Protesting against public land robbery

Dolahena and its neighbouring villages surround the town of Horana, one of Sri Lanka’s sprawling urban areas. Land is scarce, and the villagers will have to accept a certain level of land development and city encroachment on common land (state property). The uphill areas north of Dolahena was once ‘hena’ or farmland used by slash-and-burn cultivators, but during the colonial period it was turned into fertile tea land by a proprietor planter and philanthropist, Mr. Wilmot A. Perera, local MP and co-founder of Sri Palee College. In 1972, the government of S. Bandaranaike introduced a new Land Reform Law, nationalizing plantation land in excess of 50 acres per adult person in a family. The tea land next to Dolahena and Horana was also vested in the state, but as is often the case, soon being neglected and left in scrub.

Recently, the Land Reform Commission (LRC) started to subdivide and sell parts of the state land back to local people and local companies. However, these transactions were not made public. Instead, the LRC staff claimed they were just doing surveys and assessment of the land. Local villagers, both peasants and Tamil plantations workers in Dolahena, asked for information and told the LRC that they wanted to buy their small share of property. The organization of HELP and another local NGO mobilized the local community to force the Land Reform Commission to make all transactions public. Soon, it was revealed that the LRC was selling land both to local politicans and to members of the LRC! Land was sold at a very cheap price, making it possible for buyers to earn an easy profit from selling the land to a third party. This is not only transactions outside the legal frame, this is simple corruption, according to HELP and the villagers.

Siripala under one of the protest banners they made.

HELP claimed that the LRC also should take environmental concerns, saving the uphill natural forest. HELP asked to buy some of the wilderness area as a plant and bird sanctuary, but the proposal was rejected by the LRC. HELP also claimed that the local playground, cricket field and community well called Hägallavatta be saved during the land development scheme.

HELP offered assistance to the local villagers during this land transaction process. Public meetings were held, demonstrations held, and one of the local Members of Parliament was contacted to assist the villagers. It appears that the intervention of the MP was successful; HELP has saved the playground of Hägallavatta, and the local Tamil plantation workers living in poor ‘lines’ will be able to buy a small allotment (6 perches) of land for family houses.

Meeting 3 February 2014 between officers from the Land Reform Commission and local villagers in Dolahena.