A committee is to be appointed on a directive of the President in order to commence a programme to release lands in the North back to civilians, a presidential media statement said quoting State Minister for Defence Ruwan Wijewardene in Vavuniya.
Wijewardene was quoted as saying the lands in the North and East Provinces would be released back to civilians in a just and fair manner after discussions with Resettlement Minister D.M. Swaminathan and members of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).
The Minister was quoted as saying in the statement that there would not be a necessity to remove army camps in the North in order to release lands required by the civilians.
The TNA and other representatives of the North have called on the new government to release the excessive lands that have been held by the military as high security zones (HSZs) without closing down any military camp.
– Sunday Times