Hantana land distribution halted

BY CYRIL WIMALASURENDRE

KANDY –Central Province Governor Lalith U. Gamage has suspended the alienation of Hantana land as it will lead to huge environmental and water issues in the Kandy District.The Governor instructed officials present at a recent Kandy District Coordinating Committee to halt the distribution of land in the Hantana ara.

The Governor intervened following complaints made by several organisations that the authorities were planning to distribute 20 blocks of land owned by Hantana Janatha Estate Development Board (JEDB) to outsiders.

The Governor recalled that during a prolonged drought in 1993, the people of Kandy had depended on the Hantana springs to meet their water needs.

The Chairman, Kandy District Coordinating Committee (DCC), Gunatilaka Rajapakse MP, said that lands in Hantana should not be utilised without permission from the authorities concerned.

Among those present, at the meeting, were the Chairman, SLPP MP Professor Ranjith Bandara, M.P. Udayna Kiridigoda and Kandy District Secretary Chandana Tennakoon.