Around 108.893 acres of land in North Valikamam in Jaffna, which was under the custody of security forces during the civil war, will be released and handed over to 197 families on February 03, 2023.
Prior to the 75th Independence Anniversary celebrations on February 4th the relevant land owners were identified through a transparent process for this land release program, which is being implemented under the full supervision of the Security Forces in fulfilment of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s promise to release the lands in the North and hand them over to their rightful owners prior to the 75th Anniversary of Independence.
Accordingly, five plots occupied by the Sri Lanka Army and another plot occupied by the Sri Lanka Navy are to be handed over to the people.
Of these lands, 13.033 acres of government-owned land in the North Palali area will be distributed among 75 families who were displaced by the war and are still housed in 09 camps at Point Pedro.
Further, the Town Hall building located in the liberated area will be handed over to the Valikamam North Pradeshiya Sabha.
It is also noteworthy that President Ranil Wickramasinghe has instructed the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing which is in charge of the resettlement process to immediately provide resettlement assistance to 197 families to be resettled.
An audio recording of a heated argument allegedly took place between Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) National Organizer Basil Rajapaksa and former Moratuwa Mayor Saman Lal Fernando is currently circulating on social media sites. It is the opinion of social media users that this recording is a fabrication.
Social media reported that this exchange of words took place during a discussion held at the SLPP Head Office yesterday (23).
Below are some of the comments made by the people over the audio recording.
A group meeting was held yesterday at the party office to discuss the upcoming elections and May Day.
It is said that this argument took place between Mr. Rajapaksa and Mr. Fernando during this meeting.
The audio recording that is being circulated on social media sites.
The National People’s Power (NPP) said that the blacklisting of retired Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha was illegal.
Speaking at a press conference held at the JVP Headoffice last morning (22), NPP member Harshana Nanayakkara said Mr. Thuyacontha had been blacklisted by the Air Force without providing any legal document.
He said that the National People’s Power recently decided to form a collective of retired tri-forces personnel.
“No party has been able to do this in the past. This is being made as a force across the districts. Mr.Thuyacontha is leading this. He is one of the people who risked his life as a fighter pilot throughout the war and was awarded the ‘Vikramaveera’ and ‘Vibhushana’ titles. For his dedication, he was awarded the highest rank of Air Vice Marshal and retired amidst all the honours,”
“If someone is being punished, they should be given the reasons as to why they are being punished. Was Mr. Thuyacontha told why he was blacklisted? He does not even know what the charge is. He has been blacklisted by an invalid document,” he said.
“Thuyacontha blacklisted to maintain internal administrative affairs”
Director (Media) of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), Group Captain Dushan Wijesinghe said that the decision to blacklist Thuyacontha was taken with the aim of maintaining the internal administrative affairs without any political interruption.
Speaking to the media, he said that Thuyacontha cannot enter any of the SLAF camps and enjoy the facilities given by the SLAF.
“Any retired officer of the SLAF can engage in active politics. But, the situation is very different when it comes to this matter. This officer enjoys all the facilities given by the SLAF. He can enter any SLAF camps as a result of this facilitation of privileges. Therefore, it will create a problem in the internal administration of the SLAF if this officer tries to influence our serving members after entering the camps,” he said.
Although the police alleged that a brothel was operated at the address ‘Hansavila’, no: 144, Sumangala Road, Asgiriya in Kandy, veteran actress Sanoja Bibile said it was a guest house and a restaurant and not a brothel.
Ms.Bibile said this in response to the article titled ‘Statement to be recorded from Sanoja over brothel raided in Kandy!’ published on Sri Lanka Mirror website.
She said that the property in question belonged to four people including her mother and siblings. However, in April 2022, it had been rented out to an individual by the name A.G. Samantha Asela Kumara.
At the time of the raid conducted by the police, Samantha Asela Kumara was the occupant of the house.
She said that the property was rented out on April 11 last year with the consent of her mother and siblings.
The lease contract is shown below.
Ms.Bibile also said that the electricity bill of the rented out property was not in her name but in the name of her mother D.R. Nalini Padmavathi Bibile.
The electricity bill is shown below.
We regret any inconvenience caused to Sanoja Bibile due to the previous article published by Sri Lanka Mirror.