President Mahinda Rajapakse has appointed a
ministerial committee to find out the present position of
988,000 acres of state land vested under the Land Reform law of
1974.
The committee is chaired by Minister of
Constitutional Affairs D.E.W.Gunasekara with Media Minister
Anura Priyadarashana Yapa, Irrigation, Water Management Minister
Chamal Rajapakse and Lands and Land Development Minister Jeevan
Kumaratunga a press release from Constitutional Affairs Ministry
said yesterday (15).
Most of the lands taken over by the Land Reform
Commission were vested in the Janata Estates Development Board
and State Plantations Corporation. Some of these lands were
given to the Livestock Development Board, Coconut Development
Board and Rubber Development Department, while some extents were
allotted for village expansion schemes the release said.
Some of the lands were divested to the former
owners, private sector companies. The committee has to report on
the present position after the JEDB was abolished and on the
extent of land encroached, the release said.
