Archives

Bring land-grabbers to book

Land, which has been in the eye of many a political storm in this country, is once again in the news with some top-notch politicians of the PA administration being accused of illegal land transactions. Yesterday we quoted lands Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne as saying that a high-level probe is under way into the illegal distribution of state land among supporters by once power-wielding politicians.

We welcome these investigations and urge the swift and firm enforcement of the law in relation to these matters because, here again, we see the blatant violation of the Rule of Law and its serious consequences. A corollary of enforcing the law is, of course the bringing to justice of all law-breakers and we urge that the latter be legally prosecuted as quickly as possible, regardless of how powerful or otherwise these offenders may be.

The illegal distribution of State land among one's cronies by politicians in power is a disturbing outgrowth of the patronage system assiduously practised by corrupt politicians. These could be termed the "spoils of power" which self-seeking politicians consider necessary to distribute among their following, so as to keep their vote base intact.

The illegal distribution of State land among party supporters, therefore, is a power consolidation devise of corrupt politicians which flagrantly violates the law of the land.

In this latest scandal we learn that land has been acquired by supporters of a politician in violation of the Land Reform Act of 1972, under which vast extents of land were vested in the State for public use. This amounts to robbing the people and the State of their land. It goes without saying that the law has to be stringently enforced in such instances.

A closely connected phenomenon to such naked land-grabbing by politicians and other power-wielders, is the forcible settlement of political supporters in State land or in housing projects launched by the State for the public good. Such violations of the law are even rampant in urban areas.

Train commuters for instance, could testify to the vast tracts of land, adjoining main railway lines, which have, apparently, been forcibly occupied by squatters. The latter seem to have made these tracts their homesteads and have comfortably settled down in these locations, with hardly a care for the legality or otherwise of their actions.

The most question is, why isn't anything been done to reacquire such land which is owned by the State? It could be safely conjectured that these illegal occupations are being winked at by sections of the administration. Perhaps, these squatters form part of the support base of some errant politicians?

Valuable State property is owned by the public and have to be used in public projects which would benefit the people. It cannot be allowed to be part of the patronage system of politicians who only have self-aggrandizement on their minds. It is our hope that the Government would take cognizance of these anomalies and act briskly to give to the people what rightly belongs to them.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager