Access to land and land tenure are at the heart of rural societies. Having land, controlling it and using it, are critical dimensions of rural livelihood. It also determines rural wealth and rural poverty. Because of this, men with power at the grassroots level, who try to acquire lands illegally with the assistance of local politicians, has also been a common feature in Sri Lanka. Many unscrupulous people have also developed different types of mechanisms of their own, to acquire and own lands. One such device to acquire lands by the landless, has today become a menace in the Puttalam district. The vast tracts of lands belonging to the State in the Puttalam district are today being used by encroachers on the basis that they have become the henchmen of various politicians

Landlessness is a common problem in Sri Lanka. While it is the responsibility of the Government, including the politicians to ensure that landless people are offered lands, it must be done the proper way. Ministers and politicians have no authority to distribute lands to their supporters with the intention of collecting more additional votes, according to their whims and fancies, and then also organise Swarnabhoomi titles for such lands. The fact that JEDB comes under the purview of Minister Fernando, does not imply that he has the sole authority to distribute lands. The proper procedure must be followed according to the law of the land

By Wilson Gnanadass from Puttalam
Encroachment of state lands is a punishable offence. Yet despite severe penalties being introduced by the state against offenders, encroachment has continued in Sri Lanka unabated.
The majority of the land cases have ended up with the state being forced to give into the demands of the encroachers.
Encroachment on large tracts of reserved lands for state cultivation has been going on for several years in Sri Lanka.

Though the country has stipulated a specific set of rules and regulations to govern state lands, often, lack of transparency and delays in taking decisions by the state, have led to the land administration system being considered by society to be redundant.
Access to land and land tenure are at the heart of rural societies. Having land, controlling it and using it, are critical dimensions of rural livelihood. It also determines rural wealth and rural poverty.
Because of this, men with power at the grassroots level, who try to acquire lands illegally with the assistance of local politicians, has also been a common feature in Sri Lanka.

Many unscrupulous people have also developed different types of mechanisms of their own, to acquire and own lands.
One such device to acquire lands by the landless, has today become a menace in the Puttalam district.
The vast tracts of lands belonging to the state in the Puttalam district are today being used by encroachers on the basis that they have become the henchmen of various politicians.

Land is not simply an economic resource. It is also an important factor in the formation of social and cultural identity. It is also used to portray one as a legal citizen with the franchise to vote.
Hence, many politicians, have used the ownership of land as a hallmark for their victory.
Serious questions are raised as to why the Government has failed to cultivate arable lands in the Puttalam district and instead opted to allow encroachers to occupy these productive lands.

Funny tactics
What is so alarming is that a section of the people in the Puttalam district has even resorted to funny tactics to own lands.
Led by a powerful local politician known as ‘Kachal Gamini’, many people have started to apply similar tactics to own lands.
‘Kachal Gamini, according to the local residents was a former Pradeshiya Sabah member under the United National Party (UNP) government. The prefix ‘Kachal’ was to denote his aggressiveness and ferociousness.
The status ‘Kachal’ was bestowed on him due to the way he acquired lands through the use of force. He soon became a leader among those who had no roof above their heads.

Many hundreds of acres in the Palavi junction, about nine kilo meters before entering the Puttalam main town, have been acquired by illegal means, with the influence of ‘Kachal Gamini’.
Kachal Gamini’s tactics have been to let two parties fight over a piece of land that they do not own.

As the fight rages between the parties, the Police are brought into the picture to resolve the issue. And invariably, the Police are also forced to take up the matter in a court of law.
Once the matter is taken up at the court, then the court delivers the verdict in favour of any one party and also requests the party concerned to produce the deed.

It appears that producing and printing fresh land deeds to many land owners is also a profession undertaken by a private party, other than the Puttalam Kachcheri, which is the only state sanctioned institution to issue such a deed.
Then the aggrieved party is sent to meet one of the men producing bogus land deeds privately. And this in turn is produced to the court, and the affected party sooner or later, becomes a land owner.
This racket has been going on in Puttalam for a long time and now it has been brought to the notice of the Police and the Minister of Public Estate Management and Development, Milroy Fernando, who says he is determined to crack down on these errant ‘professionals’.

Kachal Gamini’s den
While Kachal Gamini has been operative in Puttlam district for quite some time, in the recent past his focus has been an area in the Palavi junction.
He has also made his base here, as thousands of acres of coconut lands were available for him to exercise his influence.
His main focus was Nagavillu Estate and its environs that are abandoned by the Government.
According to many who have been associated with Kachal Gamini, he has been also working for the Government led by former President Chandrika Kumaratunga.
It appears that he being a strong UNP, has also supported many other leaders, for his own gain.

State acquisition act
In the late 1960s, wealthy Muslims owned several thousands of acres of lands in the Puttalam district.
One such individual was E. S. A. M. Faluloon Marikar, popularly known as ‘Sinna Mudalali’.
His wealth began to shrink with the introduction of the 1972 Land Acquisition Act by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Government, led by the late Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

In 1972, the state fixed a ceiling on the extent of agricultural land that a person could own, and in 1975 the government implemented its programme of estate nationalisation.
Similar to Faluloon Marikar, there were many others who owned several thousands of acres but had to lose them due to the Government’s decision of 1972.

According to Batcha Marikar, the only living grandson of Faluloon Marikar, who is over 75 years of age, Faluloon Marikar may have owned more than 5,000 acres of productive coconut lands.
Faluloon Marikar’s son-in-law was Baduideen Mohamed, former Education Minister, under the SLFP government and Faluloon Marikar’s elder brother E.S.M.Casim Marikar, known as Periya Mudalali’s son-in-law was Naina Marika who served as a minister under the J.R.Jayawardene’s cabinet.

