16 May 2011
More than 130,000 acres of paddy lands, 47 tanks, 14 islands and several lagoons that had been used for fishing have been taken over by the government for various purposes.
The government has seized more than 25,000 acres from Monaragala District and over 35,000 acres from Trincomalee District.3000 to 5000 acres of lands have been seized by the government from several other districts as well.
Also, 24 tanks throughout the island have been reserved for sea plane landing. The fishing folk have also lost 10 tanks in the Eastern province to construct a power station at Sampoor, The fishermen also lost 5 tanks in Hambantota District where a sports complex is to be constructed at Sooriyawewa and 5 more tanks for the Hambantota harbor.
The lagoon at Pumoddai was lost to fisher folk when it was leased out to a private company to build a slattern. The government has seized 14 islands in Kalpitiya sea to construct a tourist zone. As such a large number of fishermen have lost their livelihood
LT