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POLICY BRIEF ! POLITICS, POLICIES AND PRACTICES WITH LAND ACQUISITIONS AND RELATED ISSUES IN THE NORTH AND EAST OF SRI LANKA NOVEMBER 2013 CENTRE FOR POLICY ALTERNATIVES POLICY BRIEF POLITICS, POLICIES AND PRACTICES WITH LAND ACQUISITIONS AND RELATED ISSUES IN THE NORTH AND EAST OF SRI LANKA Bhavani Fonseka & Dharsha Jegatheeswaran Centre for Policy Alternatives November 2013 Politics, Policies And Practices With Land Acquisitions And Related Issues In The North And East Of Sri Lanka The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is an independent, non-partisan organization that focuses primarily on issues of governance and conflict resolution. Formed in 1996 in the firm belief that the vital contribution of civil society to the public policy debate is in need of strengthening, CPA is committed to programmes of research and advocacy through which public policy is critiqued, alternatives identified and disseminated. Address : 24/2 28th Lane, off Flower Road, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka Telephone : +94 (11) 2565304/5/6 Fax : +94 (11) 4714460 Web : www.cpalanka.org, facebook.com/cpasl, twitter.com/cpasl Email : [email protected] Centre for Policy Alternatives | November 2013 2 www.cpalanka.org Politics, Policies And Practices With Land Acquisitions And Related Issues In The North And East Of Sri Lanka Acknowledgements The authors of the policy brief are Bhavani Fonseka and Dharsha Jegatheeswaran. Assistance with finalising the brief was provided by Luwie Ganeshathasan and Thenmozhy Kugamourthy. Formatting of the brief was done by Shilpa Samaratunge and Sanjana Hattotuwa. The authors would like to thank Mirak Raheem and Dr. P. Saravanamuttu for commenting on previous drafts. Centre for Policy Alternatives | November 2013 3 www.cpalanka.org Politics, Policies And Practices With Land Acquisitions And Related Issues In The North And East Of Sri Lanka Centre for Policy Alternatives | November 2013 4 www.cpalanka.org Politics, Policies And Practices With Land Acquisitions And Related Issues In The North And East Of Sri Lanka TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................................. 9 Chapter 1: Legal Analysis of Land Acquisition Processes ...................................................................................... 13 Relevant Constitutional and Legal Provisions ....................................................................................................... 13 Land Acquisition Act .................................................................................................................................................... 13 Gaps in Existing Framework ......................................................................................................................................... 17 Impact Assessment Requirements ........................................................................................................................ 18 Judicial Procedure of Review of Objections to Section 2 and Section 38 Notices ............................ 18 Other Legislations of Relevance ................................................................................................................................... 20 Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution ..................................................................................................... 20 Other Legislation that is of Relevance ....................................................................................................................... 23 Board of Investment (BOI) Act ................................................................................................................................ 23 Urban Development Authority Law ...................................................................................................................... 25 Town and Country Planning Ordinance .............................................................................................................. 26 Emergency Regulations .............................................................................................................................................. 27 The Requisitioning of Land Act ............................................................................................................................... 28 Concepts to consider from other Commonwealth jurisdictions ................................................................... 29 India .................................................................................................................................................................................... 29 South Africa ..................................................................................................................................................................... 30 Canada ................................................................................................................................................................................ 30 Chapter 2 – Policy Framework .......................................................................................................................................... 32 Actors ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 32 President ........................................................................................................................................................................... 32 Relevant Ministries ...................................................................................................................................................... 33 Mahaweli Authority ..................................................................................................................................................... 33 Presidential Task Force (PTF) ................................................................................................................................. 34 Provincial Councils ....................................................................................................................................................... 34 Military .............................................................................................................................................................................. 35 District and Local Actors ............................................................................................................................................ 35 Land Circular 2013/01 .................................................................................................................................................... 36 National Involuntary Resettlement Policy .............................................................................................................. 37 National Action Plan for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights (2011-2016) ................... 38 Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) & Action Plan ..................................................... 39 Chapter 3 – Ground Realities in the North and East ................................................................................................ 43 Case Study: Jaffna ............................................................................................................................................................... 44 Comparative Analysis of Military Base Sizes .................................................................................................... 45 Case Study: Sampur ........................................................................................................................................................... 50 Case Study: Weli Oya......................................................................................................................................................... 55 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................................................. 60 RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................................................................ 61 Annex I – International Policy Considerations ........................................................................................................... 63 Treaties, Conventions and Protocols ......................................................................................................................... 63 Guiding Principles .............................................................................................................................................................. 64 The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.......................................................................................... 64 Pinheiro Principles ......................................................................................................................................................