The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Namal Rajapaksa, drawing on his constituent's concerns about weakening national security, urged the new government to consider national security when returning lands in the North-East.
Expressing concern over returning land in High Security Zones (HSZ) to their original owners, the son of the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, and UPFA MP, said,
“Handing back private lands to their owners is important. But the question is whether the government intends on eliminating all high security zones in regions that were dominated by LTTE activates not too long ago.”
Speaking on the feeling of the people in the Hambantota district, Namal added,
“Positive steps are being taken toward strengthening national reconciliation, but the concern of the people I spoke to was that not enough is being done to also strengthen national security.”
See our earlier articles:
Sri Lankan president grants release of 425 acres of army-occupied land in Jaffna (23 Mar 2015)
Army blocks displaced Tamils from viewing seized land in Jaffna (20 Mar 2015)
Valalai people visit HSZ to find their homes and wells destroyed (15 Mar 2015)
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
