In order to give effect to the pledge of His Excellency the President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, “The people’s lands to the people”, Hon. Governor N. Vethanayahan of the Northern Province made a special request to Hon. Deputy Minister of Defense Major General Aruna Jayasekara to take favourable measures to swiftly release public lands currently held by the security forces.
The Hon. Deputy Minister of Defense, along with the Army Commander, Navy Commander, and a high-level delegation on a two-day official visit to the Northern Province, had conducted field inspections in the Mannar District the previous day. Continuing that visit, on Tuesday (26 May 2026), field visits were carried out in the Kilinochchi and Jaffna Districts to conduct direct inspections related to land release.
Following these inspections, a special high-level discussion on land release was held at the Northern Provincial Governor’s Secretariat. Participants included Hon. Minister R. Chandrasekhar, Coordinating Committee Chairman for the Jaffna and Kilinochchi Districts; Hon. Deputy Minister Upali Samarasinghe, Coordinating Committee Chairman for the Mannar, Vavuniya, and Mullaitivu Districts; Hon. Governor N. Vethanayahan; and Hon. Deputy Minister of Defense Major General Aruna Jayasekara. The Army Commander, Navy Commander, Jaffna District Commanding Officer, and other senior military officials also participated.
Speaking at the outset, the Hon. Governor emphasized that it is the responsibility of all officials to give effect to His Excellency the President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s pledge of “The people’s lands to the people.” Hon. Minister R. Chandrasekhar then stated that the public has great expectations regarding land release, and urged that immediate steps be taken to promptly release lands that can be released.
Hon. Deputy Minister of Defense Major General Aruna Jayasekara, speaking thereafter, stated: “The Ministry of Defense is acting with great seriousness regarding the release of public lands held by the armed forces. Lands held by the military are being released gradually. His Excellency the President has a very clear position on releasing people’s lands and on releasing unused lands held by the military.”
He further noted: “In order to examine the feasibility of releasing lands, we conducted direct field visits to specific areas together with the Commanders of the three forces, Hon. Ministers, Members of Parliament, District and Divisional Secretaries, and relevant officials. During these visits, the security and strategic significance of schools, places of worship, and certain specific lands requested by the people were examined firsthand. All this information and the findings of the field inspections will be taken to the Ministry of Defense in Colombo and presented before the National Security Council chaired by the His Excellency the President, as well as before the Parliamentary Defense Advisory Committee for thorough examination. Favourable measures will be taken to release lands without compromising national security. However, decisions regarding certain highly sensitive areas must be made with national security in mind.”
He also assured that “the release of certain specific lands depends on decisions by the Civil Aviation Authority. Therefore, a special high-level meeting involving the Minister of Civil Aviation, relevant Secretaries, and senior officials will be arranged very shortly to resolve related issues.”
During the open discussion that followed, District Secretaries and Additional District Secretaries from Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, and Vavuniya clearly presented their positions on lands to be released in their respective districts. The Secretary of the Northern Province Ministry of Education, the Secretary of the Provincial Agriculture Ministry, and the Commissioner of Local Government also presented their views on the release of lands under their respective sectors. Various data relating to land release in the Jaffna District were brought to the attention of the gathering by the Coordinator of the Jaffna District Coordinating Committee Chairman.
In particular, discussions were held naming specific roads, places of worship, schools, and other locations in Valikamam North of the Jaffna District that need to be released. Special attention was given to lands that can be released immediately, and the Deputy Minister of Defense took note of matters to be examined by the National Security Council.
It was also pointed out that Valikamam North has been declared a High Security Zone through a Gazette notification issued in 2013. While the need to withdraw the said Gazette notification was emphasised, the Army Commander informed the gathering that the Ministry of Defense has already initiated preliminary steps toward that end.
Also participating in this high-level discussion were Hon. Parliamentarian K. Ilankumaran, the Chief Secretary of Northern Province, the Secretary to the Governor of Northern Province, Secretaries of Northern Province Ministries, District Secretaries, Additional District Secretaries, the Tellippalai Divisional Secretary, Departmental Heads, and several other senior officials.
