Genesis of “state-owned” land and the continuing waste of commercially viable areas

There have been references to stateowned land in the current Budget. I wonder whether the present generation is aware of the genesis of the bulk of these lands.

In the 50’s we had a flourishing export economy entirely due to the estate sector. In the 70’s the Socialist government of Mrs. Bandaranaike resorted to a “landgrab” limiting ownership of estates to 50 acres per individual. A few owners had the know-how and possibly helped by political influence converted their ownership into companies and retained their estates. The rest were swallowed up by the Land Reform Commission (LRC). It is astonishing that the far-reaching consequences of this move were not assessed ahead and a feasible plan outlined for the development of the land thus acquired. It appears that this “state-owned land” continues to function as a “white elephant”.

Several years after the government acquisition of these estates in the ’90’s the late President Premadasa distributed some of these lands to the landless via the ‘Swarnabhoomi’ deeds. Each householder was given an acre of land, resulting in the creation of the tea smallholder.

In one particular instance, around 20 % of land of a tea estate in Deltota was thus distributed. The rest of the estate has been taken over by the jungle! Presumably this scenario would have been repeated many times.

What a waste of commercially viable arable land!

This single action resorted to without sufficient planning, had and continues to have a disastrous effect on our economy. Incidentally the compensation paid for rubber estates, many years later, was in the region of Rs. 1,000 per acre!