There is currently no definite timeline that can be given for the release of civilian lands in Valikamam North, according to Member of Parliament K. Ilankumaran.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a media briefing in Jaffna, he stated that the Deputy Minister of Defence had recently visited the area to assess the situation on the ground. The findings will be discussed at an upcoming Parliamentary Security Committee meeting, after which steps will be taken to release lands that can be immediately handed back to their owners.<\/p>\n
He explained that the Deputy Minister’s visit was made on the instructions of the President to examine how military installations in the Northern Province could be restructured and how civilian lands could be returned to their rightful owners.<\/p>\n
A high-level delegation, including the Northern Province Governor, ministers, and Members of Parliament, also visited areas where military camps are located to conduct on-site assessments.<\/p>\n
Particular attention was given to lands required for the expansion of the Jaffna International Airport. During discussions, it was noted that compensation had not yet been paid to some landowners whose properties had previously been acquired for airport development. Authorities have pledged to address this issue.<\/p>\n
Information is also being gathered to determine the exact extent of land required for the airport expansion project. The government intends to develop Jaffna International Airport into the country’s second major international airport after Bandaranaike International Airport.<\/p>\n
MP Ilankumaran stated that while lands required for the airport project would be acquired with proper compensation paid to owners, other lands not needed for development would be returned to the public.<\/p>\n
He further noted that efforts are already underway to release certain lands in Valikamam North that remain under military control despite no longer being occupied by the military.<\/p>\n
In addition, religious sites and schools located within restricted areas have been identified, and measures are being taken to facilitate their release as well.<\/p>\n
Reiterating that a specific deadline cannot be provided at present, he emphasized that the process must follow established procedures and security assessments. Following discussions at the Parliamentary Security Committee, authorities expect to begin releasing lands that are suitable for immediate handover to their owners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There is currently no definite timeline that can be given for the release of civilian lands in Valikamam North, according to Member of Parliament K. Ilankumaran. Speaking at a media briefing in Jaffna, he stated that the Deputy Minister of Defence had recently visited the area to assess the situation on the ground. The findings …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2016,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamilmail.lk\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamilmail.lk\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamilmail.lk\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamilmail.lk\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamilmail.lk\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2015"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tamilmail.lk\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2017,"href":"https:\/\/tamilmail.lk\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015\/revisions\/2017"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamilmail.lk\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamilmail.lk\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamilmail.lk\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamilmail.lk\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}