{"id":98690,"date":"2020-02-05T05:14:41","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T12:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=98690"},"modified":"2020-02-05T05:14:41","modified_gmt":"2020-02-05T12:14:41","slug":"no-government-can-sell-a-nations-land-a-state-is-only-trustee-of-nations-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/02\/05\/no-government-can-sell-a-nations-land-a-state-is-only-trustee-of-nations-land\/","title":{"rendered":"NO GOVERNMENT can SELL a NATION\u2019s LAND: A State is ONLY TRUSTEE of Nation\u2019s Land"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People belong to the\nLand. Land doesn\u2019t belong to the People. Land belongs to the State of Sri Lanka\n& no one else. Who owns Sri Lanka\u2019s land? No one else but Sri Lanka. Two\nfundamental principles bind the State in its usage of Land. Firstly, the State\nis ONLY TRUSTEE\u201d of the land given in TRUST to the State for PRESENT &\nFUTURE GENERATIONS & secondly the LAND given in TRUST to the STATE must\nremain SUSTAINABLE for the future generation to use as well. Land trust is a\nlegal entity that all States are bound by. Land in ancient times never belonged to\nanyone permanently. Even the King was\nTRUSTEE and not an ABSOLUTE OWNER.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE\nBIRDS THAT GLIDE THE SKY <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

AND\nANIMALS THAT ROAM THE FOREST <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

HAVE\nAN EQUAL RIGHT<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TO\nLIVE AND MOVE ANY WHERE IN THE COUNTRY AS YOU HAVE. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THIS\nLAND BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE AND ALL THE OTHER LIVING BEINGS; <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOU\nARE ONLY THE TRUSTEE<\/em><\/strong>.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ARAHATH MAHINDA THERO TO KING\nDEVANAMPIYATHISSA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(B.C.306)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are golden words with a powerful\nmeaning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In discussing the issue of land in Sri Lanka what must not\nbe forgotten is that all laws we followed and continue to follow are one\u2019s\nimplemented by the European colonial invaders and legally entrenched by them\ninto our internal system. These colonial laws completely erased or eliminated\nthe indigenous laws that had been practiced for centuries before invader\noccupation & rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revered Land\nbecomes a commodity under colonial rule<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Land as envisaged today was not what was envisaged in\npre-colonial times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Land today is regarded as a commodity with a value &\nprice for the owner to disburse. Concept of property, ownership and title\nrights came into being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All this changed with the Crown Lands Encroachment\nOrdinance of 1840 when colonial Britain confiscated the lands and brought it under\ntheir direct rule violating the Kandyan Convention it signed in 1815. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1815 the British used \u2018Dominion\u2019 (without sovereignty)\nbecause the British via the Kandyan Convention received only the King\u2019s rights\n(right of Trustee)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the British surveyed the lands and began\nplantations for profit. Title registration for deeds began in 1866 & 1897\nwhile accepting Sannasa but the real intent was to deny those that did not have\n\u2018deeds\u2019 knowing they didn\u2019t. This led to the Land Settlement Ordinance of 1931\n& by 1947 another law declared that any land unregistered prior to 1864 was\nCrown Land. A case heard in UK Privy Council in 1962 declared utendi, fruendi\n& abutendi applicable (right of possession, right of use and enjoyment,\nright of disposition) apply to deem a person as owner. This law completely\ndenied land ownership to Kandyan provinces. Unfortunately, no post-independence\ngovernment has saw fit to address the grievances of those who fought to\npreserve the national culture & birth-right to land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Land in a sovereign\ncountry is a finite resource \u2013 it cannot be expanded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Supreme Court has held that state\nland is held by the state IN TRUST for the people.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Land\nOwnership Bill Special Determination No.26A-36\/2003)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Private parties cannot claim a\nprescriptive right to state land.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No\nperson can acquire prescriptive title to state land by virtue of having a\npermit <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(section\n161, Land Development Ordinance). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Land grants must have approval and\nsignature of President. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President\u2019s powers are derived from\nthe powers delegated by the People to him\/her for an elected term of office.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LAND USE POLICY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis because pre-colonial times revered land and resources and paid homage to it\nthat the land and resources remained unpolluted. Today, man has in the name of\ndevelopment destroyed and polluted its natural habitat and returning earth to\nits ancient glory is an endeavor. However, many trees are planted an equal\nnumber are felled and soil is polluted. Nuclear experiments, chemicals and man\u2019s\ngreed are ruining the earth\u2019s natural resources. What was given to us free is\nbeing decayed and destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Productivity\nof land declining with degradation requires a sound national land policy to\nassess the type of land, classify the land and ensure that measures are taken\nto protect land while counter measures are adopted in instances where\nviolations take place. All this requires a sound policy and a committed resolve\nto implement and monitor the policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are foreign investments more important\nthan securing one\u2019s land?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More\nimportantly is the issue of selling\/leasing land on long term especially to\nforeigners. On the guise of investment\ncan land which is an integral component of a country\u2019s sovereignty be\ncompromised?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine\na small country like Sri Lanka swamped with tremendous foreign investment\ninfusions in exchange for 100-year lease on lands that hold rich minerals and\nresources and as per contract terms and poor negotiations by Sri Lankan\nnegotiators there is no restriction on how that foreign entity can make use of\nthe land leased, what if all sustainable land the government is committed to keep\nsustainable for future generations, is destroyed? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can\nthe government or officials be able to compensate this? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natural\nresources can never be replaced or compensated which is why it is important to\nhave sound policy governing its disbursement. Nothing not even foreign\ninvestments should compromise the land and its sustainability. The\nramifications of such will only be felt long-term and it is nothing Sri Lanka\ncan be proud of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every government must ensure that land is protected and land remains sustainable for future generations. This is the unwritten law that every government is bound by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shenali D Waduge<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People belong to the Land. Land doesn\u2019t belong to the People. Land belongs to the State of Sri Lanka & no one else. Who owns Sri Lanka\u2019s land? No one else but Sri Lanka. Two fundamental principles bind the State in its usage of Land. Firstly, the State is ONLY TRUSTEE\u201d of the land given […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1498,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shenali-waduge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98690\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}