Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers has appointed a special panel to protect lands in Eastern Province with an aim to stop illegal land grabbing and promote tourism while repossessing unutilized government lands, the government said.
Lands in Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province have increasingly become a flashpoint for intense social, economic, and administrative controversy, primarily driven by illicit land grabbing, unauthorized land reclamation, and illegal coastal developments that exploit political power and connections.
These irregular human activities have severely degraded the region’s sensitive natural ecosystems, triggering rapid and severe marine erosion along the Eastern coastline.
Geopolitical and social friction is further exacerbated by the fact that even sixteen years after the conclusion of the civil conflict, the state has failed to implement a systematic, permanent resettlement program for displaced populations.
“A number of social, economic, and administrative problems have arisen in the Eastern Province due to forced and illegal land grabbing, unauthorized land reclamation, and unauthorized coastal constructions achieved by misusing political power and political affiliations,” the government said in its Cabinet Decisions document.
“Consequently, the natural ecosystem of the region is severely endangered. These unregulated and illegal human activities have also become a primary driver behind rapid, severe marine erosion across the entire Eastern coastline.”
It also said that even though 16 years have passed since the end of the civil conflict, the absence of a systematic program to permanently resettle displaced populations and the deviation from standard criteria when structuring administrations have directly impacted regional development and national security.
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposals to appoint a committee named ‘Protection of Eastern Province Lands,’ comprising representatives from relevant institutions to find swift, permanent solutions to these problems, enforce legal measures, and strengthen institutional coordination, it said.
The Cabinet also approved proposals to immediately establish a special law enforcement unit headed by a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) with full powers to the security forces to stop all unauthorized land grabbing and land reclamation carried out utilizing political power.
The Cabinet has also decided that Mahaweli Lands taken over five years ago or prior, where no project has been implemented to date, will be repossessed by the government immediately.
It has also proposed to redistribute land for Local Development activities for local residents under a structured program and to swiftly formulate a systematic plan to promote the tourism industry by utilizing the high potential of the Eastern coastline while simultaneously ensuring the protection of the coastal ecosystem.
“A mechanism will be designed to ensure that government officials enforce the law impartially and transparently regarding the operation of hotels along the Eastern coastline,” the government said. (Colombo/June 23/2026)
(ECONOMYNEXT)