Web of Life

Land left fallow after the restoration of irrigation tanks will be confiscated, Agriculture Minsiter Anura Kumara Dissanayake warned yesterday.

Addressing a news conference convened largely to refute allegations of financial irregularities with regard to the JVP's 10,000 tank restoration programme, the minister said large areas of arable lands were lying fallow in the Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara districts or were being refilled for commercial purposes, posing some problems for the tank restoration programme.

He warned that under the Agrarian Development Act, the government could confiscate uncultivated lands but acknowledged that some of these lands faced irrigational problems.

Mr. Dissanayake said steps would be taken to provide water to these lands and if the landowners continued to leave their lands fallow, the state would confiscate the lands.

The minister also dismissed allegations that the tank-restoration project reeked with financial irregularities - an allegation that was levelled at the JVP by President Chandrika Kumaratunga herself.

Mr. Dissanayake said that of the Rs. 400 million the ministry got from the Treasury, Rs.386 million had been spent on the restoration programme and claimed that not a cent was spent for personal purposes.

He said restoration work on 500 irrigation tanks had been completed and 956 tanks were being restored while work would begin on 1012 tanks in the next two months.
The minister said the restoration work was being carried out with the participation of farmers, banks and businessmen.