1300 acres in North and East still with Sri Lanka Army

Colombo (News1st): The Sri Lanka Army says that 1300 acres of private land in the North and the East are still in their custody. According to the Army, over 19,000 acres of private land owned by the Military for 3 years from January 2015, has been handed over to the original settlers. They went onto note that these lands were handed over to the residents in a manner that it would not threaten the national security. On the directive of President Maithripala Sirisena, the Defense Ministry commenced a study on land that could be released in the North and East. The Army says that the study has been completed. It is further stated that 95% of the lands have been handed over to the original owners, and the remaining 5% are left to be handed over. Private Lands in Palali, Killinochchi, Mulative, Kopilav, and Mailad have been handed over to the landowners. The President recently stated that the lands belonging to North-East security units will be handed over to the original residents before the 31 of December.