Land Releasing Ceremony Held at The Auditorium of the District Secretariat - Jaffna on 10th March 2024

After series of tactical and technical analyses and with the coordination of officials and the request of the rightful owners, lands were released in a ceremony held at the Auditorium of the District Secretariat in Jaffna on 10th March 2024. Hon. Sagala Rathnayake, the Chief of Staff to the President and National Security Advisor, participated as the Chief Guest in this historical event. This is the twenty - fourth consecutive time the lands were released, and the day 109.56 acres, inclusive of 05 land plots in the Jaffna District and 07 land plots in Kilinochchi District were released to their rightful owners. From the beginning, in Jaffna District a total of 2,559.81 land acres were occupied by the Army, and in Kilinochchi District, A total of 644 land acres were occupied. Particularly now, compared to the Jaffna District and Kilinochchi District, only 3,204 land acres are occupied, and as a percentage only 0.54% are held by the military to maintain the normalcy and security in the area for a better and smoother function for the civil community to engage in.

In accordance with the existing policies of the present government and as per the guidance given by Lieutenant General Vikum Liyanage, RWP RSP ndu, the Commander of the Army and with the close supervision of the Commander of the Security Forces - Jaffna, Major General Chandana Wickramasinghe RWP RSP ndu psc, the initial steps were taken with the good intention of handing over the aforementioned highly residential land plots to their rightful owners in the near future.

The event was made fabulous with the participation of Hon. Dauglas Devananda, MP, Minister of Fisheries, Commander Northern Naval Command, Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police in Northern Province, General Officer Commanding of 51,52 and 55 Infantry Divisions, long with Army, Navy, Air Force and Police Officers. The overlooking District Secretary / Government Agent of Jaffna and the overlooking District Secretary / Government Agent of Kilinochchi along with the government servants and civil community were also participated.

Before departure from Palaly, Hon. Sagala Rathnayake visited Security Forces (Jaffna) and planted a ‘Tamarind’ plant in the cantonment premises. Subsequently, made complimentary notes in the Visitors’ Book at the Jaffna Commander’s Office, symbolizing this as an official visit.