The COPE Committee has revealed that the Land Reforms Commission does not have accurate data on the amount of land acquired during the land acquisition and the lands disposed of by each government at the time, and that nearly 200 files pertaining to the acquired lands are missing.
These facts were revealed at a meeting of the COPE Committee chaired by Prof. Charitha Herath recently (17) to examine the Auditor General’s reports for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 and the current performance of the Land Reforms Commission.
It was also revealed at the Committee on Public Enterprises that 214 employees recruited in 2018 for the Land Reforms Commission’s one million deed project have been confirmed in service without the permission of the Management Services Department. It was revealed that the recruitments were made on a contract basis with the approval of the Cabinet and that the group was then confirmed on the basis of a circular issued in 2014.
COPE Chairman Prof. Charitha Herath pointed out that a serious mistake had been made in confirming a group of people recruited for a project without the permission of the Department of Management Services and that this situation set a wrong precedent for other government institutions as well. Therefore, Secretary to the Ministry of Lands R.A.A.K. Mr. Ranawaka was instructed by the COPE Chairman as to conduct a formal inquiry at the ministry level and submit a full report to the COPE Committee within a month and to take immediate action to rectify this situation.
The Committee stressed the need to digitize data on these lands using modern technology. The committee pointed out that it would solve a number of problems, including various irregularities, and instructed the Secretary to take immediate action in this regard.
The Chairman of the Land Commission also stated that some files pertaining to the acquisition have been lost. It was revealed that nearly 200 such files have been lost. The Chairman instructed the Secretary to the Ministry to look into this matter immediately. The Committee stressed that it is very important to rectify this situation as lands grabbing by various people Instead of making more effective use of land acquired from the people is a serious problem.
It was also revealed that out of the lands acquired under the Land Reforms Act of 1972-1974, there are 260 lands of 50 acres which were not released due to non-submission of plans and declarations. Accordingly, the Committee instructed the Secretary to the Ministry and the Chairman of the Land Commission to open a special window and intervene to resolve this issue within the next six months as this process which has been delayed for 50 years is a historical issue.
The committee also pointed out that though the valuation of nearly 1.7 million acres of land owned by the Commission many years ago was Rs.676 million, this value should be correct in terms of current value. In this context, as the value of an acre is around Rs.500, the COPE Chairman instructed the Chairman of the Land Commission to take necessary action within six months to rectify this problem immediately.
It was also revealed that after leasing the lands of the Commission, it has become a problem to obtain loans by mortgaging those lands to the banks. It was also revealed that this is due to the fact that the businessmen have the ability to obtain a mortgage with the permission of the Commission as stated in the terms of the transfer of the land they have obtained. There was also a question as to whether certain lands would be utilized effectively after being handed over to the Divisional Secretaries.
Commenting on this, the COPE Chairman said that the main task at present is to identify the extent of assets owned by the Commission and to prepare a model for its effective organization. Prof. Herath said that as this is a national interest, the committee will be reconvened in the future to work out a definite plan with the stakeholders including the Survey Department.
Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, Minister of State Indika Anuruddha, Parliamentarians Patali Champika Ranawaka, Harsha de Silva, Eran Wickramaratne, Nalin Bandara and Madura Vithanage and government officials were also present in the occasion.