Faluloon Marikar, cultivated 175 acres of coconut land in Puttalam and named it ‘Nagavillu Estate’.
The name ‘Nagavillu’ came after many poisonous cobras in the estate were found. It is believed that still, there are poisonous cobras living there.

However, due to the 1972 land acquisition act, Faluloon Marikar’s estate had to be divided.
The state handed over only fifty acres of land and the rest was vested with the Government.
The Government that took over the rest of the estate and the other uncultivable lands belonging to Faluloon Marikar, however failed to maintain them.

Abandoned
Faluloon Marikar’s lands were handed over to his son Abdul Hameed Marikar who died in 1947.
At the time of his death his seven children were minors and the District court of Puttalam, under a Testamentary case decided to divide the land among three people. One portion to his sister, Samsool Nagar, the other portion to his brother Mohamed Casim Marikar and the third portion to his eldest son Batcha Marikar who is the only living grandson now.

According to Batcha Marikar, he had to divide his portion further into seven, to share with his younger brothers and sisters.
He says the remaining lands could not be maintained due to various reasons, but added they were passed on to his relations.
However, he says the lands that the Government took over, had also been abandoned due to negligence and the lack of interest by the government to make the lands cultivable.

Shifting hands
These lands have been shifting from hands to hands from the time they were grabbed from the wealthy Muslim businessman Faluloon Marikar.
After the state acquired the lands in 1972, the lands were registered with the Land Reforms Commission (LRC) under former President J. R. Jayewardene’s Government.

Subsequently, when Ranasinghe Premadasa became President, he introduced the privatisation of estate lands, and these lands were vested then with the Janatha Estate Development Board (JEDB).
Sadly, these estates that could today have been producing several thousands of coconuts, remain abandoned and partly encroached by trespassers today.

Kachal Gamini was encouraged to take advantage of the government’s lackadaisical attitude to cultivate these lands and make them productive, and to make money for himself.
According to several local residents he still owes millions of rupees to many people, who have reported this matter to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Those who still have not been distributed lands after accepting money from Kachal Gamini told The Nation on the condition of anonymity, that they have reported this matter to the police.
However, nobody was willing to speak out and give more details about the misdeeds of Kachal Gamini, due to fear of reprisal.

Encroachment since 1992
Senior officials attached to the Chilaw Plantations Private Ltd, managed by Wayamba Plantation Company Ltd, confirmed that state lands in this particular area has been encroached on by many influential people since 1992.
The Chilaw Plantations Ltd, manages 42 hectares in the same location.
The land in question had been handed over to the JEDB in 1983 under the Premadasa regime.

Today, these lands under the JEDB, are being sold illegally as the Government watches helplessly.
Kachal Gamini’s atrocities could not be controlled by anyone as he was assisted by the late Minister D. M. Dassanayake.
Gamini being a UNP loyalist has also been helped by the late Minister to carry out illegal land transactions. 

However Public Estate Management and Development Minister Milroy Fernando, according to many, is one person who has managed to twist Gamini’s arms, sending him a clear message that he can no longer play games with state properties.

Thuggary defeated by thuggary
For Minister Fernando, the only alternative was to use the same tactic of thuggary to deal with Kachal Gamini.
Following the demise of former Minister D. M. Dassanayake, Kachal Gamini’s position also became weaker, and Minister Fernando grabbed the opportunity to strike at him.

Fernando resorted to similar manner of locking horns with Kachal Gamini.
While blocking Gamini from further encroaching lands and selling them to outsiders, he also started distributing lands to the landless in the same vicinity to outsiders.

This has also led to minor clashes and skirmishes among the two rival groups in Puttalam.
However, the Minister has been firm in his decision to put Gamini on the mat.
Many residents who had been offered lands by the Minister directly told The Nation that they had already obtained the ‘Swarnabhoomi titles’.

They said lands were still available, and anyone who wishes to obtain a piece could do so through the help of the Minister.
Meanwhile, The Nation also reliably learnt that a woman called Sagarika was the main agent in distributing the lands on behalf of Minister Fernando.

“If you want land, speak to Sagarika Akka. She is close to the Minister. You don’t have to directly approach the Minister. You can go through Sagarika Akka,” was the reply, when the author disguised himself as a buyer from Colombo.

Saviour turns plunderer
While the Minister’s intervention was timely, and was also commended by most of the affected people after he took on Kachal Gamini and reduced his powers to cheat people, his action to plant his supporters in the same vicinity and giving them temporary deeds was frowned upon by the learned and the moderate citizens in the town.
They did not agree with the Minister’s philosophy of chasing away the plunderer and committing the same crime that the plunderer did.
They pointed out that there was no transparency regarding the lands in question, and the Government must officially take over the lands and officially distribute them to the needy people.

More action needed
It is the duty of every successive government to look into the needs of her citizen.
Landlessness is a common problem in Sri Lanka. While it is the responsibility of the Government, including the politicians to ensure that landless people are offered lands, it must be done the proper way.

Ministers and politicians have no authority to distribute lands to their supporters with the intention of collecting more additional votes, according to their whims and fancies, and then also organise Swarnabhoomi titles for such lands.
The fact that JEDB comes under the purview of Minister Fernando, does not imply that he has the sole authority to distribute lands. The proper procedure must be followed according to the law of the land.

****