions are currently underway to resolve the issue, noting that a number of long-standing problems relating to agricultural lands and privately occupied lands had arisen over the years. "Those issues have now been largely identified. We’ve already initiated the process of discussing the restrictive Gazette notifications imposed on agricultural lands with the Departments of Forest Conservation and Wildlife Conservation. We expect to complete this process as soon as possible," he said.

He also outlined the progress of the Government's land regularisation programme, under which State lands are being allocated to eligible applicants who do not own State land and have applied to obtain such land. He said that the programme also provides 20 perches for residential purposes and a further one acre for cultivation, amounting to a total of 180 perches, to persons who have been occupying State lands without any legal documentation. According to him, a total of 13,533 applications have been received from the Eastern Province under the relevant circular, while 1,801 land permits have already been issued. 

Providing a phase-wise breakdown, Senarath said that under the first phase, 2,924 applications had been received and 210 permits issued. During the second phase, 2,328 applications were received and 170 permits granted. Under the third phase, 1,425 applications were received and 385 permits issued, while the fourth phase recorded 4,484 applications, with 473 permits granted. In the fifth phase, 2,372 applications were received and 563 permits had been issued.